Sonic the Hedgehog to undergo "changes" after fan backlash to film's first trailer
Reaction to the first footage was mixed, to say the least
Sonic the Hedgehog’s eponymous hero will now be tweaked after a huge backlash to the upcoming film’s trailer.
After the producers of the new movie (who are the same team behind the Fast and the Furious franchise) released the first extended trailer, fans were more focused on how the Sonic character (voiced by Ben Schwartz) looked so vastly different from the version in the SEGA video game franchise.
Complaints included Sonic’s weirdly human teeth, the strange texture he seemed to have (isn’t a hedgehog meant to be spiky, not furry?) and his small, staring eyes.
Naturally, most of the criticism was voiced on Twitter.
The film’s director Jeff Fowler has responded to the barrage of criticism, taking to Twitter himself to state that changes were going to be made to the character’s design.
"Thank you for the support. And the criticism," he wrote. "The message is loud and clear... You aren't happy with the design and you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount and Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be..."
The film trailer shows how Sonic crashes into this world to save it from threatening forces – with Jim Carrey back to his wacky best as Dr Robotnik.
While Fowler promises they’re going to make the changes quickly, he will now face the tough challenge of redesigning the character ahead of the film’s release in November 2019 – including altering all current marketing (and possibly merchandising) for the film.
Looks like they’ve gotta go faster…
Sonic the Hedgehog is currently scheduled for release in the US on November 8th, and 26th December in the UK