Images: Paramount Pictures (via the Sonic Wiki)
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is coming March 19, 2027, and my group chat has not known peace since.
Paramount dropped the title reveal back in March — teaser trailer, full cast, the works. Jeff Fowler's back to direct, filming wrapped in May, and the voice booths have been busy all summer. Kristen Bell is our new Amy Rose, Keanu's back as Shadow, Idris as Knuckles — and, biggest shock of all, Jim Carrey is back as Eggman. More on that in a second, because it's the whole reason I'm writing this.
Also confirmed: Metal Sonic. Fowler literally wrapped filming posing next to a Metal Sonic prop, and the movie's pulling from Sonic CD — which, for the non-nerds, is exactly where Amy and Metal Sonic debuted in the games. That's not an accident, and I love that it isn't.
Okay but... did Eggman actually die?
Sonic 3 ended with Ivo Robotnik going out in a blaze of sacrifice, "dying a hero" while the Eclipse Cannon did its thing. Genuinely emotional stuff. Except — and say it with me — we never saw a body. Movie rule number one. The writers even admitted they wrote the ending as a "satisfying capper" in case Carrey was done, while quietly hoping he wasn't. Carrey himself said he'd come back "if the content is interesting."
Eggman lives. Honestly? The man survived worse falls in the first two movies. This franchise treats gravity as a suggestion.
And what about Shadow?
We all clocked Shadow's credits-scene aftermath in Sonic 3, and the theories went feral: is that really him, a copy, some kind of backed-up consciousness? The concept art that leaked showing an alternate-timeline Eggman ruling alongside Metal Sonic only poured fuel on it — time travel, clones, digital ghosts, pick your flavor. What we know for sure: Keanu Reeves is confirmed for Sonic 4, so whichever Shadow shows up, we're getting a Shadow.
Early hype rating: 9/10
I'm calling it now — this one's really good. No spoilers, obviously, the thing's still months out. But everything I've seen and heard points to the best Sonic movie yet, and word is the ending is emotional. Like, bring-tissues emotional. That's all you get. Nine out of ten, would pre-buy tickets twice.