Before Sonic the Hedgehog 3 races into theaters this holiday season, new details about the sound barrier-breaking threequel are racing in. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Sonic 3 director Jeff Fowler and voice actor Ben Schwartz talked about the film’s latest character, Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves), and Jim Carrey playing two versions of the mustachioed villain Robotnik.

Fowler expands Shadow the Hedgehog’s origin in the upcoming film, giving longtime fans something to look forward to. Prof. Gerald Robotnik genetically engineered shadow, creating a speedster with teleportation powers. In addition to his blink-and-you-missed-it moves, Shadow uses gadgets to stalk his prey, like a motorcycle and handguns. Reeves is the perfect choice to help bring Shadow to life on the silver screen, and the film’s December 20 release date can’t come soon enough.

“‘Edginess’ is maybe not the right word, but there was a new element tonally that just suddenly made the Sonic world feel a little bit more exciting, a little bit more dangerous,” Fowler told Entertainment Weekly about adding Shadow to the mix. “I think that’s exactly what Shadow has done for this film.”

While effects and character design were a concern for the first movie, Sonic voice actor Ben Schwartz assures fans that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will go above and beyond to pull out all the stops. “The CG is even more impressive. Everything is pumped up for this one,” Schwartz says in a separate conversation. “[Producer] Toby [Ascher] talks about us having a lot of Avengers moments, which I love, but it’s very much that everything is bigger in this movie and more impressive.” The movie’s “go big or go home” attitude teases excellent things for the sequel, and they’ll need all the juice they can get. Sonic the Hedgehog fans are rabid, y’all. If Paramount doesn’t bring its A-game, Sonic enthusiasts will know and will not be afraid to take their ire online. “Paramount taking the money and the time to adjust it a bit, it shows that we care, we’re listening,” Schwartz adds. “We are fans. We feel connected to the fans.”

One thing that Fowler and his team must tread lightly about is Shadow’s use of handguns. We live in sensitive times, and a gun-toting hedgehog could set parents on edge. Fowler is aware of this and is taking steps to remain faithful to the character while not pushing any buttons for families. “We certainly are very respectful about what fans expect to see and what they love about the character. We’re also very aware of the times and the right way to handle that kind of imagery in a family film,” said Fowler. “I think we really ended in a great place. I think fans will watch this film and really appreciate Shadow and Maria. A lot of care and a lot of love has gone into telling Shadow’s story and giving fans the best movie version of the character imaginable.”

After saying he’s retiring from acting, Jim Carrey pulls double-duty in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as Dr. Ivo Robotnik and Prof. Gerald Robotnik. In the beginning, Fowler wanted to draw parallel lines between the two villains, focusing “not just with bald heads and giant mustaches, but also in their behavior and their attitude,” Fowler says. “But then, just from a storytelling standpoint, it needed to go in some ways to create the right sort of conflict for the film. I don’t want to give anything away, but it was really fun to plot that, to come up with all those interactions and all the different story needs that had to happen. Jim was just such a great partner in designing all of that.”

Check out EW‘s exclusive report for more details about Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for Amy Rose and Big the Cat to make their silver screen debut. They may show up in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. At least, I hope so.

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