Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off series, Knuckles, is set to hit the Paramount+ streaming service this Friday, and the first reviews for the show have now raced online.
Knuckles got off to a very positive start with an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, but as more verdicts have been added, it's since dropped to 70%.
Introduced in the Sonic the Hedgehog sequel, the hotheaded echidna started out as an enemy of Sonic and Tails before turning his back on Dr. Robotnik and joining forces with the super-speedy heroes at the end of the movie.
In the games, Knuckles also debuted as a villain in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but later formed an alliance with Sonic and Tails after learning of Eggman's trickery.
Set between the events of Sonic 2 and this year's upcoming threequel, this series follows Knuckles as he trains deputy sheriff Wade Whipple in the ways of the Echidna warrior while attempting to escape the clutches of one of Robotnik's former associates, who wants to harness his powers.
Two new clips from the series have also been released. The first finds Maddie asking Sonic and Tails to have a little word with Knuckles about his rambunctious behaviour, and the second sees the echidna banished to the "floor of shame" for taking Sonic's advice.
"Knuckles allows audiences to catch up with red-quilled bruiser on his hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior," reads the show's official logline.
Idris Elba will reprise his role as Knuckles, and the cast also includes Adam Pally as Wade Whipple, Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Tails, alongside fellow guest stars Stockard Channing, Edi Patterson, Scott Mescudi, Ellie Taylor, Julian Barratt, Rory McCann, Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel.
Toby Ascher, the series showrunner, created Knuckles' small-screen adventure with John Whittington, supported by key creatives from the Sonic movies. Jeff Fowler helmed the pilot episode from a script penned by head writer Whittington, while Brian Schacter and James Madejski served as scribes on the other episodes.
All six episodes of Knuckles will be available to stream on Paramount+ from April 26 in the U.S. and Canada and other territories on April 27, with the exception of Japan, where the series will roll out later this year.