How Far Does The Sonic Movie Universe Go From Here?

How Far Does The Sonic Movie Universe Go From Here?



I saw Ben Schwartz on The Late Show the other day joking about doing 15-20 Sonic the Hedgehog sequels, only ending the franchise once the plotlines start to focus on Sonic’s aching old knees and bad back. The crowd ate it up, mostly because Schwartz is the most affable guy on the planet, but I also got the impression that everyone there would be happy to watch 17 more Sonic the Hedgehog movies. After seeing opening weekend box office numbers for Sonic 3, I’m not so sure Schwartz was even joking.

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Playable Genesis Cartridge Made To Promote Sonic The Hedgehog 3

So, where can we get our hands on one?

Sonic is showing no signs of slowing down, while the headlines write themselves. The threequel crushed its three-day opening weekend, pulling in another $60 million (just short of Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s $72 million opening), and more than doubling Disney’s Mufasa (which had double the budget). Sonic has proven to be a consistent franchise, and before the weekend was even through, the fourth movie was announced for 2027.

What’s Next For Sonic?

shadow looking over his shoulder in sonic the hedgehog 3.
via Paramount

Any time a big successful franchise like this comes along, it’s only a matter of time until they ruin it. Executive loves to push an IP to its absolute limit and then keep pushing until the fans get fed up and what could have been a decades-long cash cow is suddenly spoiled beef. Sonic is on the right track now, but it’s in serious risk of over-saturation. Everyone wants more Sonic, but no one wants too much Sonic, and historically, that is an almost impossible line for greedy film executives to walk.

The franchise already got its first big misstep with Knuckles. The Paramount Plus spin-off was received meh-ly from all but the most ravenous fans, and criticized for, bizarrely, not featuring enough Knuckles. CGI is expensive, and so the show was expensive (rumored to cost $10 million per episode) but seemingly not expensive enough to match the quality of the movies.

I guarantee you the fat cats in Hollywood are foaming at the mouth for the next Sonic tie-in series right now, and they’ve got no shortage of options. Sonic’s got about a bazillion friends that could all lead their own spin-off. A Shadow mini-series seems like the most obvious choice, but they could also explore the Chaotix detective agency in a campy procedural, or give Amy her own series in the lead-up to Sonic 4. We could also just get more Knuckles, and if they could somehow convince Jim Carrey to keep doing it, an Eggman show would be a guaranteed hit.

All of those hypothetical series could potentially be spin-off movies too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Paramount was eyeing an MCU-style schema of interconnected movies leading to a some kind of epic team-up event film down the line. It didn’t work for the DCEU, or Sony’s Spider-Man Villains, or Universal Dark Universe, but it could work for Sonic!

Sonic’s Secret Sauce

The poster for the Sonic 3 movie, with Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails

If audiences keep showing up, I could see the main Sonic series going on for a long time. There are endless stories to tell about Sonic and his friends thanks to decades of games and comic books, and the movies have barely even scratched the surface of his villains. All things considered, the narrative elements of the first three movies aren’t especially strong anyway. It should be hard to keep the quality level where it’s currently at.

The best part is that the star of the franchise is a cartoon character who will never age (no matter what Schwartz says), retire, or seek contract negotiations. Schwartz is great in the role, but he wasn’t the first Sonic, and he certainly won’t be the last. Where the MCU stumbled without its biggest stars, Sonic can just keep going.

The one exception is Jim Carrey. While he’s my favorite part of those films, it’s hard to tell how much his involvement contributes to their success. Can Sonic survive without Eggman (or, even worse, a recast Eggman)? That will be the first big challenge this franchise will face, and I hope we get at least a couple more sequels before that day comes.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Placeholder Logo

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 continues the adventures of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and teases the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog. 

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