Keanu Reeves will join the cast of the upcoming Sonic 3 film to play an iconic video game character.

The long-awaited announcement is finally here: Keanu Reeves, well known for his roles in renowned film franchises like John Wick And Matrix, has just been confirmed to join the cast of Sonic 3. His role? That of Shadow, an anti-hero character famous among fans of Sega video games.

Who is Shadow? A hedgehog like no other

Shadow was first introduced in the game Sonic Adventure 2 in 2001. Created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, he is gifted with extraordinary abilities, including impressive speed and chaos control, which allow him to manipulate space and time. Although he begins as an antagonist to Sonic, he develops over the course of the games into a valuable ally.

A generous wait for Sonic 3

Sonic 3, directed once again by Jeff Fowler and written by Patrick Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington, is shaping up to be a potential pivot in the Sonic film series. Previous films have performed remarkably well at the box office despite receiving mixed reviews. However, the addition of Keanu Reeves to the cast is seen by many as a step towards significantly improving the franchise.

• The first Sonic film grossed nearly $320 million.
• The second increased that mark to $405 million.

In addition to Keanu Reeves, the film will see the return of Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik and Idris Elba, who lends his voice to Knuckles.

Expectations around the release and the Knuckles series

Excitement is building not only around the release of the film, scheduled for December 25, 2024, but also for the upcoming series Knuckles scheduled for Paramount+ in April 2024. This series is expected to further expand the Sonic universe and enrich the fan experience before the release of the third cinematic opus.

It remains to be seen whether the introduction of Shadow, brought to the screen by Keanu Reeves, will manage to captivate both critics and audiences, propelling Sonic 3 to new heights of success.