Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe (now with open spoilers)

Even the studio might not have that control. Credit in Hollywood is tricky business, and putting Colleen on the poster might even violate certain other contracts. It's just literal meaning of "top billing". It's all a weird mess of contracts and guilds. Heck, my name isn't at the bottom despite being on the movie for over twice as long as some of the folks down there, but you won't see me shedding tears about it. It's just the way it is.

 

I always figured Nintendo of all companies would keep the voice cast for an eventual Mario movie. It was a little disheartening to see them not just parade around their celebrity cast, but treat it as a big reveal during that Nintendo Direct.

 

Nah, Nintendo's become insanely greedy in recent years. It was perfectly expected from me with all of the stunts they've been pulling lately.

 

Hah! "Recent years".

 

I know they've always been corrupt especially back in the 80s, but it definitely wasn't on this level for most of the previous decade at least. But it honestly seems like it's been tied to their success. The runaway success of the Switch has definitely emboldened them.

 

I think we are giving too much credit to Nintendo I think they just care MORE about the gameplay and feel of their properties than the story and voice acting. I doubt Switch sales made a big difference. If the movie was announced during the Wii U era… the studio would have cast a Hollywood name as Mario

Let the film industry do what’s best. How would we know? We make games?

Does Nintendo care who is cast as Mario… probably not. Not because they are evil but because as long as it doesn’t distract from the actual game why would they need to worry?

 

Nintendo absolutely does care who is cast as Mario and I guarantee there were a million discussions that led to their decision. Unlike Sega, whose level of control of the Sonic movie after Paramount got it could basically be summed up as begging them not to change the design, Nintendo has an iron grip on their IPs, now more than ever.

 

I mean it is all speculation.

Nintendo has an interesting past with voice actors in general and characters changing voices.

I just can't imagine Nintendo were fighting to have Charles voice Mario when Illumination are suggesting Chris Pratt. Maybe they were, maybe that's why he's part of the film in any capacity. Maybe they didn't care and people making the movie wanted to include him but knew he wouldn't be allowed to voice him throughout.

Movies are messy. And I imagine it's a lot of back and forth. I just don't think the voice coming out of the cast were Nintendo's call at all. (Not saying they didn't sign it off or were not part of the choice of which one of 3 male comedians is going to voice Donkey Kong). They just seem more concerned (though mainly via third party studios) that the look of Mario is right.

 

New poster:

I think this one is my favorite.

 

All these posters and still no Sonic 2 boxart recreation. It's gotta happen at some point, right? :')

 

Did they even do that for the first one?

Anywho, I find serious-face Tails hilarious.

 

People rag on the sonic cast but honestly, judging from the VA in most Nintendo games, the Mario cast is pretty substandard outside of Martinet. That's probably partly because Nintendo doesn't care too much about the quality of the....like 30 lines in any Mario game. Like, it's an old game, but the VA in Sunshine is shockingly poor for how much money Nintendo has and the polish they usually put on their moneymaker series. Likewise, BotW's VA in English is really rough.

SEGA has stronger talent, but their VA direction is always a bit sloppy and rushed.

 

Sonic: Nice to meet you, I'm Sonic.
Tails:

 

I've never seen Knux as being particularly serious. Just remember his "about to fall from the ledge" animation in S3&K, is the most comedic animation of the classic games. But having a Knuckles that does something meaningful instead of being just comedic or plain irrelevant is indeed a return to form. Using classic animations as an example again, Sonic in Sonic 2 is both the serious guy that gives you a mean look if you don't move in a while, but also the one that becomes totally ridiculous when about to fall from a ledge.

Btw, I don't know what does Paramount+ offer, we don't have that here in Spain and I don't know who has the license to host their content, if anyone does. I don't want to miss the show where we see what happened between the echidna raid of the first film and the alliance with Robotnik to find the hedgehog his tribe hunted in the past.

 

Ironically, this poster has same vibes of...

At least a little.

 

The real true canon characterization of Knuckles is the one from the US strategy guide that writes tips for his sections of the levels in first person with a Jamaican accent, mon.

 

I would go farther and extend that outside of Mario games too. I strongly dislike the voice direction of the Xenoblade cast, the english VA in BotW, and Metroid Dread was the first time Samus had actual lines that didn't sound subpar at best (probably because Dread didn't have so much meddling from Nintendo compared to Other M). It's the reason why I'm pretty adamantly against the inclusion of any voice acting in Pokemon.

 

https://twitter.com/sonicstadium/status/1495182210747543558?t=1KnmucmYdj_JdxCNdEYB6A&s=19

Oh thank God, they didn't forget Knuckles is a bit of a doof.

 

Sonic looks a lot better on the posters than he does in the actual movie.

 

I mean they all had funny moments in S1-S3K... especially ledge wobbles, and skidding etc. So I'd look at the whole game and how they compare to the characters as Sonic games differ wildly in tone.

But if you were to look at Adventure 1 & 2 (even read into the cutscenes of S3) his presence is much more about protecting something but easily tricked. And the joke comes from his misunderstandings and ignorance of anything that isn't his goal. But in general, he often is plot important, telling the group where Eggman is, supporting Sonic during Chaos Control.


Then in the likes of Lost World he spends most of the time in the background doing slapstick. Any lines he gets it is always about how much he would save the world before Sonic.



Prior to the Lost World the story at least made Knuckles either a formidable force, or important.. That game didn't even let him hold the communicator.

I guess Forces fixed this? I mean he still has moments like slapping the avatar on the back and the avatar falls over... but I dunno if the way Forces story presents itself really shows any understanding of what the characters would do.