Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Director Shares Full Circle Moment 20 Years In The Making

With the hotly anticipated trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 finally released, eager fans have voiced their enthusiasm for the latest entry in the Sonic film franchise, particularly with the reveal of Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow’s introduction has been met with unwavering praise and admiration from even the most devoted fans, though one fan in particular — the director of the film — touched upon the sentimental journey he shared with the character that spanned two decades.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 follows the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where Jim Carrey’s Dr. Eggman was defeated by a team effort comprised of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and also dropped the bombshell reveal of Project Shadow during the post-credits scene. Shadow’s inaugural appearance was in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 on the Sega Dreamcast, widely regarded as the jewel in the franchise’s crown in addition to being the game that the third film is heavily inspired by. Shadow was initially intended by developers Sonic Team to be a one-and-done character, but due to overwhelming fan response, was subsequently brought back for future games and has since become one of the more popular faces in the franchise, leading to his own eponymous game in 2005. Despite being met with less than favorable reviews and an edgy tone that was lambasted at launch and beyond, Shadow’s headlining game would set in motion the film franchise we see today.

The Sonic the Hedgehog films — and the first episode of the Knuckles spin-off streaming series — were directed by Academy Award nominee Jeff Fowler, who worked on the opening CGI cutscene for 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog. In Fowler’s post on X, he wrote, “One of my first jobs in the VFX industry was animating this amazing character for his first #SEGA standalone video game. Twenty years later, I could not feel more HONORED to bring SHADOW to the big screen in #SonicMovie3.”

The opening cutscene for Shadow the Hedgehog was produced by animation giant Blur Studio, who would go on to animate sequences for 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog, the film franchise, the cinematic trailers for the Batman: Arkham trilogy, and the upcoming Secret Level series. The studio gained major notoriety with Fowler’s 2004 directorial debut, Gopher Broke, which scored him and Tim Miller a Best Animated Short Film nomination at the 77th Academy Awards. Miller, one of Blur’s co-founders and director of the first Deadpool film, served as executive producer on the short and would find himself in the same role across the Sonic the Hedgehog films.

Fowler is no stranger to the world of Sonic and clearly holds deep reverence for not only the character, but the franchise as a whole. Following the initial reveal of Sonic’s movie design in 2019, Fowler acknowledged the criticism and sought to redesign the character with the support of Paramount and Sega — a decision that, left ignored, likely would not have led to the monumental success that the film franchise is today. If the previous films are any indication, fans should expect to see more faithful story beats and Easter eggs once Sonic the Hedgehog 3 releases in theaters later this year on December 20th.