Sonic the Hedgehog 2 star Idris Elba offers an update on the planned Knuckles TV show. Big screen video game adaptations have long had a notorious track record of flopping at the box office. But 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie bucked this trend by grossing $306 million at the worldwide box office.
Now thanks to the huge box office for the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie, the super-powered video game character is back for a sequel. This time around, Sonic is joined by his sidekick Tails (who was of course only briefly introduced in the first film’s post-credits scene). Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also sees the arrival of a new bad guy in Knuckles the Echidna, as voiced by Idris Elba.
Indeed reaction to Elba’s arrival as Knuckles has been so positive, it was revealed back in February that the echidna is getting his own show on Paramount+, with Elba coming back to voice the character on the small screen.
Obviously it will be awhile until this Paramount+ Knuckles show arrives on fans’ screens. But audiences can rest assured that work on the show continues to progress. Speaking exclusively to Screen Rant from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 premiere, Elba himself offered a brief status update on the Knuckles show:
Well, we don't know what it is yet, but we're finding it. Knuckles is a fish out of water. He's new to the planet. I think we might explore that little food blog or something.
Knuckles is of course a major character in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and its various comic book and animated spinoffs. For Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the echidna is paired with returning villain Dr. Robotnik, played once again by Jim Carrey. In a storyline ripped straight from the games, Knuckles and Robotnik are both after a powerful gem called the Master Emerald. Sonic and Tails naturally want to stop their adversaries from getting their hands on this legendary object.
There is however more to the character of Knuckles than just this one story in which he teams with Robotnik. Indeed Knuckles has a whole backstory involving the destruction of his tribe and his survival as the last remaining member. In fact Elba reportedly delved into this Knuckles origin story as part of his preparation for voicing the character in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Given the existence of all this backstory, there seem to be plenty of possibilities available for Knuckles the TV show. Going by Elba’s comments though, it seems the show might focus less on Knuckles’ past and deal more with him as a character out of his element among live-action humans on planet Earth. No matter what subject matter the Knuckles TV show tackles, it will have a major asset on board in Elba, an actor who can make almost any character compelling even if he’s only using his voice.
