The problem with this is exactly as you said; they've failed at properly reintroducing these characters so people actually give a damn about them. Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Eggman, and even Shadow all can get by because they're just that ingrained in the public consciousness of the series. When you think of stable Sonic characters, Sonic and those five will generally come to mind. If you had a Sonic game that starred Rouge and the Chaotix, the general reactions would probably fall along the lines "Who the fuck are these guys, and where are Tails/Knuckles/Amy/Shadow/Eggman at?" This is what happens when you have too many characters, and fail to make people actually give a shit about their existence. It's telling that Shadow is the only post-Classic era character that people generally remember, when Rouge debuted in the same game as him.
Honestly I’m extremely hyped right now. This might be the return of the Freedom Fighters. To some extent at least. I know they would not be the focus. It’s from the company that owns SatAm AND it’s about a multiverse geared towards both younger and older fans. Besides that there’s so much they can use from Sonic’s past. However it turns out...it’s ok to be excited.
While I doubt that any of SaTAM or the American cartoons might be involved in this series due to copyright issues and I doubt they would simply create a multiverse involving the many different iterations of the franchise, if they did commit to that it might actually help unify things slightly. I honestly believe that Generations was so loved by people in general because it had both Modern and Classic Sonic be a part of it and a series that involves so many disparate elements that people love could help the brand in some small way. I doubt this would happen, but it would be neat if it did. My primary concern though is how well it's written and animated. You can do everything else right and it'll bomb if you don't have engaging characters, compelling story, and animation that conveys both.
While it's not unlikely that different versions of other Sonics might appear, a multiverse doesn't necessarily mean it has to go down the route like Spider-Verse did. It could just be Sonic traveling different universes that need saving that are unrelated to him or other past iterations.
I don’t know about the copyright part but the SatAm cartoon (not comics) sounds possible if they want. I really do not think they’d make a multiverse/anniversary cartoon without using actual previous versions of Sonic. I doubt they’d use a completely different Prime-Specific multiverse instead of previous media (especially ones they have access to). I know it’s a different franchise but TMNT used the old 80s cartoon and Comic versions in the Turtles Forever movie. Nick used them again in their the cgi series too and the old cartoon is technically owned by another company. Not Nick. Generally speaking since we don’t know the format. I could see 1 episode (in a season) based on SatAm with the Freedom Fighters also showing up at the end with other Universes like AofStH. That’s an episode in itself...visiting Scratch, Grounder and Promotion-Robotnik.
I think SEGA owns the original core Freedom Fighters (i.e. Sally, Antoine, etc), but any pre-reboot Archie-exclusive stuff is a definite no-go. Unless they want to negotiate with Penders for whatever reason. Eep... We could see the original FF's in this but I'm not going to hold my breath. Whether that happens or not, this sounds like a cool show and I'll definitely be watching when it comes out.
I think you guys are way too hopeful this is a modern Sonic story featuring all your favorite canons. If you look at Man of Action’s previous works you should know it’s way more likely this will be a new Sonic who wears clothes and goes to school, has a new sidekick to go with his other sidekick, and the multiverse will probably be new stuff that never existed prior, all wrapped in MoA’s usual blocky style. Keep your expectations in check.
If it ends up being Sonic Fully Charged, then at least it will ease my (slight) worry of Sega trying to tie the games into it.
Indeed, as I said in my earlier post, I highly doubt this will be the case. Sega doesn't care enough for that, and unless the creators are massive nerds of the franchise, I doubt they even know about half of the various canons out there. After all, how many casual American fans are aware of Sonic the Comic or the early Manga with Nikki the Hedgehog?
They would not have use every version or obscure character. They’d only need the the more well known parts that came before. Although they could use some obscure stuff for Easter eggs or something. AoStH and SatAm are the most well known 90s Sonic cartoons (lets be honest they’re also the most internet viral). X and Boom, obviously, are the most well known modern cartoons. Underground is the only odd one as to whether or not they would acknowledge it. We’re not saying they’d get full blown storylines since the game side of things must be included. I can definitely picture something quick and to the point where Sonic jumps into the SatAm universe. We briefly see Knothole and everyone teams up for whatever is going on. If they are using previous versions I think it’s perfectly reasonable to think this might happen. The same goes for any other universes. The best example I can use is the TMNT again. That was only 1 animated movie and they mixed the 3 major versions at the time. Even throwing in some other stuff. This will at least get 1 season.
