It’s official: a Sonic Cinematic Universe is on its way. While many people might roll their eyes at the thought of seemingly every big film franchise being turned into a cinematic universe, I’m honestly pretty excited for the SCU to happen. I think there’s a lot of potential for great fun, especially since I had a really good time with the second film.
With the states of the DC Extended Universe and the Dark Universe currently up in the air, the Sonic Cinematic Universe could very easily fail, but I’ve got reason to be hopeful that it’ll be a success. Here are my top three reasons why I think a Sonic Cinematic Universe could work.
The Abundance of Characters
The Sonic films already have enough characters to fulfill a cinematic universe, albeit a small one: Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. With Sonic already having two movies, all we need to do now is wait for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Knuckles spin-off show, and give Tails his own spin-off film/show and there’s your cinematic universe right there.
Given that the film versions of Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were well-received by fans, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is already guaranteed to be a success, the Knuckles series has a high chance of being a winner, and a possible Tails film/show is extremely likely to be welcomed by the Sonic fanbase.
However, there are still plenty of characters from the Sonic video games that haven’t made their appearance in the films yet. Amy, Cream, Big, and Metal Sonic are just some of the many video game characters who have yet to make their debut. While not all these characters may be deserving of their own spin-off, it’d still be exciting to see how they fit into the universe of the Sonic films, especially if their films characterizations are as good as Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails are.
Really, the plethora of video game characters should be enough to sustain a Sonic Cinematic Universe, but there are even more reasons to be excited for an SCU.
Multiple Possible Worlds
One of the most common complaints of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that the films and shows often take place in New York. The Avengers, The Defenders, Hawkeye, and countless others MCU properties share the same setting of New York City. After a while, seeing the same city over and over in the same universe gets boring. Thankfully for the Sonic films, overusing one location won’t have to be a problem.
Sonic’s rings in the film have the power to create portals from one location or world to another, which allows for a lot of fun and creativity when it comes to settings. They can travel to different places on Earth and even to different worlds. The possibilities are practically endless and the teams behind the films have the option of either basing new worlds off of levels from the video games or inventing new worlds of their own.
Either way, if done right, the new worlds are sure to keep the films fresh and exciting, at least visually. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was already a step in the right direction — while the film had scenes that took place in Green Hills, most of the time was spent outside of Green Hills like in Hawaii, Siberia, and even an underwater temple. This kept the film distinct from the first, which really only took place in city-esque environments like Green Hills and San Francisco.
When you’re planning something as big as a cinematic universe, you want plot elements that allow for opportunities for variety in your films, and the decision to make Sonic’s rings portals as well was definitely a smart one and shows this cinematic universe already has a ton of planning that went into it.
There’s So Much Sonic To Choose From
As of writing, there are 31 mainline entries and more than 100 Sonic games published in total, accounting for platformers, racing games, edutainment, arcade games, mobile titles, and even more different genres. Outside of games, the Sonic franchise also has numerous TV shows and comic books, with the Archie’s comic book series even being recognized in 2008 by the Guinness World Records as the longest-running comic based on a video game.
Simply put, there is a lot of pre-existing Sonic material for the films to take their inspirations from. The Sonic Cinematic Universe has a long way to go before they run out of properties to base their films off of. As a Sonic fan, I’m more than excited to see where their future shows and films take their inspiration from. Will there ever be something like Sonic Generations? Could a Team Sonic Racing film work? I’m eager to know the answer to questions like these.
Regardless of your feelings towards cinematic universes in general, when you consider the business side of things, the decision to make the Sonic Cinematic Universe only makes sense. Not only is it based on a property many people have strong nostalgia for, the first film even still remains the highest-grossing video game film adaptations of all time in North America. And who knows? The second film might even take that place.
While both Sonic films received mixed reviews from critics, most audience members found them to be a rolling great time at the movies, including me. If the Sonic films continue to be fun and likable, then sign me right up for a Sonic Cinematic Universe.
READ NEXT: 9 Forgotten Video Game Mascots That Couldn’t Rival Mario and Sonic
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
