The trend of cartoonish video games being turned into live-action movies continues with the 2019 Sonic the Hedgehog movie currently in development.
We have now been given our first glimpse at the live-action version of Sonic the Hedgehog via the official Instagram page of IGN, where we can see the silhouette of how Sonic will appear in the film.
It's hard to make a judgment of Sonic's design based on the silhouette alone, but there is just something terribly off about Sonic's limbs and proportions. It seems that Sonic is missing his large trademark gloves, while his normally straight yet bendy knees have now been given a more realistic shape, which is creepy to look at.
Sonic also seems to be sharing Detective Pikachu's design, as he now has visible fur on his body.
It seems like the producers of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie have gone in the same direction as the Detective Pikachu movie and tried to go for a more realistic design with the formerly cartoonish characters. The Pokémon that appeared in the Detective Pikachu trailer were a mixed bag, with some looking very off-putting (like Mr. Mime), but Detective Pikachu himself seemed fine, which is the most important thing of all. The same issue awaits the producers of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, as nailing Sonic's design will be key to the movie's success.
The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie will feature the voice of Ben Schwartz as the titular hedgehog, while Jim Carrey will be playing Dr. Robotnik and James Marsden will be playing a new character called Tom Wachowski, who befriends Sonic and will act as the live-action protagonist of the film.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie will partially be set in the real world, as Tom Wachowski is said to come from San Francisco. It's possible that the movie will be taking the same route as the upcoming Monster Hunter movie and will start in the real world, before moving into the realm where the game is set.
There is no word yet on whether characters like Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, or Tails will appear in the film. We can only wonder what monstrosities those famous characters will be turned into by the animation department of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is scheduled to be released on November 8th, 2019.