Sonic the Hedgehog pulled off what for a long time seemed like the impossible for video games - it managed to be a good movie while pleasing fans of the game. Though it got off to a rocky start (we all remember the original Sonic design with teeth), it recovered quickly and while it's not entirely loyal to the game in terms of narrative, the heart of Sonic and the entire supporting cast makes it feel like a real attempt to capture the joy of the games and not just cash-in on the name of the franchise.
However, there have been some creative liberties taken. Agent Stone, for example, is a completely new character invented entirely for the movie. Lee Majdoub, the actor who plays Stone, sat down with TheGamer for a chat about the movie, which you can read all about in our full interview coming out tomorrow. For now though, we're focussing on the really important stuff. Majdoub has seen your gay fanfiction, and he loves it.
Initially, Majdoub says, Stone was there just for Robotnik to have someone to talk to, as a way for him to explain his plan and bounce dialogue off, but as the actors worked together with the director, it evolved into something more. "It started out with just this deep admiration for Robotnik," Majdoub says. "That turned into like this element of care, and then it evolved. Now the fans, they're shipping the two characters, which I love seeing. Fans have asked me, what do you think [of their relationship] and is it real, and I can't speak to whether it's real or not. But what I can speak to is that I love it, I love seeing people's creativity. And as long as it stays positive, I'm always like, 'go for it!', I love what's going on. To see that get incorporated into the second movie a little bit with these little nods to it. I was just really happy for the fans.
"Jim [Carrey, who plays Robotnik] said something funny in an interview, he's like, 'there's got to be something to these two, because of the amount of abuse that they go through to stay together, there's got to be something to it!'"
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 sees Stone open a coffee shop, making latte art out of Robotnik, as well as one of Robotnik and himself surrounded by coffee foam love hearts. The idea of Stone making lattes existed in the original script, but it was Majdoub's own research that led to the now-iconic drink itself. "I went on Reddit and I looked up the most pretentious coffee orders," he laughs. "A barista had said that someone had asked for a latte with Austrian goat milk, so we added that element."
Part of the reason Majdoub thinks Stone has been taken into the hearts of fans is because he's not a bad guy, even if he's the bad guy. "I think he's likeable, which is tough to find," he says. "It's this endearing, likeable element of a big hearted villain, in a sense. He doesn't know he's a villain. What's great about Sonic 2 is you get to see a little bit of him away from Robotnik, and how he interacts with someone else, which I think is great."
You can see Agent Stone, and the rest of the Sonic cast, in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in theatres now. Steamed Austrian goat milk lattes sold separately.