The journey towards adapting iconic Sega videogame character “Sonic the Hedgehog” into a movie was one that spanned the end of the 20th Century up to this point in the 21st. Things finally got serious when Paramount Pictures picked up the work in 2017, but a negatively-received first trailer in 2019 almost lost audience interest. Thankfully, a delay to redesign the maligned CGI for Sonic led to better-received follow-up previews and a very successful pre-pandemic 2020 release. A sequel was immediately green-lit, which in turn was teased way back in February this year. Now the first trailer is officially out.

Variety would have it that Paramount has dropped the first full trailer for “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” follow-up to the hit 2020 videogame film. The preview was officially premiered this past Thursday, December 9, at the 2021 Game Awards. Most of the cast from the original return to reprise their roles, led by Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and Jim Carrey as the maniacal scientist Dr. “Eggman” Robotnik. While the sequel picks up the storyline from its predecessor, it also starts adding more lore and elements from the original Sega videogame franchise, notably the other Genesis console titles.

The “Sonic 2” trailer brings audiences back to Sonic (Schwartz), the super-fast blue anthropomorphic other-dimensional hedgehog, having adjusted to living on Earth. He staves off boredom by using his speed to fight crime, often with violent and destructive consequences, to the chagrin of his guardian Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). Their idyllic days soon end when Dr. Robotnik (Carrey), banished to another world at the end of the first “Sonic” movie, returns with a bigger robot army. And he has an obsessive score to settle with a certain blue hedgehog, as well as a mission to find the Master Emerald that would grant him unlimited power.

To face this newer, viler Eggman, Sonic must rely on a friend who has come from another dimension with orders to aid him, Miles (Colleen O’Shaughnessy) the flying two-tailed fox. But Robotnik has an ally of his own, a red echidna with super-powerful fists named Knuckles (Idris Elba) who himself is looking for the Master Emerald. The stakes have grown beyond just protecting his current home. Can Sonic prevail over this new threat to keep the universe from being destroyed by whoever possesses the Emerald?

“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” also stars Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Lee Madjoub, Adam Pally, Tom Butler, and Shemar Moore. The film will be released by Paramount on April 8, 2022 when hopefully the pandemic situation will be even more improved.

Image: Den of Geek

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