Sonic The Hedgehog: First Look At Live-Action Movie Revealed

Sonic is coming in fast as can be, characteristically electric blue, and covered in fur.

Paramount Pictures unveiled the first look at the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie on Monday, releasing an eye-catching motion poster that teases the live-action video game adaptation. 

Courtesy of IGN, which shared the poster in an exclusive reveal on Instagram, the first look centers on the titular blue hedgehog Sonic, but doesn't reveal him all his glory. Instead, after streaks of blue light swipe across a black background, Sonic's silhouette comes into focus. The hedgehog, star of Sega's mega-successful game franchise, is crouched down low — one hand on the ground and his red sneaker-adorned feet crackling with electricity — as if he's getting ready to sprint. 

It's difficult to pass judgements on everything Paramount has done with Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz in the live-action adaptation) based on this motion poster alone, but executive producer Tim Miller (who also directed Deadpool) opened up to IGN about the changes the studio and the film's creative team made to the classic video game character — and discussed the need for an updated, more realistic take on the design fans have known and loved for decades. 

According to Miller, giving Sonic fur was "always Stage 1 of adapting it to what the real world is and what a real animal would be like." The EP added, "It would be weird and it would feel like he was running around nude if he was some sort of otter-like thing. It was always, for us, fur, and we never considered anything different. It's part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature."

Another alteration, albeit a minor one, came when designing Sonic's shoes. In the Sega games, he sports red, almost triangular shaped sneakers that feature a thick stripe of white across the top. In the live-action Sonic movie, however, he slips into modern runners — fit with laces and no-show socks. 

Producer Neal Moritz (The Fast and the Furious franchise) explained, "We looked at every different variation of what shoes he's worn and we're trying to pay homage to that and also make it current and present day in what we think a Sonic of today would wear. 

But the biggest, most drastic difference between video game Sonic and movie Sonic isn't seen in this first peek at the film. Miller, Moritz, and Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler (Where the Wild Things Are) had the toughest time modifying Sonic's eyes, which have traditionally been depicted as a single eye with two pupils that sits on his face like a pair of ski goggles. After a great deal of struggle, the team eventually came to an agreement on what to do — but Sega apparently isn't thrilled with the decision.

"I don't think Sega was entirely happy with the eye decision, but these sorts of things you go, 'It's going to look weird if we don't do this.' But everything is a discussion, and that's kind of the goal, which is to only change what's necessary and stay true to the rest of it," Miller shared. "He's not going to feel like a Pixar character would because I don't think that's the right aesthetic to make it feel like part of our world."

The trio also put a ton of elbow grease into working out how Sonic's speed would be shown on the silver screen. Miller noted that "keeping it grounded and keeping it realistic" was of utmost importance, because if the character could do anything, "nothing is special."

"It took a little trial and error, but that's animation in figuring out what the effect looks like and what it does to the rest of the world around it," said Miller. "The speed changes over time because he evolves, because he can't do everything at the beginning of the movie. It's finding the visual language and figuring out how it's going to evolve over time."

Since Sonic the Hedgehog only recently entered the post-production phase of development, additional changes to the character's design could come up as time goes on. So if you're one of the many fans who aren't all that impressed by this Sonic poster, or if you agree with Polygon that the live-action version of the character is "horrific," try to rest easy until Paramount reveals the full look at its take on the character.

Also featuring the voices of James Marsden as a police officer named Tom and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, Sonic the Hedgehog will race into theaters on November 8, 2019.

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Get your first look at Sonic The Hedgehog in his new live action movie.

A post shared by IGN (@igndotcom) on Dec 10, 2018 at 4:59am PST