The Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise has made $1.2 billion across its first three films, but Sonic the Hedgehog 4 shouldn’t be its biggest priority going forward. The release of the third film in 2024 proved that things are better than ever for the series, and while another sequel is an obvious choice, there is a better path.

While it has been a popular video game franchise since its inception, the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020 went a long way in rehabilitating the franchise’s image. The changes from the “Ugly Sonic” character design to an updated one proved that the team cared about this project, with the controversy giving the film a lot of attention and turning it into a box office success.

The first film made $320 million, the second made $405 million, and the third made $492 million, proving that things are only getting better. Paramount undoubtedly hopes that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will continue this pattern of growth, but an alternative film may have been a better guarantee of success.

A Shadow Spinoff Movie Should Be The Sonic Franchise’s Priority

After the success of Sonic 3, a spinoff film about Shadow the Hedgehog should have been the franchise’s priority. The introduction of Shadow is one of the biggest reasons why the third film was such a success, as he is one of the series’ most iconic characters. Plus, the addition of Keanu Reeves as Shadow’s voice gave the film another marketable star.

This, combined with the fact that the Sonic Adventure 2 storyline is one of the franchise’s most iconic, could mean that the box office success of the third film is lightning in a bottle. It will be hard to top the introduction of Shadow and his story, and while newcomers Amy Rose and Metal Sonic are cool, they probably won’t have the same draw for general audiences as Shadow.

In order to counteract this harsh reality about the franchise, simply making a spinoff movie about Shadow could have been the best option. Reeves and Shadow the Hedgehog are big enough names to carry a feature film. Plus, a spinoff would have guaranteed that audiences were getting something fresh, rather than a potential retread of the same stories and jokes for a fourth time.

The live-action series has already proven that it is interested in making spinoffs of newly-introduced characters. After Knuckles’ introduction in the second film, Paramount+ released the Knuckes spinoff show. It is an incredibly odd decision to release that series before another sequel, but not a Shadow movie before Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

It is possible that the lukewarm reception to Knuckles may have hurt another spinoff’s chances. However, it is hard to deny the influence that Shadow and his story had on the third film, meaning that Paramount’s decision to focus on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 first may be a mistake.

How A Shadow Spinoff Movie Could Change The Sonic Franchise

Even if it isn’t the next film, a Shadow the Hedgehog movie will probably happen eventually. While nothing has been officially confirmed, there is simply too much potential for Paramount to not do it. After all, this spinoff would change the franchise in some great ways.

A Shadow the Hedgehog movie would be a lot darker than the mainline movies, which is a good thing. The fan base for the franchise is aging, and the lighthearted tone of the first three movies may not be what audiences are looking for in a few years. If reception to Sonic 4 is worse than its predecessor, Shadow could step in and take things in another direction.

A movie about Shadow would also be able to expand on the lore of the franchise. In the games, the Guardian Unit of Nations is an antagonistic force, although they are less evil in the movies. The Shadow movie would probably pit GUN against Shadow in a more significant way, fleshing out their story and making them a more complex enтιтy.

Based on the set-up of Shadow’s origins in Sonic 3, it is also very likely that Black Doom would be the villain in Shadow’s spinoff film. Black Doom was the main villain of the Shadow the Hedgehog video game, and this, combined with his tie to Shadow’s story, means that he would almost have to be in a spinoff.

The presence of Black Doom would also fix the series’ villain problem. The Robotniks have been the villains of every Sonic movie so far, and it is getting a bit repeтιтive. While Black Doom would mean that the spinoff has to miss out on Jim Carrey’s marketability, having the alien enтιтy as a villain would be a breath of fresh air.

Finally, a Shadow movie would definitively prove that other Sonic spinoffs can work. There are all kinds of stories to be told within the Sonic universe, and the Shadow movie is the safest candidate. Its success could lead to Paramount being more confident in other projects, allowing the franchise to expand beyond Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and other mainline sequels.