Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Movie is speeding its way towards theaters soon, and IGN can debut an exclusive featurette focused on Idris Elba’s Knuckles.
Check out the video in the player above or embedded below to see new footage of the sequel and interviews with Elba and his fellow cast members, and learn about Elba’s own history with the Sonic franchise.
This featurette makes it clear exactly what role Knuckles plays in the sequel, with the film drawing on the character’s antagonistic roots in 1994’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. As in that classic Sega Genesis title, Knuckles is a villain tasked with taking down Sonic, but it seems safe to assume this red echidna won’t stay a villain for long.
Elba reveals he was a Sonic fan long before being cast as Knuckles, pointing to the classic Sonic games as some of his first forays into the video game world.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also stars Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, James Marsden, and Natasha Rothwell. Jeff Fowler directed the film with a script by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington.
Carrey recently revealed that he’s considering retiring from acting, making Sonic 2 quite possibly his final film role. It’s unclear how the series will handle the Dr. Robotnik role going forward. But Paramount has already announced a third Sonic movie and a Knuckles spinoff series, so the studio could be planning to recast that iconic gaming villain.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
