Sonic 3 will end with a new character and it’s obvious who it’ll be

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will end with the reveal of a new character that will set up a fourth movie, according to the film’s director – and I know who it will be.

Forget the MCU, the live-action Sonic franchise capped off its first two movies with grin-inducing post-credits scenes. At the end of the first film, Tails hopped through a portal and arrived in Green Hills.

The sequel’s stinger was in another league. As GUN’s team cleaned up Robotnik’s wreckage, a government agent revealed they’d found a secret file dating back 50 years. She said it “coordinates to a secret research facility… it was a black site, sir. Someone worked very hard to keep this hidden.”

“My god, Project Shadow,” Commander Walter responded, and we got a brief look at Shadow emerging from his frozen chamber. It’s possible my reaction was louder than everyone else in the cinema (I was 25 at the time).

So, it’s not surprising that Sonic 3 will continue in the same vein with a big tease for the fourthquel.

Jeff Fowler, the director of all three movies, told Entertainment Weekly: “It’s fun to see the fan debates online about who’s coming up next, who’s going to be teased at the end of the film.

“We have a lot of the same conversations. We’ve all got our favorites on the filmmaking side, and we’re all making great cases for ‘it should be this one or that one.’ It is fun to keep that anticipation. This movie is no different in terms of teasing new characters.”

The question is, who will it be? Could it be Amy Rose, Sonic’s (self-proclaimed) girlfriend? Or maybe it’s Rouge the Bat, Silver, Chaos, or Blaze?

Here is my prediction: Sonic 3 will end with the introduction of Metal Sonic, and he will be the main villain in Sonic 4.

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I don’t consider myself a Sonic expert, but the first trailer for Sonic 3 contained a huge Metal Sonic tease: to convince Dr Robotnik to help them against Shadow, Sonic appears to give him one of his quills.

We know Robotnik is only a temporary ally, and with that quill (and other data Sonic may agree to give him in exchange for his assistance), he could create Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic is effectively a villainous, robotic clone of Sonic. He is brutal, often unwilling to compromise, and all too happy to use excessive force to get what he wants. He also believes he is superior to Sonic, and that his ultimate goal should be annihilating him.

He is the obvious next step. Sonic has battled Robotnik twice and he’ll fight Shadow (and, probably, reach an understanding by the end) in Sonic 3. It’s highly unlikely the fourth entry would rely on Robotnik as the main villain again, but Metal Sonic would pave the way for Carrey’s return without feeling like a retread of the first two films.

However, it could also tee up a (loose) adaptation of Sonic Heroes, especially if Shadow ‘dies’ at the end of Sonic 3. This would tee up Amy’s introduction too, and it could incorporate elements of Sonic CD.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits cinemas on December 21, 2024. In the meantime, check out our ranking of the best video game movies of all time, and other new movies you can watch this month.