Rumour: New Images Supposedly Show Sonic's Movie Redesign

If it's true, I'd definitely say it's an improvement. Looks rather well in that second shot, though it also kinda makes him look younger.

The ONLY thing I DON'T like is his arms are still blue. Otherwise, looks good.

Paramount Pictures has ruined two franchises this year: Dora and the Lost City of Gold & this Sonic movie.

It should look like this:

I really just want a new trailer by this point just so we at least have something official and confirmed. I don't usually give into rumors. If this is how Sonic is going to look, I'd be very ok with this version of Sonic.

Otherwise, this is a rather good mock-up that could have fooled many. Compliments to the artist because this model actually looks decent.

@SpiderSquid They clearly loved Sonic Boom so much that they kept Sonic's blue arms from that game/show.

From the new shots, he looks like the sonic from Unleashed

@Anti-Matter I'd take New dora over live-action Lion king any day. Plus this new Sonic design looks a lot better than the first one we got. Still uncanny in some areas, but a lot better than the first.

They can tinker with his design all they want and this movie is still going to suck. Videogame movies just don't work.

Those two pictures aren't the same model at all.. they're similar but don't match, especially in the shape & colouring of the ears. My betting is these are a couple of different fan pictures someone is calling a leak.

Thats a huge improvement, i like it. Give these guys a chance.

That does look a lot better, hopefully it's not a hoax.

That poster with Jim Carry's Dr. Eggman Robotnik made it look like Sonic is running away from Super Mario (or M. Bison if he had a mustache) instead considering the reddish color of his outfit and the mustache. Hopefully they fat him up in the end so he looks like the Humpty Dumpty version from the game.

MUCH better, if real!

@DanteSolablood Just to play devil's advocate, they could be from two different points in time of the redesign. You're probably right though.

@Anti-Matter,

A bit subjective to say they have ruined movies that in all honesty were never going to be all that good in the first place.

@nintendolie Yes. Just... just yes. If they're aiming for realism, why not go all the way?

@Zeldafan79 Detective Pikachu: Am I a joke to you?

I'd be happy with that design. It's recognizably Sonic.

@Anti-Matter Dora was great

@SpiderSquid his shoes are still messed up too, they’re supposed to have a point.

He's a blue hedgehog in a live action movie. People should just accept that this was never not going to be weird looking. Embrace the cringe.

When you compare the two... you really have to wonder what the heck they were thinking with that first design. Like... why.

Looks so much better. I really hope this is real.

If real then yeah Sonic looks a lot better than the original trailer design. The movie will still be as wack as Raul Julia in Street Fighter imo.

Looks good if true.

@MarioFan02 I'm not sure you can say Detective Pikachu really worked. I know art's subjective and I'm sure there were people who did enjoy it but really, it suffered from awful writing, a terribly mismanaged pace and constant tonal inconsistencies.

Maybe relative to other videogame adaptations it wasnt so bad but it was by no means good

I forgot about this movie. Thanks for the reminder. 😝😂

The terrible character design was only one of the many problems with this movie.

My guess is that this 'leak' is totally deliberate to allow the studio to evaluate the reactions to the change without doing so officially. Personally, I think it is a massive improvement.

When we said we want those iconic characters Smashified we didn't mean you should smash them until they look like a trashcan.

I think if blue arms is all to complain about, then there isn't much to complain about. Looks a lot better.

The movie still looks dumb.

This design of Sonic looks a whole lot better...too bad its only a rumour, for now

@MajorasLapdog The plot devolved into a total WTF dumpster fire, yes, and some (though not all) of the acting was pretty bad, but the worldbuilding was undeniably charming. The sheer novelty of the good outweighed the banality of the bad, imho.

Well, it’s better than nothing.

@MajorasLapdog

Most of the problems in that film can be easily found in other movies. We’re just living in an age where certain movies receive harsher criticisms than others based on biases and brand loyalty.

@HaTTrick71 the argument that most of the problems can be found in other movies is irrelevant - it's not wrong but that's also why a huge amount of movies just aren't any good. It takes something special to make a genuinely well-crafted film and this just didnt cut it. In fact, I'd argue it did most of what it set out to do poorly.

