Despite all of the early drama with the Sonic movie and the horrible design of the lead character, most reviewers found the film to be pleasant enough and the audience score amazingly is on 93%. Sonic fans are fickle, we guess?
Still, Sonic's origin story in this new cinematic universe was perhaps a bit too bare-bones, opting for a story focussed on his time on Earth. Turns out we could have had a very different movie, as early drafts seemed to include more of the wider Sonic universe – such as everyone's favourite yellow blur, Super Sonic.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, director Jeff Fowler discusses the dilemma about whether to include Super Sonic in the movie or not:
It didn't make sense to obviously bring in the Super Sonic thing just yet. I mean, there were very early versions of the script and the outlines where... because we knew that's something that's very important in the fan mythology, or the mythology that fans love. And Chaos Emeralds are definitely a huge part, even going back to the first game in '91, and it was definitely something that we were kind of trying to see. Like, "Does it make sense to include one of these?"
This all makes sense; as Fowler says, Chaos Emeralds have been a part of the Sonic series of games since day one. It seems like a natural conclusion to feature Super Sonic in the movie, but also it's understandable why the studio didn't want to bombard newcomers to the Sonic universe with too many new concepts.
Let us know what you think about this tidbit of movie trivia with a comment below. Would this appearance of Super Sonic have made the movie that little bit more special? Or are you glad they opted not to bother?
[source comicbook.com]
Comments 36
I would have loved seeing the old crusty Sonic model turn super.
I agree with him. Adding in the Chaos Emeralds to the story might have been a bit too much to explain for the first outing, and they would've felt very out of place.
I fully expect some mention of them in the sequel though.
I think that will be connected to the tribe at the start of the film, one of whom will be Knuckles, who will be under a spell/have the wrong idea about Sonic. Nice little film, not Oscar material but better than expected.
Given that the initial movie deals with how Sonic finds his heroism and Robotnik descends into (further) madness as Eggman, it makes sense to hold onto things like the Chaos Emeralds for later.
Those emeralds exist on Sonic's unnamed home world (presumably Mobius), not on earth typically.
That was a smart move. It would've made the plot overly complicated had they included the chaos emeralds. It's always best to leave an audience wanting more.
@Kriven I've often thought I wanted a version of Infinity War where the "Sonic got a chaos emerald" theme plays every time Thanos gets an infinity stone accompanied by big text that says "THANOS GOT AN INFINITY STONE."
I'm glad they skipped it. It would have been too much to have the tribe and Robotnik after Sonic for his speed and then drop him because the Chaos Emeralds are so much more powerful. The movie was clearly written for a general audience while giving the fans a lot of references that they could enjoy without confusing someone who has never played a Sonic game or watched any TV show. I hope the sequel introduces the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic, and that Knuckles is a minor antagonist for a time
@Kriven
That raises a good question, are they gonna have all of the chaos emeralds in a single film, or do they make them get one or two emeralds every other film in a long-winded continuity?
A better approach would be the scavenger hunt, not unlike the Dragon Ball series where they track down the seven mystical relics across the world.
Sonic has the rings and the speed to do it after all, those rings literally take you to mind-bending special zones where you have a chance to get the chaos emeralds after all, so maybe the journey involves learning of secret places that can only be accessed using the rings.
Again without spoiling anything, I believe that Sonic's "quill power" and the S&K prophecy tapestry could make for an interesting plot that goes hand in hand with everything we've seen so far.
@KingBowser86
Yes, since it's believed that the tapestry in Hidden Palace Zone is how Dr Robotnik tricked Knuckles into believing that Sonic had come to steal the master emerald.
What the tapestry actually foreshadows is Super Sonic pursuing the Death Egg Robot in Doomsday Zone, but it's ripe for speculation.
The more you think about the movie's potential, the more exciting it gets. The games have so many creative locations and events that would be cinematic splendor like Casino Night Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, Mystic Cave Zone, Metropolis Zone, the Death Egg, outer-space battles, and so on.
@KingBowser86 In the novelization, Sonic's powers are described as "Chaos-like", an obvious allusion to the emeralds. My theory is that Sonic got his powers from an emerald, more specifically the Master Emerald, since the Echidna tribe exists on Sonic's homeworld, and would explain his overwhelming power (probably just a "chosen one" situation). This could also explain how Sonic is able to use the emeralds to transform in the first place, since the Master Emerald is "the controller" of the emeralds and Sonic has it's powers.
