Sonic the Hedgehog has been a beloved video game franchise for more than three decades, but the last several years have seen the super speedy title character achieving cinematic fame as well. Both 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog and 2022’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 performed critically and commercially well, and along with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 coming, there’s also a Knuckles spinoff series being made for Paramount+ subscribers. Now more castings for this show has been announced, with actors like Christopher Lloyd and Cary Elwes set to appear opposite Idris Elba’s version of the red powerhouse.
In addition to the respective alums of Back to the Future and The Princess Bride coming aboard, Deadline reports that Stockard Channing, Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel have boarded Knuckles. As noted already, Elba is already set to vocally reprise the title character, who will be training Adam Pally’s Wade, the comical Green Hills deputy sheriff who was present in the first two Sonic the Hedgehog movies. The show’s recurring cast cast members include Edi Patterson, Julian Barratt, Scott Mescudi, Ellie Taylor; and Rory McCann and Tina Sumpter are set as guest stars, with the latter reprising Maddie, the wife of James Marsden’s Tom Wachowski.
Unfortunately, no character details were provided for any of the five newcomers, so we have no idea how they’ll fit into this new adventure for Knuckles and Wade. Given that the Knuckles show will be chiefly set on Earth, we can safely presume that most of these actors will be playing human characters. However, I can’t help wondering if Lloyd, Elwes or any of the others might be lending their voices rather than appearing on camera. After all, while Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik was the main antagonist in the previous movies, there’s no shortage of villains from this franchise who hail from other worlds, so maybe one of them will be a source of trouble, if not the main source, in Knuckles.
As far as Christopher Lloyd and Cary Elwes are specifically concerned, this news comes a few months after the former guest-starred on The Mandalorian (which led to Lloyd throwing out a Back to the Future reference while thanking fans), while the latter has already been seen this year in Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Blackberry, and Sweetwater, and will be back in the coming months for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Rebel Moon. Behind the scenes, talent from the Sonic the Hedgehog movies like director Jeff Fowler, writer John Whittington and producer Neal H. Moritz are attached to Knuckles, and Idris Elba is executive producing in addition to carrying out his voicing duties.
Knuckles is set to hit Paramount+ sometime later this year, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will follow on December 20, 2024. For now, you can look through the best Paramount+ shows and use the 2023 TV schedule to plan what to watch in the coming months.