I went into it with no biased and I was actually very excited for it - I paid to see it in cinema. And I enjoyed the first 20 minutes or so but after that, the pace ground to a halt and the light-hearted fun and comedy just dropped off a cliff. I was struggling to work out who the target audience even was after that first act. There was nothing to keep the children entertained and for anyone else it was much too dumb and slow

@Fath I'd agree the world building was great, especially the opening shot with the Pokemon living in the wild. I loved that, I just think that the charm quickly faded when it became apparent there was very little of substance beneath it

@MajorasLapdog

It’s so easy to hide behind “I just wanna see a good movie”. The problem is that it’s not that simple anymore. And despite the fact that we claim not to have biases when we see movies, the truth is we do. People have had too many experiences with films, whether it be at home or in a theater to just simply say that “I walked in a blank slate”. It doesn’t work that way.

We’ve been conditioned to like films to be a certain way, and conditioned to like them from certain people and studios. I think the line of what a good movie is vs a bad one has been blurred greatly over the years. There are terrible movies to be sure, that’s a given. However, there are lots of movies that aren't as bad as people make them out to be. They're only dubbed bad because they don't fit the aesthetic of what's currently popular.

@HaTTrick71 haha I'm not hiding behind anything, I have a movie review blog and a podcast about media, graduated film studies at university three years ago. I think I know how to analyse a movie and how to look objectively at the quality of the craft as opposed to subjective factors.

There are great movies releasing constantly, they just require a bit of searching out. A24, for example, are huge bastions for interesting and beautiful movies that challenge the norms big studios like Marvel are bringing in that people are accepting as quality cinema.

Look back through my comment history, I wrote on a Detective Pikachu article way before it came out that I was very hyped for it because I thought it looked like it would, against all odds, actually be a decent, if nothing else, fun romp. But it wasnt. It failed at even being fun. I haven't been conditioned to like anything and I dont go with the flavour of the month. I will give any movie the time of day (just saw Joker, for example, despite hating the rest of Todd Phillips' output and thought it was perfectly fine). To insinuate I've been brainwashed by studios telling me what's good and what's not when it's an industry I am very passionate about and hope to one day work within is very patronising

@PBandSmelly I wonder if he'll pepper spray someone at a movie theater to protest this movie. Some poor teenage working the snack counter might have a bad night if he comes in.

@MajorasLapdog

So what you’re trying to insinuate, is that because you have a blog, a podcast and graduated film studies, these accomplishments have made it so you 100% objective in all the films you view? Not an ounce of bias?

@HaTTrick71 not at all, if I'm going to see a movie from a director that I particularly adore, I'll be more likely to go in expecting good things and going easier on it. Though, to rebuke this, Edgar Wright is my favourite working director and I went into Baby Driver expecting to love it but was hugely disappointed.

I do understand we have biases. I'm merely making the argument that that's somewhat irrelevant right now seeing as I went in to Detective Pikachu expecting good things and being aware of the relative pedigree behind it. What I dont agree with is the idea of being conditioned to like certain things

@MajorasLapdog

It's a hard pill to swallow, the idea that you're conditioned to like something specific. The idea makes it seem like you have no control over your decisions and actions. Video game publishers and film studios capitalize on conditioning based on numerous statistics from gamers and viewers.

Sure, you can go against the grain from time to time, but that doesn't make you less susceptible to being encouraged to like certain things even if you find disappointment in them from time to time.

There was just no need for this movie to be made in the first place.

@HaTTrick71 I think you've just adopted some strange defeatist attitude to life and are allowing yourself to be marketed to and more susceptible to it. I can pinpoint where the majority of what I look for in a movie comes from and I can assure you it isn't from huge blockbusters or a single superhero flick. My love for cinema stems from a lot of obscure British surreal comedies that had passion pumped into them and it's that passion that made me passionate and it's also exactly what I look for in a craft.

You seem set in your ways and that's fine, but your tone is very condescending so I dont much fancy continuing this conversation. I dont like to be told what I'm unaware of when actually what you're spouting is a very obvious and apparent practice (marketing and trends) but instead of looking at yourself and others as humans who have a whole plethora of different influences and interests, you're implying we're just blank slates that are being projected on to.

