Celebrating the 2024 movie schedule as it leaves view, it’s hard not to mention the fun and joy Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been spreading in theaters. With the latest entry in Paramount and Sega’s adaptations of the gaming icon, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. That much was especially true once Keanu Reeves’ Sonic 3 casting as Shadow the Hedgehog became public knowledge.
Of course, I’d noticed a couple of special references to Reeves’ two most landmark franchises. When I had the chance to sit down with Sonic the Hedgehog franchise writers Josh Miller and Pat Casey, I asked them if they’d written any specific callbacks. Knowing that the action star was playing the ultimate lifeform, Miller & Casey shared that they actually had one reference they wanted to include. Speaking with CinemaBlend, Casey shared this famous Keanu Reeves line that almost made the cut:
It didn't make the movie, but we were definitely tempted to [ask], ‘Is there a way we can get Shadow to say like ‘Guns, lots of guns.’ He’s already said that in two other franchises, just like really carry it forward.
Director Jeff Fowler did have a specific Keanu role in mind while making Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Which, to be fair, is probably why the sequence where Shadow’s walking in the rain through a neon-washed Japan looks like a scene from John Wick: Chapter 2.
But the one reference I’m not sure many people picked up on was Shadow’s would-be finishing move with Sonic (Ben Schwartz), later in that same setting. If you’re a fan of The Matrix trilogy’s story, you may have felt the pang of deja vu I sensed when Shadow the Hedgehog rocketed towards the ground, planting the Blue Blur in the asphalt. That was a page right out of the book of Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) during the climactic throwdown in 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions.
As for both of these references, it sounds like they were added in later on in the process. Continuing to lay out the production process for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, as Josh Miller and Pat Casey tipped their hats to one department in particular:
Josh Miller: "But to answer your question [about] throwing in nods, I don't feel like it was ever discussed. I think it just kind of started happening organically, and then especially once he agreed to do it."
Pat Casey: "I mean as far as him hitting certain poses, poses from other Keanu franchises, that's those board artists are always slipping those things in.”
While Mr. Miller and Mr. Casey couldn’t slip in the patented Keanu Reeves line they wished they could have included, fear not. Thanks to a creative video editor, we’ve come one step closer to seeing what it would be like if Shadow the Hedgehog got to make that request of Matrix and John Wick fame:
There’s a subtle balance that goes into making a fan-pleasing blockbuster like Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Director Jeff Fowler shared why more game characters weren’t in Sonic 3, and in another interview with IGN, Pat Casey and Josh Miller shared that a skeletal cameo of Big the Cat was nixed from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Also, you fans who were hoping that Sarah Paulson’s rumored Rouge the Bat role was going to happen, she’s actually been deleted from all three pictures so far.
Although with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 officially announced , there’s no telling what lines, easter eggs, or appearances may be in the works. We’ll just have to wait, as the fourth installment isn’t scheduled to arrive until spring 2027. In the meantime, you can still catch Sonic 3 in theaters, as well as revisit the first two films and the Knuckles spinoff series, through your Paramount+ subscription.
