Sonic 3 reportedly nets the ultimate life form, Keanu Reeves, as Shadow the Hedgehog

After months of rumours, speculation, and fan castings, it finally seems like the one and only Keanu Reeves has been cast as Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic 3.

Many loved the idea of The Batman's Robert Pattinson as Shadow, others hoped that rumour about Anakin Skywalker himself Hayden Christensen taking it on was true, but somehow the casting gods have given us an even better result: Keanu Reeves. This comes from sources that spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, so it's not outright set in stone just yet, but THR has a long history of accurately reporting on behind the scenes news in the film industry so it's a safe bet. The casting also follows on from last week's CinemaCon, where Paramount showed off some footage of the upcoming sequel exclusively to attendees.

Footage apparently showed a depressed and out of shape Dr. Robotnik, once again played by Jim Carrey, as well as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all fighting against Shadow. Another scene also showed Sonic fighting Shadow one on two, the second part of Shadow being a motorbike, an iconic vehicle of his from his PS2 solo game. We don't actually know all that much about this threequel aside from Shadow being the new protagonist, aside from the fact that it will feature the series' best song. Outside of Carrey, we do also know that Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) and Cristo Fernandez (Ted Lasso), as well as others, have joined the cast.

Funnily enough, this isn't actually the first time that Reeves has even appeared in the live-action Sonic films. In the first one, during a scene near the beginning of the film where Sonic is watching TV through the Wachowskis' window, the 1994 action film Speed is on, which of course famously starred Reeves. Sonic even mentions Reeves by name, so you've got to wonder if there'll be some kind of riff on that in Sonic 3.

Sonic 3 is currently set to release in cinemas December 20, later this year.