It's a very odd stance

@MajorasLapdog

There's a difference between having a defeatist attitude and having no illusions to the common practices of big industry. But to each their own, good day to you sir.

@MajorasLapdog have to disagree with you and take sides with your opponent. Being brainwashed by big marketing teams is why some films do well and others don’t. Detective Pikachu was as good as any other film out this decade but you probably read a think piece that said otherwise and decided the ‘right way to think’ would be to side with the critics. That’s why Detective Pikachu is apparently ‘low art’ but I bet they give a million oscars to some pretentious Korean movie about feeling sad. Batman V Superman was a real film but critics told you to hate it because it dealt with real issues like god and batman. Honestly name 10 things you didn’t like about Detective Pikachu that you wouldn’t find in Yargos Lanthinos’ 2009 Greek comedy drama ‘Dogtooth’ and good luck because it’s essentially the same movie only one has Loudred playing dubstep and the other is a snooze fest!

that looks alot better. if true.

@MarioFan02

Okay so that one and maybe the first mortal kombat movie. Still not a very good track record.

What an improvement there’s a chance Ill go see it now.

@MajorasLapdog Ugh, that movie was the film equivalent of the Black Death. If Joker's RT score drops lower than that piece of trash, I am going to give it what it deserves.
EDIT: Just read you have a film review blog. Can you link it for me?

@Nedtendo Weird flex but ok.

A sad example of an artist compromising his vision for the money.

@MS7000 The game may have been a travesty, but the show was a treasure.

@SmaggTheSmug That sounds about right. I never managed to get my hands on a copy of the game so I can't vouch for the quality, but from what the episodes I have seen of the show, it is pretty decent.

The image on the Right has been floating around since days after the trailer came out. The left one looks new, though.

Id go for a leaner look. I dont know....

@Gwynbleidd yes

@Anti-Matter Except Dora was actually surprisingly good and heartfelt?

A movie no one wanted, a digital render no one needed, a franchise that desperately needs to die...

Well it's better ...I guess ?

...The goggles they still do nothing.

@LeatherCorpse Lol. Exactly what I was wondering about Anti's antics... but I suppose if you're avoiding any and all M Rated media like the plague, as he does, then you have to take whatever you can get.

@SpiderSquid but why? why do you dislike those? please let us know. I don't see anything wrong. I wonder what you see that I don't see

@Alucard83

Well I can think of three reasons.

Too much like Sanic Boom.

Sonic's original arms were tan.

Or a reference to a certain very, ahem zealous pepper spray "spritzing" super "fan".

Option three seems the most likely.

@Anti-Matter I can't speak for the Dora movie. But how could you possibly know this movie is ruined when it hasn't even released yet?

Much better, we’ll done to the director for making the call

i still think about the original design and how it managed to get this far

Sonic is just one among the countless franchises which I never totally found anything exciting in (and there are many famous ones in the Nintendo world too) but I have to admit it has lots of fans all over the world, so it does deserve some respect.
The problem is not with Sonic, but with Sega, not just because they aren't at the same level of Nintendo when it comes to marketing (Sonic couldn't keep up with the competition against Mario back in the nineties, let alone now), but for they don't even show respect for their customers, starting from payments on Android games that repeatedly go poof and going on with several attempts to finally get a retro console right.
Now, this movie which started with really B-A-D premises, doesn't really look like a good movie, but yet another awkward attempt to squeeze some more money off fans' pockets.
It seems like they're doing everything to ruin the good memories fans had of this character. Really, what the heck is wrong with Sega?

I really do not understand, why they didn't use this design before. One of the reasons Sonic is still so popular today, I would even dare say the only reason, is because of his design.

Why even make this terrible first design from beginning with? Some people might even think they made this on purpose to get attention for the movie.

Bad publicity is still publicity after all.

@RareFan

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a marketing stunt.
But that would also give studio's a bit too much credit, because for some reason they are remarkably stupid and out of touch as well.

