Movies

Idris Elba Knuckles Up To Star In 'Sonic The Hedgehog 2'

By Jeremy Mathai/

Is it too early to proclaim Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as the heir apparent to The Avengers? Probably, and we're not entirely sure why anyone would want to call it that anyway, but the sequel to the popular video game adaptation is happening and it definitely feels like a team is being assembled.

Idris Elba dropped his casting in the movie out of nowhere and, folks, it's a doozy. Let's just hope they get the character design right on the first try this time around...

Idris Elba is no stranger to the franchise machine and clearly doesn't consider himself above the good ol' fashioned paycheck gig every now and then, as this latest Sonic casting news proves. You've got to respect it. Elba took to social media to announce that he will be voicing the fan-favorite character Knuckles. Check out his Twitter post below, which includes a teasing character poster as well as his catchphrase, 'Knock, knock."

Knuckles Casting and Poster

Would it be too harsh to say that this sort of feels like overkill? All due respect to such an iconic and esteemed video game character as Knuckles, of course, but I'm left here scratching my head over what could've possibly drawn someone of Idris Elba's stature to a project like this (give or take a dump truck of money or two). Whatever the case may be, everyone seems worked up about this and I'm sure all the haters will be silenced and whatnot.

As we previously reported, director Jeff Fowler will be returning along with Ben Schwartz as the voice of the eponymous Sonic. James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik (and hopefully his mustache) all will be coming along for the ride as well. Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington are all receiving writing credits for the sequel, with Casey and Miller getting story credit as well.

A sequel to the hit first movie has been a foregone conclusion ever since it was released in February 2020 — right before the pandemic shut everything down — and made over $300 million worldwide. This came despite the fact that the studio made the hilariously reactionary decision to scrap the entire (admittedly freakish) design of Sonic and rework it from scratch. It's hard to tell just how many poor animators were forced to work overtime to meet the film's original release date, but here's hoping they avoid that unpleasantness this time around.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on April 8, 2022.

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