Key Takeaways
- Shadow will be voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa in the Japanese dub of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- Morikawa has voiced a lot of video game characters in Japan including Sephiroth and Resident 4’s Leon.
- The actor also performs the Japanese dub for Keanu Reeves in most of the Shadow actor’s other movies.
It’s been known for a while now that Keanu Reeves will be the voice of Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. We’ve even heard how that’s going to sound in the movie’s trailers. However, we’ve only recently learned some of the actors who will be voicing Shadow in the movie when it’s dubbed into different languages, and the actor lending their voice to the red and black hedgehog in Japan is a pretty big deal.
The actor’s name is Toshiyuki Morikawa, and even if you don’t recognize that name, you will have almost certainly heard his voice. At the very least you’ll be familiar with some of the characters he has voiced in Japan. Morikawa has a long history of voicing iconic video game characters in Japan with some of his more notable credits being Leon in Resident Evil 4, Dante from Devil May Cry, and perhaps most exciting and fitting of all, Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7.
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Sonic 3’s Japanese Twitter account shared a graphic detailing who will be providing the voices of the cast in Japan earlier this week. The majority of the cast was already known since most of the characters in the movie have already appeared in one or both of the first films, and their Japanese actors will return to voice them again. However, since Shadow is a new addition to the Sonic movies, the reveal of his voice actor was entirely new information.
The cast reveal also confirmed who will be voicing Maria, and that the same actor will be voicing Dr. Robotnik and Gerald Robotnik. Makes sense since both roles are played by Jim Carrey.
Shadow Will Be Voiced By Sephiroth’s Actor In Japan
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That said, those familiar with Morikawa’s work might have been expecting him to be announced as the voice of Shadow in Japan. Among his many video game credits, the actor is also used as the go-to for most of Reeves’ roles when his movies are dubbed into Japanese. He also provides the Japanese dubs for Colin Farrell, Tom Cruise, Ewan McGregor, and a fair few other top Hollywood actors. So even if you haven’t heard Morikawa’s voice in a game, if you’ve heard Japanese dubs of movies starring any of those actors, you’ve heard his voice.
Even if Morikawa wasn’t the go-to guy for dubbing Reeves’ performances into Japanese, the man who voices Sephiroth feels like a very fitting choice to play Shadow. Two characters with incredibly dark pasts who fans tend to love unconditionally even though we probably shouldn’t. Sonic x Shadow Generations will be getting DLC in which Shadow is voiced by Reeves this December so that presumably means Morikawa has done voice work for the game too.
- Release Date
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December 20, 2024
- Director
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Jeff Fowler
- Distributor(s)
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Paramount Pictures