Kind of cool the update shows a display. I've seen these for other movies at local theater too. It's either real, or the artist really put a lot of work in fooling many. Hoping for that trailer to put the rumor status to rest.

@RareFan I wasn't too surprised with the original Sonic model. More or less, I just thought the original design was Hollywood being unfaithful to a game's source material to a movie again.

Please release some promo ads SEGA. I’m worried still lol.

They’re definitely getting my money/viewing now. I don’t remember the last time a movie company actually listened to fan demand, and these pics prove that they listened. I’m excited for it.

It is an improvement for sure. His arms aren't supposed to be blue, though.
I still think this movie will be poo, but I feel inclined to support it in some way given how they actually listened to feedback and are trying to redo Sonic. That was surprising and they should be commended for that at the very least.

Looks a lot better. Hopefully its real.

That's much better. I am sure Sonic fans will be happy now (except maybe those internet guys that always love to hate).

Can have a movie about sonic fighting against the sonic from the first trailer?

unpopular opinion incoming

I liked his old design

@Kriven

It still has The Spirits Within to keep it company.

That looks so much better

@LUIGITORNADO @LeatherCorpse Let's not post offensive remarks towards other users. We all have personal preferences, which you might not agree with. You don't actually know Anti Matter in real life, so calling him mentally ill is a stretch, no?

Let's not do this again please. You wouldn't like it if people spoke about you like this, so don't do it to others.

@Zeldafan79 detective Pikachu was pretty good, and I’m saying that as someone whose only Pokémon game at that point was let’s go eevee

I'm guessing they fired whoever drew the first one?

@Sammybam88
o/o
The original is so much better. It's got a real Sanic humour to how it looks. As if it's supposed to look that way on purpose, for a joke.

Oh look, it's almost not horrible, even if the film likely still will be.

@The7thHokage1995 Junko Enoshima from the Danganronpa video game series (which I absolutely recommend playing if you have any love for adventure games/visual novels).

I can't unsee, i can't unseeee! Aaaiiieee!

I actually dig the new look

Okay, the new design looks pretty cool. Definitely an improvement over the first one.

The movie will probably still be crap but I will go watch it for the sole reason that the studios listened to feedback and changed the design. That is rare these days.

Really hoping this ends up legit as it is a massive improvement over the nightmare before. I would prefer Sonic Boom style Sonic over that monstrosity.

The Boom design is at least 90% accurate to Sonic's character, while the original movie design... well it is blue.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I was most offended by the generic shoes he wore in the original images. If these are real, the new shoes look way, way better.

While I would say thay moviemakers should be free to create whatever they want despite any fan outcry, this is without question an improvement over the original.

It's like night and day. Even though this Sonic does still differentiate from the actual traditional design in a few subtle ways, it still maintains the actual spirit of what makes Sonic, Sonic. Heck, even the Boom look was able to convey this while making some rather odd changes, but what they first presented here just looked so so bad.

It looks better I guess.
The movie most likely will be a flaming turd, but at least Sonic doesn't look like one anymore

Cant help but feel that this was a massive PR stunt though.

Something about leeks.

Fin. An improvement. Still not too keen on that kind of movie, but oh my.

I feel like Danny devito should act as Eggman

Looks a thousand times better.

The first one from Sneedy looks really good. His proportions look a bit off in the second one. But either way it's still a major improvement.

Much better. I hope this is legit. Now if the movie is terrible, people won't be fixating on the character design. There are lines you can't cross when translating a design meant for a cartoon character into the real world. Their physiology straight up doesn't exist so forcing human or animal features into that shape can get ugly in a hurry.

When they do it wrong, the wrongness is the only thing you can see. And the first design had so much wrong to go around. The human musculature, white hands instead of gloves, human teeth, tiny eyes, more pointed muzzle. Something for everybody!

When they do it right, you slide right into accepting what changes they did make. Of course he has separate eyes, the space between is just light in color and the blue follows his brow line.

@Anti-Matter How did you watch the Sonic movie? You surely can confirm this redesign then?

This is looking very promising, the only real question is how they’ve dealt with his mouth/teeth. They looked so wrong in the trailer so they will have had to have had a good re-think about how they handle those.