Sonic 3 trailer finally unveils Keanu Reeves’ Shadow and teases big death

After months of anxiety, the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has arrived, unveiling Keanu Reeves’ Shadow for the first time – and it teases a major death fans have been longing to see.

We’ve had Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey), aka Eggman. 2022’s follow-up introduced Knuckles, Sonic’s spiky-fisted foe-turned-friend, and they teamed up against the mustached villain to protect the Master Emerald.

Sonic 3 is bringing in one of the franchise’s heaviest hitters, who briefly appeared in Sonic 2’s cheer-worthy post-credits scene: Shadow, the blue blur’s gun-toting, black-and-red frenemy. Possible spoilers to follow…

In the first trailer for the threequel, one thing is clear: Shadow is (at least for the first part of the film) the antagonist. After somehow escaping the government’s secret “Project Shadow” facility, we get glimpses of him putting a beating on Knuckles, before riding his motorcycle and clashing with Sonic in the sky.

It ends with an eye-opening reveal: Gerald Robotnik (Eggman’s grandfather) will appear, and he’ll also be played by Jim Carrey… but that’s not the main takeaway. If you know the lore, you’ll be asking the same question: will Maria die?

Without getting into spoilers, Maria is a major character in Shadow’s story. Not only is she Gerald’s granddaughter, she’s Robotnik’s cousin, and her backstory with G.U.N. and her hedgehog pal is… important.

Shadow doesn’t say her name in the trailer, and she’s only seen briefly, played by Sting star Alyla Browne. All we’ll say is… get your tissues ready.

“This already hurts. Shadow’s smile even sells that he wasn’t always like this and Maria… changed him,” one user wrote after watching the trailer. “Okay I love the idea of Shadow going on a rampage to find Maria,” another commented.

“Shadow! Maria! Gerald! London! The motorbike! Holy hell this is gonna be an awesome Christmas treat,” a third wrote.

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.