Sonic The Hedgehog has slowly become this franchise which over the course of the five years, has produced three films and a television show. The third movie in the franchise is finally upon us and brings the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog, a fan favourite character amongst sonic fans. We got a chance at interviewing the director of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and talked about the future of the Sonic franchise, Black Doom and more importantly, will this film’s post credit scene be central to Sonic 4.
Christopher Mills (THH): Just to kick things right off, I wanted to ask you, there have been many franchises that have been lasting 10 years recently. We’ve got the Monsterverse, DC’s planning to last ten years, and Marvel’s lasted more than 10 years. I was wondering, with Sonic, how far down the line have you planned for this franchise?
Jeff Fowler: 25 years!
Christopher Mills (THH): 25 years, yeah (laughs)
Jeff Fowler: (Laughs) No, no, we’re taking these one at a time. You can’t help but, out of enthusiasm and excitement, be looking forward to where things could go from here. We always love doing the character teases at the end of each film, so, already, you know the ideas and the wheels are turning on where things could go from here, but for the most part, movies are a lot of work, and you work on them right up until the very last minute when they’re taken out of your hands, and so normally most of the focus is on what’s in front of us. But, I mean, Sonic is an amazing franchise. Over 30 years, all these amazing characters, there are so many exciting directions to go.
Christopher Mills (THH): There’s a lot of stories to tell when it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog, and to add on to what you just said, I think with the [Sonic the Hedgehog] movies, they’ve found the perfect formula when it comes to how they handle their post-credit scenes. They tease a character; the next film follows up. Can we say with this film, from what audiences will see in the post-credit scene, we can expect that to be the main focus of the next installment?
Jeff Fowler: Certainly, I mean in every bit the same way that I think in Sonic 2, when you see Shadow come up in the Cryotube, you know that he’s going to be a big deal and we’re going to make that the focus of the next story, so absolutely. We’re putting them in there for a reason, and we’re not doing it just to have an end credit teaser because we know fans love to see it. We’re putting it in there because we’re really excited about working with those characters.
Christopher Mills (THH): If people don’t know already, you worked on the Shadow The Hedgehog video game, you worked on CG production. I wanted to ask, what is your favourite ending from that video game?
Jeff Fowler: (laughs) Honestly, don’t make me choose. I had such an amazing time working on that video game, and I think what I really enjoyed about the film was getting to some of those moments that fans have already identified, the call-backs, like the first soldier that Shadow takes down in the opening sequence when he teleports in and does the kick. When Sonic is sort of wobbling and collapses and Shadow walks up from the debris pile and is standing over him, I mean those are the things that made an impression on me when working on the game, even Shadow on the [Dark Rider] motorcycle. It was such an amazing full-circle moment, and to have the opportunity to get to recreate some of those moments in a way that fans would react. (expresses fan’s excitement)
Christopher Mills (THH):I remember when the trailer came out, people saw him and were like, “Yup, that’s the Shadow we know and love.”
Jeff Fowler: It was one of those things where you just can’t wait to get that material and that footage out there. You just know fans are going to feel like, “Okay, these guys get it. They’re going to give us the right version.”.
Christopher Mills (THH): Another question I have for you is that Sonic and Shadow’s stories contrast very well in this movie, and although they may seem very different, they’re very much alike. I wanted to ask how you went about telling their stories in this one, making sure that there was, one, enough time to have both their stories develop but also to get it across to the audience?
Jeff Fowler: I mean the nice thing about Sonic’s story is we’ve had two films. I feel like even though he is the focus of the movie and he will always be the main focus of the movie, audiences know where he’s been, they’ve been on the journey with Sonic and so by depicting Shadow and Sonic as two sides of the same coin, you can kind of build on what people already know about Sonic and say well, Shadow also came to Earth like Sonic did with nothing. He found somebody, he found a human that meant the world to him and to see the two characters in Sonic and Shadow, that’s where the similarities end. Sonic got the happy ending and Shadow did not, and to see how that affected them as characters is such compelling material from a story standpoint. We didn’t need to do a bunch of new storytelling with Sonic. We know what he has, he literally has everything. He’s got the family, he’s got the friends, Shadow has none of that and just to bring these characters together, you suddenly have a really interesting conflict.
Christopher Mills (THH): One last quick question, in any iteration of the drafts, was the Black Doom involved in the story?
Jeff Fowler: He was not. Shadow the Hedgehog, in the game I worked on, he is the focus, and the Black Arms, and there’s some really great imagery. I mean the giant meteor, you know, and all that very compelling imagery, but for the purposes of telling a more grounded version for this film, it felt like Black Doom was maybe a little too much.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 releases in theaters on December 20.
