"Sonic 3" Gets a Major Boost With Keanu Reeves Signing on to ...

Nobody knows a speedy franchise better than Keanu Reeves.

The superstar is slipping off his trademark black John Wick suit for the black fur of a speedy hedgehog in Paramount’s upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Reeves will be voicing the character of Shadow.

Shadow has a very big role to play in Sonic 3. As revealed during Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon last week, footage from Sonic 3 found Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carey) getting his groove back after his disastrous turn in Sonic 2 by creating Shadow the Hedgehog, a character that hails from the video game Sonic Adventure 2 back in 2001. While Shadow is as speedy and powerful as Sonic, he’s his polar opposite in personality, preferring a dark vibe. If you’re going to cast Keanu Reeves to voice an animated character, Shadow the Hedgehog seems like a fit as snug as John Wick’s Brioni suits.

The Sonic franchise has raced off to success ever since it burst onto the scene in 2020. Director Jeff Fowler returns once again—he’s directed all the installments—with voice stars including Ben Schwartz as Sonic, James Marsden as Sonic’s human buddy Tom Wachowski, and Idris Elba as Knuckles.

Reeves has been a busy man. He’s helped make the John Wick franchise a global phenomenon, with John Wick: Chapter 4 breaking its own records last year. He rebooted his iconic role of Neo for 2021’s The Matrix: Resurrections and has parts in Aziz Ansari’s upcoming Good Fortune, as well as returning as Wick for a small part in the Ana De Armas-led John Wick Presents: Ballerina.

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Featured image: LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 06: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white) Keanu Reeves attending the “John Wick: Chapter 4” UK Gala Screening at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 06, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)