SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 Writer Talks About That Post-Credits Reveal and What It Means for Film Number Three

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 hit theaters a couple of weeks ago, furthering the story in the franchise. It introduced fans, and Sonic, to both Tails and Knuckles, major characters in the universe, and just like the first film, it left off with a post-credits scene that teased yet another addition to the cast of the next film. If you haven’t seen the post-credits scene yet, this is your spoiler warning.

The second movie ends with Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Knuckles (Idris Elba), and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) taking down the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). As the military is cleaning up the aftermath of the battle, G.U.N. commander, Walters (Tom Butler), is informed of a research facility housing a decades old project. The camera cuts to that facility, where the test subject—Shadow the Hedgehog—is contained. The film ends on Shadow waking up and opening his red, energized eyes.

When talking about the scene and what it means for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the film’s co-writer Pat Casey told the Green Hill Zone podcast (via Gizmodo) that Shadow was brought to the franchise primarily because of his popularity, and also because of what he could bring to the films going forward. Casey described him as “driven by anger and revenge,” similar to Knuckles, but the key difference is that Shadow isn’t misunderstood like the red echidna was in the sequel. Shadow was created with the prime goal of protect the world from danger, but it’s the way he goes about that that will put him at odds with Sonic and friends. He went on to say:

“Sonic’s never had to deal with someone as emotionally damaged like Shadow...when he sees Shadow, he’s like, ‘Well, I’ll just teach him about the power of friendship, like with Knuckles!’ But that’s not going to work on Shadow.”

In the character’s background, Shadow’s desire to protect humanity stems from witnessing the death of his friend Maria at the hands of G.U.N. It seems like Shadow and Sonic may be able to team up against G.U.N. for the same objective, but Shadow is coming in not knowing Sonic’s intentions, and he is apprehensive, having just gone through something traumatic. This might mean a darker Sonic movie than we’ve seen so far, but I think fans are on board for whatever the third film has in store.

What would you like to see go down in Sonic the Hedgehog 3?