Summary
Considering its prime release date around Christmas, there’s no doubt that Paramount has a lot of faith in its third installment of theSonic the Hedgehogfilm franchise. After the success of the first two films,Sonic the Hedgehog 3is making waves with its introduction to fan favorite Shadow, as well as the announcement that none other than John Wick himself,Keanu Reeves, will be voicing the Ultimate Life Form. With this hype in mind,Sonic the Hedgehog 3has the potential to do more than just introduce him.
If there’s any character that deserves theKnucklesspin off treatment, its Shadow. The film should set up him for this spin off, whether it’s a series or possibly a film of his own. Since the third film seems like it would be agood ending point for theSonicfilms, at least for now, a spin-off has the potential to explore one of the franchise’s most complex characters. With that said, what would be the best way to go about it?
Prequel Diving Into Shadow’s Past
The trailer forSonic the Hedgehog 3hints that the film is going to explore Shadow’s dark past. While Maria’s death is obviously an important turning point in making Shadow the anti-hero he’s best known for, it would be interesting to explore his life on the ARK before her passing. BeforeMaria was tragically shot by G.U.N., she suffered from a terminal illness called Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (NIDS). As a result, Maria had a weak constitution, collapsing after exertion as seen in the first episode ofSonic x Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings. The whole reason Gerald Robotnik agreed to lead Project Shadow was in the hope that he could use the immortality research to find a cure for his granddaughter. This research resulted in two lifeforms. The first was the Biolizard, which was formed from an attempt to harness the Chaos Emerald energy. The second was Shadow himself. The gameShadow the Hedgehogrevealed that Shadow’s creation came about through experiments on Black Doom’s DNA.Black Doom was the leader of The Black Arms, sinister alien beings. After Maria’s death, Gerald brainwashed Shadow to destroy the Earth.
There are a lot of dots from this time in Shadow’s life that fans would love to see connected.Sonic x Shadow Generations: Dark Beginningsshows that Shadow feels guilt as to not have been able to aid in finding Maria a cure as The Ultimate Life Form. It would be interesting to see what the experiments in Dr. Gerald Robotnik’s lab looked like and how much of a strain this must have put on all three characters. Additionally, that same web series implies that Shadow has always had a somewhat brooding personality. Since Maria meant so much to Shadow and even served as a sister figure to him, seeing the two of them bond and have fun for a change would be nice to highlight that there was more to their relationship than the tragedy.
The Formation of Team Dark
Although later iterations of the games have attempted to paint Shadow as a lone wolf, he shines when he’s in a group. Sonic Heroes introduced Team Dark, which consists of Shadow, Rouge the Bat, andE-123 Omega, one of Eggman’s robotsthat sought revenge on his creator who decommissioned him. The trio would later combine their efforts with G.U.N. After Shadow sought his revenge on them in his initial appearance, this shows that he was willing to put his anger behind him and do what he thought was best to aid humanity, which was Maria’s true last wish.
These three, being the most morally complex of the teams, naturally have a lot of potential for conflict. However, that makes their friendship all the more compelling. Shadow saves Rouge inSonic Adventure 2and immediately when he’s reawakened inSonic Heroes. Even in his amnesiac state, there’s a part of Shadow that, deep down, knows that Rouge is his friend andRouge, in return, clearly cares for Shadow. Additionally, even though Shadow prefers to keep his emotions to himself, he has shown concern for E-123 Omega. Seeing these three form a team and go on missions for G.U.N. all while reluctantly forming real bonds with one another has the potential for a great series.
Considering the Ultimate Life Form’s popularity, it makes sense that the nextSonic the Hedgehogfilm would set the stage for his spin-off. Whether it follows Shadow’s adventures on the ARK before the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 or after, when he teams up with Rouge and E-123, a Shadow spin-off should showcasenot just his powers, but his relationships as well. Whatever path is chosen, one thing is certain. Once audiences see Shadow onscreen, they will surely want to spend more time with him. No one wants to say “Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog” just yet.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is a prolific game franchise that started life on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Covering both 2D and 3D iterations through the generations, Sonic is known for speedy movements and interesting platforming mechanics.
Paramount
Paramount is a fairly recent (2019 founding) mass media company that used to operate under the name ViacomCBS. They have grow into their own production company and are also producing original content via a streaming service called Paramount Plus.
