Who would’ve thought that in 2019, it would be Sonic the Hedgehog that sent the Internet into meltdown?
And yet, here we are, as fans reacted in shock (and even horror, for some) when the first trailer for the live-action Sonic film debuted in the spring. It brought us an all-too-realistic portrayal of the video game icon, whose bizarre human teeth and narrow eyes left many in a state of confusion. Thankfully, the studio went back to the drawing board and took the backlash to heart, crafting a new look for Sonic, one that would hopefully please fans.
Fast forward six months or so and earlier this week, we got a brand new look at the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and the much anticipated redesign, which is a drastic improvement from what we previously saw. But with some folks still complaining about certain aspects of it, Conan O’Brien has taken the opportunity to get in on the fun, trolling fans with the hilarious video up above and showing off his take on the popular mascot.
Though this whole debacle spurred heated debate regarding artistic license and pandering to fans, all parties seem to have benefitted from the tinkering, with everyone seeming pretty pleased with the results. The nightmarish Sonic of old is now gone and in his place we’ve got a cool, cuddly version that’s much more familiar to what we all remember from back in the day.
Of course, whether that translates into a good movie is another question entirely, as a well designed character can’t carry an entire film, but we’ll find out how the project ended up when Sonic the Hedgehog races into cinemas early next year, on February 14th, 2020.