@ToonStuff
That's an interesting point too, because throughout the games there are some characters who can harness the power of the chaos emeralds, and those who cannot.
Both Sonic and Knuckles are capable of achieving super forms using chaos emeralds, and whilst Tails is not, he's capable of harnessing their powerful in technology through his own genius, much like Eggman.
Tails was even somehow able to manufacture a fake chaos emerald, that worked similarly to a genuine emerald.
I agree. Save that for the sequel!
All I want to know is if Sonichu is in it!!?
They should've at least explained the lore behind the rings at the very least. Even the concept behind them in the movie was lacking information. Does Sonic run out of rings for every use? Stuff like that.
"Let's save him for a sequel and do arbitrary sequel set up with Tails like The Last Airbender with Azula without making a good standalone film first"
@ToonStuff Also mentioned this to aforementioned friend from the last article - Sonic very much lives his life chaotically (on a whim), so it's possible that his chaotic tendencies connect with the energy of the emeralds. Could be that the prophecy and tapestry were created the moment that Sonic was born (Knuckles is around the same age and yet the last remaining echidna).
@RupeeClock Personally, Quartz Quadrant would put me absolutely over-the-moon. Casino Night would be fun and recognizable for movie audiences, though. And would quickly explain Robotnik's funding.
Build it up in the next movie and somewhere near the end of the movie use it. To trigger for a third movie lol.
Good. Build up to it.
It would make sense for them to have in Sonic 2 the movie, you already got Tails at the end clearly looking for Sonic to come back to mobius, could see it being one the things Robotnik discovers while being lost in the mushroom dimension or somehow gets a ring to reach Sonic's home world
@KingBowser86 A scene in the sequel where Eggman goes inside an alien casino and flexes his 300 IQ to win at every game would be incredible
In the original game chaos emeralds weren't necessary even with all you couldn't become super that was started in 2. The emeralds as a whole work similarly to the dragon balls, once used they scatter to be found again. In Sonic X the emeralds were also transported to earth along with the master emerald and Angel Island.
@ToonStuff I was thinking that he created Casino Night based on Earth's casinos to ripoff fun-loving Mobians so that he could build his empire. I suppose it's possible that he cleans out or overtakes an existing one, though!
This movie was so painfully bad, I feel embarrassed for spending $12 on it. Such lazy writing and fall-flat jokes...I genuinely tried to like it, but it felt like all the money was spent on the graphics and do-over, and nobody even did a second pass on the script.
Carrey couldnt carry it.
Assuming this is just the first part of a movie franchise, it makes sense not to include the Chaos Emeralds or Super Sonic yet. This movie was an origin story for both Sonic and Robotnik. Those things are features better saved for the sequel or even the movie after that. Even then games themselves didn't include Super Sonic until the first sequel.
@RupeeClock Tails can become Super as well. He summons an army of flickies.
@Enigminator
Yes, but he needs the super emeralds to achieve that.
My point is that not every character can achieve that using the chaos emeralds alone, although Sonic Mania changed it so that Tails can turn super using them so I guess the point no longer stands.
Hopefully Sonic goes back to his own world instead of staying in the real world in the next movie. The Chaos Emeralds story would make more sense if Sonic is in his world instead.
I honestly thought he was going make an appearance when I was watching the movie last weekend.
@Zyph I think it's implied that he loses each ring he uses as a portal, no need for more than one otherwise.
It never will make any sense.
The ending had quite a bit of Super Sonic vibe, it did almost feel like they removed it from the script but didn't change much else. It wouldn't have made any lesss sense than the actual ending where Sonic gained a load of power in the final moment he needed it for no real reason besides... his feelings?
@Cinaclov I am guessing they substituted Sonics blue quill as a power source for an emerald.
The first movie always has to introduce the origin story, for the 1% of Earth's population who don't know that Danky Kang is a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who can run very fast. The other 99% will be pleasantly surpised with the sequel, but will wonder who this yellow flying creature is.
Seemed pretty obvious to me that it was planned for the sequel. Which is fine by me.
Also, I find the design now perfectly fine, and the movie really pleasant. I'll go see the sequel without thinking it twice.
The only problem was the voice acting, but it was a stupid decision made in my country (they put a comedian known for its stand-up shows in the lead role ! The result was... not so good.)
(can't wait to see the movie in english with proper voice acting)
Sounds like they are already thinking of a sequel. No wonder, the movie was a massive succes.
I'll watch the movie in the future. I expect a movie that is at least mildly entertaining.
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