We have confirmation of a few staff members who will work on Sonic Prime: https://twitter.com/TailsChannel/status/1356370126967345153?s=19 Justin Peniston from Man of Action, who wrote for the Avengers Assemble TV series and Mega Man: Fully Charged, and writes for Ben 10 (2016) on Cartoon Network. https://twitter.com/TailsChannel/status/1356370954092486656?s=19 Duncan Roleau, a Man of Action veteran who wrote for the original Ben 10 among several other Man of Action cartoons throughout the years, including Mega Man: Fully Charged. He's also a writer for the ongoing Ben 10 reboot. According to him, Sonic Prime has been "cooking up for years" https://twitter.com/TailsChannel/status/1356544457735348225?s=19 @laquilasse will be a storyboarder for the show. https://twitter.com/TailsChannel/status/1356543609030520834?s=19 In a completely unexpected twist of events, Collin O'Shaughnessey, Tails' most recent voice actor, will not be reprising her role in Sonic Prime.
So, first impressions: I love the name, and (act surprised) I love the concept. It sounds like the show's writing team has a good pedigree. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with! The optimist in me says they know there's NO way they can use the term "multiverse" without invoking "Into the Spider-verse," and all the implications that implies for this franchise. My ideal vision of this series would be multi-episode arcs centered in different versions of Sonic continuity. I've heard it argued, "Yeah, but kids don't know SatAM/AoStH/X," but like... this is a Netflix show, right? All of those series are ON NETFLIX, meaning a concept like that could work wonders as cross-promotion. Bringing back the Freedom Fighters for an arc, or focusing in on Adventure's iconic elements (and Chris would be there too I guess) through X would work as excellent fanservice for adult fans who grew up with those shows, and for kids, it'd be an introduction to parts of Sonic's history that they weren't around for. And if they liked what they saw, entire shows based on those concepts are just a click away! But while I'm an optimist, I'm also a realist. Spoiler Sonic's promotional efforts have often teased or even outright made promises that the final products didn't deliver, and to be fair, the press release does describe this as a NEW multiverse. So even if it's not built on the series' legacy specifically, that's fine. I'm gonna judge it on its own merits, and not on some nebulous vision of what I would've liked to see. Either way, that name is top-notch. "Sonic Prime" works on multiple levels: It fits the multiverse theme, describes Sonic's place in that multiverse, and follows the series tradition of "Sonic (speed-adjacent verb)." (Boom, Blast, Jam, Rush, et al)
My initial thought of the "multiverse" talk was that it was another excuse to have Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic co-exist, but yikes, I'd rather have that than Sonic: Fully Charged.
I was worried about this happening because of WildBrain being involved and the history of Canadian shows being cheapskates by not outsourcing due to stupid backwards laws. Though some in other places such as Discord servers have said she could be only saying this to avoid braking her NDA.
I imagine if she was trying to avoid breaking an NDA she would say nothing or say it less directly than a solid “No.” Anything is possible but my hopes aren’t high. I quite like her Tails, too, so it’s a shame if so.
Clearly the show is going to address various Sonic's in different universes, that's why it's called "Prime", as though this main Sonic, at least from his perspective, is the "prime" continuity or timeline, whereas the others will be from alternate timelines or continuities. If it was simply Sonic going to other universes, it wouldn't reference "prime". Now whether or not it actually involves different versions of Sonic that we are already familiar with is unknown, but if nothing else, it creates an explanation/excuse as to why we are already familiar with different Sonic iterations (because there exists a multiverse of betas). My personal thought, is that if this is intended to "put to bed" all the issues with Sonic canon, and lack of continuity, it really wasn't necessary. Like, does Mario need to explain that Paper Mario, 2D Mario, and 3D Mario are from different universes? Not really... I suppose this may provide closure for members of a divided fanbase who need it, and I suppose Sega may be to blame since they consciously chose to make Modern and Classic two separate entities. In my opinion, we don't need excuses for why things are so diffuse, Sega just needs to get to work creating a new vision for a singular Sonic going forward. Will any of this create the depth I am seeking? Probably not.
So either the TV show will have a brand new voice cast (Sonic X-style), or Sonic as a whole will have a new voice cast. I'm not sure how to feel about either of these possibilities.
I just hope its gonna be good because I've been feeling like the sonic stories in recent years havent been as good. Still excited though.
