It seems we haven't seen the last of Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik after all!
Earlier today, Paramount Pictures dropped a new teaser for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 revealing the threequel's logo...and a familiar cackle. Variety (via Toonado.com) has since chimed in to confirm Eggman is going to return in this next chapter, news we're sure will delight those of you who thought the second movie might be it for Carrey's villain.
IGN has since revealed that Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter has also joined the cast, suggesting she may play Rouge the Bat. The site also believes Alyla Browne (Furiosa) will lend her voice to Sonic Adventure 2's Maria.
Joining them in undisclosed roles are James Wolk (Harley Quinn), Sofia Pernas (Jane the Virgin), Cristo Fernández (Ted Lasso), and Jorma Taccone (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse).
Back to Robotnik, and the unhinged baddie appeared to take a fatal fall from his giant robot when we last saw him; however, a post-credits scene confirmed his body hadn't been found, leaving the door open to an eventual return we didn't expect to happen amid talks of Carrey possibly retiring.
That stinger also introduced us to this franchise's take on Shadow the Hedgehog. Commander Sam Walters mentioned a secret research facility from half a century ago housing "Project: Shadow," and with Agent Stone in earshot, it looked like he would team up with Gerald Robotnik's creation to avenge the scientist's villainous grandson.
"Shadow is clearly going to be in the franchise moving forward," writer Josh Miller said last year "I don’t think it’s revealing anything to say we’d love to incorporate elements from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, his solo spinoff game." The latter was poorly received by gamers, though there's plenty of material in there that could be useful to the next movie.
Of course, we still don't who will lend their voice to Shadow. Keanu Reeves remains a fan-favourite suggestion, and after Idris Elba was enlisted to play Knuckles in both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and his own spin-off TV series, we're anticipating an A-Lister filling the role.
What will be interesting is seeing how this third instalment avoids repeating what we saw from its predecessor where Eggman unsuccessfully attempted to find a new ally in Knuckles.
Jeff Fowler will be back in the director's chair, with Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Miles "Tails" Prower), Idris Elba (Knuckles the Echidna), James Marsden (Tom Wachowski), and Tika Sumpter (Maddie Wachowski) all set to reprise their respective roles from the first two movies.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is set to be released in theaters on December 20, 2024. You can check out this new teaser for the movie in the X post below.