Sonic 3 Is ‘Off And Running,’ So Does This Mean We’ll Learn Who’s Playing Shadow Any Time Soon?

The lineup of new 2024 movies is starting to come into view for cinemagoers, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 feels all the closer because of it. Franchise director Jeff Fowler knows this fact as well as anyone, and he’s teasing the next chapter with a wonderful post proclaiming production as “off and running.” Which leaves me to ask a question I’ve had since Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s ending: who’s playing Shadow the Hedgehog?

No, this isn’t just my random obsessions acting up again, as I have a pretty good reason for bringing this up. As you can see in Fowler’s social media post commemorating this news, the inspiration for such queries is literally standing in front of us. 

That doesn’t look like CGI trickery, my friends. If anything, this Sonic 3 glimpse seems to be showing us the on set stand-in for Shadow’s physical presence on set. This practice has been used throughout the previous two Sonic the Hedgehog films, as a reference for actors like James Marsden and the rest of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 cast to use for their performances. And as we can see, Shadow the Hedgehog is going to be front and center from day one. 

Which brings me back around, like a gigantic gold ring of mystery, to my big questions: has our new anti-hero’s voice actor been cast, and will we learn who they are in the near future? When the previous film was released, I asked Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s cast for suggestions on who should play Shadow; and there were some inspired choices. The shortlist from those answers is a pretty amazing field, and if I were to pick a favorite, I’d have to say Henry Cavill would be my choice. 

Then again, when I asked if Ben Schwartz would be up for continuing his villain era with Sonic 3, he did seem to be pretty jazzed about the prospect. So that’s another option that hangs in the air as a temptation. But alas, the only news we have at the moment is that Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s recently rescheduled 2024 debut feels right on track with this metaphorical starter’s gun going off.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will race into theaters on December 24, 2024; just in time for next year’s holiday season. But you can very easily distract yourself from questions like “Who’s playing Shadow?” or “Is Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik ever going to return?” by revisiting both entries of the Sonic movie canon. And that’s all possible, provided you have access to a Paramount+ subscription.

That platform will also come in handy in the near future as well. As everything we know about Knuckles informs us that the streaming series spinoff is looking to premiere at a currently unknown date, that information also informs us that Paramount+ is the place to be to view it as it unfolds.