Sonic the Hedgehog Live-Action Movie Has Perfect Response to Haters

[BrennoARTS]

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie has responded to negative comments regarding the first official posters released earlier this month. After dazzling Sega owners in the 1990s with speed, a vividly colorful world and some fantastic early platforming action, the blue ring-collecting hedgehog has become a true international video game icon. However, many Sonic fans would perhaps suggest that the franchise hasn't always delivered on its early success, with later games ranging from distinctly average to virtually unplayable. Sonic would go on to appear in various animated forms on TV, also with varying degrees of success.

Due to the character's enduring popularity, interest in a Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been constant and such a project was first mentioned as far back as 1994, before ultimately being scrapped. The concept was revived in 2014 and after moving from Sony to Paramount, eventually settled on a 2019 release date. The movie will be directed by Jeff Fowler and star the voice of Ben Schwartz as the eponymous speedster. James Marsden is also set to appear and Jim Carrey is lined up for the role of the evil Dr. Robotnik. Earlier this month, Paramount released the first two posters for Sonic the Hedgehog, one featuring the title character's silhouette and another with Sonic's massive legs on the Golden Gate Bridge. Both designs were roundly panned online, with fans calling the live-action Sonic creepy and overly muscular, among other (mostly unpleasant) things.

In response to these criticisms, the official Sonic the Hedgehog movie Twitter has now posted a comeback. The tweet features Sonic, showing off even more jacked legs than before, holding up a sign that reads: "Can't a guy work out? Be back next year. Sonic." This is clearly referencing the many commentators online who felt that the new Sonic movie design looked far too muscular to be the character fans know and love.

The tweet comes from an account that is still fairly new and hasn't posted much in the way of original content but the page is verified, and therefore the response appears to be legitimate. Assuming this is the case, it's perhaps reassuring to know that those behind the film (or at least its marketing campaign) are taking the negative responses in good humor, whereas the majority of films tend to simply ignore such online negativity. On a more serious note, the tweet also indicates that Paramount are aware of the backlash and, with nearly a year until release, might still have time to do something about it, should they wish to.

Video game movie adaptations have a notoriously bad reputation and the added challenge of a CGI main character means that Sonic the Hedgehog was always a hugely ambitious project. However, it's interesting to compare the Sonic reaction to that of Detective Pikachu, which was overwhelmingly positive. Like the Sonic movie, Detective Pikachu aimed to adapt an iconic video game creature into the world of cinematic live-action but managed to do so in a way that looked natural and pleased fans. Perhaps, if changes are going to be made as a result of the backlash, Sonic the Hedgehog should take some pointers from his Pokemon counterpart.