We just got the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 a day ago and reader, I have watched it well over a dozen times in the past 24 hours. Fans like myself have been scrubbing the three-minute trailer frame-by-frame, unpacking every detail they can find in Shadow’s big debut in the live-action series. But one scene has eagle-eyed blue blur fans already theorizing about where this series might go after the third movie premieres on December 20. Could the first trailer be hinting that Metal Sonic will be Sonic 3’s post-credits stinger?
A reIn Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s trailer, the speedy hedgehog and his friends begrudgingly team up with Jim Carrey’s Doctor Robotnik. When Sonic and friends come knocking on his door, he’s let himself go and doesn’t seem that interested in world domination anymore, but still has enough robots and tech to give our heroes a fighting chance against Shadow, who is threatening to destroy the world. The good ol’ doctor doesn’t seem to have entirely moved beyond his villainous ways, however. He only agrees to help save the world on one condition: Robotnik wants one of Sonic’s superpowered quills, which our hero hesitantly gives him.
The theory is that the good doctor might use Sonic’s power source to create the live-action version of Metal Sonic. This robot replica has been a recurring antagonist throughout the franchise since his debut on Sonic CD in 1993. He’s meant to be a mechanical equal to Sonic under Robotnik’s control, though he’s gone rogue before and ended up a threat to both his rival and his creator. If Robotnik is looking for an edge in his plot to take over the world, having someone just as fast and strong as his archnemesis is a pretty logical move, and using one of his quills to power the thing makes a lot of sense.
Part of me is a little skeptical of this because the movies have already given Sonic a rival character in Shadow. Metal Sonic is full of his own complexities and insecurities surrounding his inability to defeat Sonic that are different from those of Keanu Reeves’ brooding baddy, but I can imagine Sonic 4 feeling a bit samey if it’s two hedgehogs duking it out again like it will be in this movie. However, I could see Metal Sonic becoming a much bigger threat if the movies adapted parts of Sonic Heroes. Metal Sonic was the twist villain of the 2003 game, and every hero, antihero, and villain had to team up to take him down after he became mad with power. If the movies loosely adapt that concept, Metal Sonic could become a Thanos-like figure in the live-action Sonic universe. If the next movie and the rumored spin-off shows build the cast to include missing fan favorites like Rouge the Bat and Amy Rose, a Sonic 4 movie that delivers an Avengers-style moment against Metal Sonic sounds plausible.
I sometimes feel like the Sonic movies moved ahead too quickly to Shadow, as I don’t think there are that many characters that can bring out the same excitement people are feeling around Sonic the Hedgehog 3. But the first trailer already shows that the movies aren’t entirely beholden to the same stories as the games, so there’s room for Paramount to find creative ways to bring these characters into the fold. My one worry about Metal Sonic is that he’d require the presence of Robotnik, so it seems contingent on whether or not Carrey would return for a fourth movie. He’s already said he wants to retire from acting but still came back for Sonic 3. Is a fourth movie pushing it? We’ll see.