Sonic The Hedgehog 2 hits UK cinemas later this week, and theaters in North America the week after, and the first reviews for the movie have started to filter through. The very good news is by pretty much all accounts, the sequel is as good if not better than the first movie. An action-packed follow-up that introduces instantly recognizable new characters and remains faithful to the games. There are plenty of easter eggs to look and listen out for throughout the movie.
From the poster recreating the Sonic 2 Mega Drive art to the plane Tails pilots, the inspiration from the game of the same name is plain to see. However, Sonic 2 director Jeff Fowler has told IGN the movies won't necessarily follow the games in order in terms of future characters and elements. This second movie pulls from both Sonic 2 and the start of Sonic 3 via its introduction of Knuckles, but don't expect the already announced third movie to build on that via stuff from Sonic & Knuckles.
“It's not always going to be a linear progression of like 'Oh, this was in Sonic 2 so it's going to be in the Sonic 2 film,” Fowler explained. “There's so much great, inspiring imagery to pull from the 30 years of games. So if we didn't get it in one film, there's always the chance that we'll revisit it somewhere else.”
Fowler also touched upon something that has already made it out into the world, but won't be spoiled here. That a new character's arrival is teased in the new movie, potentially during the credits as those who have seen the sequel have urged fans to stay until the very end. “The character is teased. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but that definitely is something I'd be very excited about telling a story with.”
While we might not know exactly what's next for Sonic and co, we do know there is going to be a lot of it. As touched on above, a third movie has already been greenlit as well as a Knuckles spinoff series. There's also a Tails movie rumored to be in the works as a producer working on the movies has confirmed the goal here is to build a Sonic cinematic universe. Now, go speculate on who that new character is going to be before it is officially revealed this weekend.