‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Exclusive: Idris Elba Says It Was “Weird” & “Great” Hearing Keanu Reeves As Shadow

December 20, 2024

Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves are not just widely recognized for their famous looks, but their unique voices have also grown to iconic status in pop culture lore, so it made all the sense in the world that Paramount chose Elba and Reeves to be the voices of two of the most popular video game characters in the movie Sonic The Hedgehog 3.

Idris Elba is best known for his stellar performance as Stringer Bell in the iconic HBO series The Wire. Elba was so good at it that he had us all fooled, thinking he was from the streets of Baltimore, leaving fans stunned after learning he was from across the pond.

Elba has since gone on to star in numerous films and streaming series, but he has since earned the distinction of being THE VOICE of Knuckles, the powerful and confident echidna warrior who started as Sonic The Hedgehog’s enemy and is now one of his closest allies.

In the third movie in the Sonic movie franchise, Knuckles lends a helpful fist to the Blue Blur and Tails as they take on their most powerful foe yet in Shadow The Hedgehog.

Source: Courtesy / Paramount Pictures / Sonic The Hedgehog 3 /Shadow

Elba Had High Confidence This Time Around, Voicing Knuckles

Source: Courtesy / Paramount Pictures / Sonic the Hedgehog 3 /Knuckles

Speaking with Elba exclusively, he revealed that his initial nerves when trying to find the right voice for Knuckles were gone this time around.

For this third film, Elba said his confidence was “definitely high, adding he “was confident a bit.”

Source: Antony Jones / Getty / Idris Elba

He continued, “I kind of know what he’s doing. And we’ve sort of started to understand what makes Knuckles tick, how he speaks, whether he has a sense of humor or not. Someone told me that Knuckles’ phrase is, ‘My name is Knuckles, and unlike Sonic, I don’t chuckle.’ I like that. But that sort of embodies him.”

Hearing Keanu Reeves As Shadow Was “Weird” & “Great”

Source: Antony Jones / Getty / Idris Elba / Keanu Reeves

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When Shadow was first revealed as the antagonist for Sonic The Hedgehog 3, fans immediately knew who should be the voice for the gun-using hedgehog, and it was none other than Keanu Reeves. The people at Paramount listened, casting The Matrix star in the role, and his voice fit like a glove.

Speaking about working with Reeves in the film, Elba said it was both “weird” and “great” to hear Reeve’s signature tone for Shadow.

“It was weird. I was like, ‘Keanu?’ He’s got such a distinctive cadence. But it’s great. I’m saying, I think he’s an icon as an actor.”

“It was weird. I was like, ‘Keanu?’ He’s got such a distinctive cadence. But it’s great. I’m saying, I think he’s an icon as an actor, but his voice is really distinctive, and I just think, to your point, it just really works with Shadow,” Elba said. “Shadow is this guy. He’s just too cool for school. I was the cool character in Sonic 2, but Shadow comes in, and it’s got to be Keanu Reeves, oh my days.”Sonic 3 is not the first time these two stars have worked on the same IP. They also lent their likeness and voices for the hit video game Cyberpunk 2077 and its DLC, Phantom Liberty, with Elba revealing they didn’t meet during the game’s development.

We also asked Elba if he would like to reprise the role of Solomon Reed in the future film that is currently in development.

“Solomon Reed is a bad man. And if you played the game, it’s a really, really deep game. You get to get a sense of who he is and how deep he is, and we’ve definitely explored the idea of what that would look like,” says Elba. “Obviously, Keanu’s character is also a bad man in the film in the series. But in the development of the game, no, I didn’t get to connect. Obviously his character was in the first iteration of the game and mine was in the expansion pack. But yeah, it’s really … I love being in these IPs that can shape-shift and do different things. I love that.”

Idris Elba Admits He Was A Little Salty About Reeve’s Voice Being Added To Sonic X Shadow Generations

Source: Courtesy / Paramount Pictures / Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic fans were also happy to learn that Keanu Reeves’ voice is in the latest film and the Sonic X Shadow Generations video game DLC, which is now available.

Elba expressed interest in having his voice in the video game while also revealing he is “a little salty” that he is not in it, but did not say that he does have one up on Reeve’s because Knuckles does have a Paramount+ series that is now streaming.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters; peep the entire interview above.

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