How Will the Writers for the Sonic Movie Handle Shadow the Hedgehog?

Sonic the Hedgehog movie series not only broke the curse of the video game, movie adaptation but broke records in global box charts. I do believe some of the success of the first movie came from the decision to redesign Sonic from his original look to what it is now. The movies also have decent writing, except for the Hawaii wedding scene that dragged, but they do portray the characters well. Idris Elba was a fantastic choice for the warrior echidna Knuckles, and did not play the dumb, petty Knuckles that is scene in the more recent Sonic games. Now this is a spoiler for the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, so if you have not seen it I recommend you do, it is a good movie. At the end of the movie they reveal Project Shadow and show Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow the Hedgehog being the antagonist of Sonic movie 3 is a big step, and to Sonic series fans the most important movie. Shadow is a widely popular character in the Sonic franchise, and with recent games has largely been ignored. So the Sonic fanbase is going to have all eyes on the 3rd movie, and if Shadow’s character is done wrong it will be a huge talking point in reviews for the movies. Especially since the series does a great job of adapting the characters for the big screen. Shadow is not only a complex character, he also has a complex origin which can be difficult to adapt to screen time.

Shadow the Hedgehog first appeared in the video game Sonic Adventure 2, and in that game his origin begins 50 years before the main events of the story. He was created by Gerald Robotnik, Eggman’s grandfather, who wanted to use his science and technology to make the world a better place. Gerald will eventually be recruited to create the ultimate lifeform, a project he once rejected and once failed before creating Shadow. The failed prototype being an attempt to recreate the final boss of Sonic Adventure. Which even when simplified, requires a huge amount of screen time. Even when skipping the black aliens from the game Shadow the Hedgehog.

Then there is the character Maria, Dr. Gerald Robotnik’s granddaughter, who is the most important character to Shadow. It would be impossible to have a Shadow story without mentioning Maria. Maria had a degenerative disease that was alleviated by being in the low gravity colony, and her grandfather was researching for a cure. She is a major driving force in the actions of Shadow. Maria and Shadow both spent all their free time together on the space colony that Gerald built. One of the main topics of their talks was Shadow’s reason for existing, which Maria would give him. To protect mankind. A promise he would forget after her death and his capture at the hands of GUN. Gerald also gets captured and goes homicidal and promises his revenge on humanity as his final words before his execution. Which is not the most child friendly narrative the movies are going for. So the movie would have to dedicate screen time to Gerald Robotnik, Maria, and their relationship to each other which is a lot to get Shadow to a present time narrative.

The personality of Shadow is just as complex as his backstory. At the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2 when Shadow is revealed perfectly displays his character. It shows him standing above Sonic on a destroyed machine and looking down on him. Shadow is the ultimate lifeform and has no issues displaying that power to prove it. Early on in the story, Shadow is shown not caring about humanity and is fine with ending life on Earth because of Maria’s death. He has also never shown to be unnecessarily violent or unwilling to help others. When Amy Rose found Shadow and grabbed him behind, he did not attack her or even make an attempt to throw her off him. You can see the best of Shadow’s personality in the game Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), where he always puts the protection of his friends first. Also one of the greatest emotional scenes of Shadow, where he becomes visibly devastated at the fact that his close friend in the future, will be the one who captures and seals him.

In the game, Shadow the Hedgehog it adds to the lore of Shadow’s past but its lore is mostly ignored by the community. The game adds to the lore that Shadow was created thanks to the help of aliens under the promise that he would help them take over the Earth. The view that Shadow is an overly violent character mostly comes from his own standalone game. The game has multiple branching storylines where you can choose to be good or evil. The evil path has you helping the aliens and defeating Sonic. Even if you have never played the game Shadow the Hedgehog, the opening cinematic is pretty famous in the fandom for the awesome music and the action depicted. Including Shadow holding gun, a weirdly, pump action MP5.

All in all, I have confidence in the movie writers to produce a good Sonic movie with Shadow the Hedgehog. With their track record I am sure they can do it but it will be a challenge because animated characters, the plot wise they have been average at best. Which is why I am predicting that the human actors will be the ones asking if Shadow memories are real and help him remember his promise to Maria. The conclusion of the movie will have Shadow and Sonic working together, I just wonder if Shadow is going to sacrifice himself like in Sonic Adventure 2. The Sonic movie franchise is making more money than I assume most people predicted, I would be surprised if they stopped at 3 due to the success of the movies. If the third Sonic movie is the end, gives an grand send off and give Shadow the limelight he deserves that he could not get from the recent Sonic games.