Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’
Sonic the Hedgehog has faced multiple menaces across a variety of media, but one of his deadliest foes made an appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – and it’s not Shadow (Keanu Reeves). During the film’s mid-credits scene, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) challenges Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba) to a race. Being “the fastest thing alive,” he eventually wins the race but ends up running into a New York state park. As Sonic attempts to get his bearings, he’s attacked by a fleet of robots that all bear a striking resemblance to him, and are programmed to kill him. Fans of the Sonic games will immediately recognize this as Metal Sonic – one of Sonic’s lesser-known foes, and a character who could serve as the main foe in the recently-announced Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
Metal Sonic made his first appearance in the Sonic CD video game, where he was created by Sonic’s archnemesis, Doctor Robotnik, as his ultimate weapon. That wasn’t just hyperbole: Robotnik literally programmed Metal Sonic with a “prime directive” to kill Sonic, and made him just as fast as the Blue Blur. Robotnik and Metal Sonic work together to take over an extraterrestrial body named “Little Planet” – and drawing the attention of Sonic in the process. Metal Sonic was ultimately defeated, but continued to return to plague Sonic and his friends in various video games. The one element that makes Metal Sonic truly dangerous is that he can evolve to match Sonic’s powers, whether Sonic maxes out at top speed or utilizes the power of the Chaos Emeralds. He has even replicated the powers of Sonic’s friends!
The video game that would cement Metal Sonic as a major foe is Sonic Heroes, which features four different intertwining storylines where Sonic and his friends end up foiling several of Doctor Robotnik’s schemes. But it turns out that the not-so-good Doctor was being impersonated by Metal Sonic, who was determined to succeed where his creator failed and rule over all living things. In the final battle of Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic evolves into a variety of different forms – including “Metal Madness,” which utilizes the debris of one of Robotnik’s ships, and “Metal Overlord,” which is a massive dragon-like mecha. Sonic and his friends were able to defeat the mad machine.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 isn’t the first time that Metal Sonic menaced the Blue Blur on-screen. He served as a major antagonist in the 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, where his “Hyper” form was constructed by Doctor Robotnik as a way to conquer Planet Freedom. True to the games, Metal Sonic could replicate Sonic’s powers and had a fierce hatred for him, to the point where he chose to sink in lava rather than accept Sonic’s help. Metal Sonic would also be a major foe in the Sonic Mania Adventures shorts designed to promote the Sonic Mania games, where he and Robotnik fought Sonic for control of the Chaos Emeralds. Those shorts were written and directed by Tyson Hesse – the artist responsible for reworking Sonic’s design in the live-action films to further represent his video game counterpart. “There were all sorts of talks about what this photorealistic Sonic should look like, and even now, not everyone agrees with what we settled on. But we got the essentials right because Tyson just has such a grasp on who this character is,” director Jeff Fowler told TheWrap. Indeed, the energy in Hesse’s Sonic Mania shorts matches the live-action brawl that Sonic had with a fleet of Metal Sonics.
The mid-credits for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 also features an appearance from Amy Rose, who saves Sonic from his steel doppelgangers. Based on Amy and Metal Sonic appearing, it looks like Sonic the Hedgehog 4 may use Sonic CD as inspiration for its story. The only question is: will Doctor Robotnik play a role? Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald (both played by Jim Carrey) perished during the destruction of the Eclipse Cannon, but it stands to reason that Metal Sonic could be one of Robotnik’s failsafes he set up in the case of his death – leaving him with a way to strike back at Sonic from the grave. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened, as Metal Sonic took over Eggman’s empire in the Sonic The Hedgehog comics published by IDW Entertainment.
Though plot details on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 are light, the introduction of Metal Sonic proves that Jeff Fowler – alongside screenwriters Josh Miller, Pat Casey, and John Wittington – aren’t lacking for inspiration when it comes to new friends and foes for the Blue Blur.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now in theaters.
- Release Date
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December 20, 2024
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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Jeff Fowler
- Writers
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Josh Miller, Patrick Casey, John Whittington
- Producers
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Neal H. Moritz, Tim Miller, Toru Nakahara, Tommy Gormley, Toby Ascher, Haruki Satomi, Hitoshi Okuno, Yukio Sugino
- Franchise(s)
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Sonic the Hedgehog