Idris Elba, the voice of Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, promised us that his rendition of the purple echidna wouldn’t sound sexy. “I don’t think I’m going for that,” he said in an interview with Screen Rant. But then we got to hear Knuckles for the first time in the new Sonic 2 trailer unveiled at last night’s Game Awards, and wouldn’t you know it? Knuckles sounded sexier than he’s ever been.
And that’s not just my opinion. Sonic fans from all over have noted that despite Elba’s best efforts he still can’t but help make Knuckles sound sexy.
Here’s that trailer again, just in case you need a refresher.
Mmf. That smooth, confident baritone questioning Sonic’s confidence before decking him into next week. It’s enough to get anyone’s quills to stand on end.
It's not just the voice either. There are plenty of folks who think the new Knuckles looks pretty sexy too. Not me of course. Just... some people.
Anyway, it looks like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is taking a page out of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, where Dr. Robotnik teams up with Knuckles to take on the blue blur and his two-tailed friend. Hopefully, Tails gets a bit more of an introduction in the film since he was kinda short shrifted in the trailer.
In the same segment at last night's awards ceremony, Sega finally revealed Sonic Frontiers and gave it a late 2022 launch window. Frontier's represents a bold new direction for Sonic--an open-world game, offering a brand new style of gameplay for Sonic fans. Although Sega called it an "open zone" game more than an open-world one. What that might mean will likely be explained in future teasers.