Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is fast approaching and we now have a new look at Keanu Reeves' Shadow the Hedgehog (via GameFragger.com). There's a huge amount of excitement to see that character in live-action, with The Matrix and John Wick star's casting only serving to increase that.
During a recent Q&A, franchise director Jeff Fowler heaped praise on Reeves' approach to playing Shadow.
"It's so awesome that we got Keanu Reeves to voice the character and he was so fantastic to work with," the filmmaker enthused. "He thinks the character is awesome and he definitely understood what we were going for and he was very excited to do his version of it. Like all the cast, [he] really wants to get it right and really cares."
"He would give us so many different versions of line readings and just want to keep going. It was not sort of showing up and reading the script into a microphone," Fowler continued. "He really wanted to create a very fan-faithful version of the character. He did research."
"In our first meeting, he very clearly had gone and done his homework, which was awesome. I can't say enough wonderful things about Keanu and what he brought to the character and the experience of making this movie," he concluded. "I think people are going to really, really love his version of Shadow."
Fandango has also revealed that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is currently the 10th most-anticipated movie of the upcoming holiday season according to the ticket-seller's customers. We'd expected it to place higher; perhaps one more trailer can turn things around before that December 20 release gets here.
Take a closer look at Shadow in the X post below and stay tuned for updates.
Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the big screen this holiday season in his most thrilling adventure yet.
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.
Director Jeff Fowler returns along with our all-star cast including Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Adam Pally, Lee Majdoub, newcomers Alyla Browne and Krysten Ritter, with Keanu Reeves joining the franchise as Shadow the Hedgehog.
The story was written by Pat Casey & Josh Miller; they also penned the screenplay alongside John Whittington.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 races into theaters on December 20.