We’ve spent the last week heaping praise on Idris Elba for his excellent blockbuster lead turn as Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad. We said it was about time the actor got to be the true hero (or anti-hero) in an action-adventure movie. “Hopefully he’ll get to do more,” we said. Well, it didn’t take long for another such role to land his way. Granted, it’s a bit different this time. The actor announced via his social media that he will take on the role of Knuckles the Echidna in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog sequel.
Knock, knock....#SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/N1PW5XaCEd
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) August 10, 2021
Elba shared the teaser image of Knuckles’ iconic spiked fist glove with the ominous copy of “Knock, knock…..” to go along with it. The official Sonic Twitter quote retweeted it with the text “This should punch things up.”
The character of Knuckles the Echidna first appeared in the 1994 game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as a character working with the evil Dr. Robotnik/Dr. Eggman. The villain had tricked Knuckles into thinking Sonic and Tails were his enemy. This antagonistic version of Knuckles didn’t last long; later that same year, he was a playable hero character in the game Sonic & Knuckles. Over the very long history of the franchise, Knuckles became less of a focus, and indeed nothing more than comic relief in some instances. However, he was one of the series’ first true breakout characters and remains a fan favorite to this day.
Sega
The end of the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie teased the appearance of Tails, Sonic’s sidekick. While we still don’t know who will play Tails, a.k.a. Miles Prower, in the movie, we do know that the movie will focus on Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey)’s efforts to defeat his speedy blue rival and flying fox friend with the aid of Knuckles. Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as Sonic from the first movie, along with Carrey and returning humans James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Natasha Rothwell.
Sonic the Hedgehog was a surprise hit in 2020, one of the only movies to come out as planned prior to COVID-19. Filming for the sequel has already wrapped, earlier this year. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a scheduled release date of April 8, 2022.
Featured Image: Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!