Idris Elba's Knuckles Is Ready For Battle in Sonic 2 Character Posters

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 gets a trio of new character posters featuring Sonic himself, Miles "Tails" Prower and Idris Elba's Knuckles.

New Sonic the Hedgehog 2 posters feature the movie's three main CGI characters, including Idris Elba’s Knuckles. The sequel to 2020’s hit CGI/live-action hybrid movie delves even deeper into Sonic lore as it introduces the games’ iconic red echidna.

Knuckles as it turns out serves as something of an antagonist in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as he teams up with Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik to find the all-powerful Master Emerald, the object that controls all the so-called Chaos Emeralds. Standing in the two villains’ way of course is Sonic himself, once again voiced by Ben Schwartz, along with his sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower (Colleen O'Shaughnessey). Also along for the ride are James Marsden as Tom Wachowski and Tika Sumpter as Maddie.

Related: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Trailer Hints At The Games' Best Sonic Version

Those handful of human characters are of course not the main attraction of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a fact that’s reflected in a new release of character posters from Paramount. Dr. Robotnik and Sheriff Tom are indeed nowhere to be seen as Sonic, Knuckles and Tails take the spotlight. See the images in the space below:

The original Sonic the Hedgehog movie of course was a surprise hit when it grossed $319 million at the worldwide box office. That box office performance was perhaps all the more shocking after early trailers were widely panned by fans, who mainly objected to the look of Sonic. There should be no controversy about Sonic’s appearance for the second film but indeed the titular hedgehog is not the film’s true star if fan response is any indication. Indeed the true star seems to be Knuckles and especially voice actor Elba, who was a surprise choice to take on the role of the games’ echidna character. Elba may not be physically featured in the film, but just the sound of his voice has been enough to get fans talking about Sonic 2’s version of Knuckles possessing actual sex appeal.

The power of Elba’s Knuckles indeed seems to have gotten the attention of studio bosses as Paramount is reportedly planning a spinoff Paramount+ TV show centered around the character with Elba returning. Meanwhile, Sonic 3 is also in development before the second film in the series even releases. Obviously there is a lot of studio optimism about Sonic the Hedgehog 2 reproducing and perhaps even surpassing the box office performance of the first film. It remains to be seen if the second Sonic adventure lives up to expectations, but there’s no question the film is generating buzz, thanks in large part to the arrival of a fan-favorite character played at least in voice by a fan-favorite actor.

More: Sonic 2 Is Already Teasing Metal Sonic For Robotnik's Endgame

Source: Paramount