Colleen O’Shaughnessey, best known for voicing Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, has discussed the possibility of Sonic 4 being made without any human characters at all.
In a recent sit-down with Screen Rant, O’Shaughnessy talked about the possibility of human characters being absent from Sonic 4. Here’s what she said:
“I mean, is it possible? Absolutely. You could do something with just the characters in this world. But I feel like in the last movie, they did such a great job of balancing the two, so if they continue on their pattern, my guess is they’ll continue to do that.”
“It definitely takes it out of a video game and really helps ground it into a more real-world situation, if that makes sense,” she added.
The presence of human characters may be reduced even more in Sonic 4 compared to the latest installment. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was praised especially for balancing screen time between the hedgehogs and human characters, as its storyline focused properly on the speedsters, particularly Shadow (voiced by Keanu Reeves), and his backstory.
Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik dies at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SPOILER ALERT). He is undoubtedly the most prominent and flashy human character in the entire franchise. His removal from Sonic 4 could leave the project completely devoid of human characters.
But it all comes down to whether Robotnik is actually dead. Given Carrey’s enduring popularity and the fan craze surrounding him, the actor could reprise his iconic role in the fourth installment.
Also, there’s no point in making Sonic 4 a live-action project if there are no human characters in it. Spending a substantial portion of the budget on CGI-generated characters in a live-action movie with no humans doesn’t make sense at all.
Therefore, we should expect Sonic 4 to balance screen time, just like its predecessor, between the hedgehogs and the human characters. Stay tuned for more updates.