I continue to be surprised at just how well the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has done. Sure, the series didn’t get off to the best start with the Sonic who emerged from the depths of hell, but the production was able to turn things around and deliver two very successful films (plus a Knuckles TV series) with a third on the way. Speaking of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the upcoming sequel will bring Shadow into the series, and he’ll be voiced by none other than Keanu Reeves.

During a Q&A for Sonic Revolution’s Shadow Revolution stream, director Jeff Fowler had nothing but praise for Reeves’ work on the film, adding that he did his homework and came very prepared. “It’s so awesome that we got Keanu Reeves to voice the character and he was so fantastic to work with,” he said. “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.“

Fowler continued, “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. 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. I think people are going to really, really love his version of Shadow.“

A new look at Shadow from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has also been released, which you can check out below.

James Marsden reprises his role as Tom Wachowski in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the sheriff of Green Hills. Other returning cast members include Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Miles “Tails” Prower, Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna, Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski, Tom Butler as Commander Walters, Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone, and, of course, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. New members of the cast include Krysten Ritter, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone, as well as Alyla Browne, who is said to be playing Maria.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will hit theaters on December 20th.

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