The upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film will feature a brand-new addition to the cast, and another famous character from the popular video game franchise: Knuckles the echidna, who is voiced by Idris Elba.
For much of his character’s spoken dialogue in the film, Elba has admitted to improvising and saying what he liked. While chatting with Screen Rant, the British actor revealed he was given the green light to add to the development of the famous echidna’s lines by the director.
Yeah, actually, great question, because as we found his voice, you know, he speaks very sort of staccato, right? So the director was like, “Hey, just say what you want.” And I was just saying whatever I wanted, and some of it ended up in the movie. It was good fun.
Knuckles was first introduced in the 1994 video game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and has since become one of the most notable characters in the franchise. He is the sole survivor of the echidna tribe and is a fierce and loyal warrior. Elba joins Ben Schwartz and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as the voice actors for the film, and Knuckles’ story is said to be reminiscent of his earlier moments in the video games.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is scheduled for release in the United States on April 8 by Paramount Pictures. It also stars James Marsden, Tike Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Lee Madjoub and Jim Carrey and has so far received a mixed early reception from critics. A spin-off series centered around Knuckles is also in development.