After his terrifying teeth became a meme, movie Sonic the Hedgehog is getting redesigned
There's no such thing as bad publicity, but the reaction to the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer appears to have the film's producers at least a little spooked - and so Sonic's design is changing.
Poor old Sonic. He can't catch a break. If it's not an amazing fan project (be it Sega endorsed or an unofficial labor of love) he's felt a little lost for a while now. Mediocre games, licensed curry that turns your turds blue... and then there's his upcoming silver screen outing.
The first trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie immediately received a reaction online that one might call mixed at best and a roasting at worst. The main problem? Well, Sonic himself looks like nightmare fuel.
"Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you want changes," Sonic movie director Jeff Fowler said in a tweet last night. "It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be..."
Fowler also uses the #gottafixfast hashtag, which presumably isn't just a cheeky nod - with the film so close to being finished, reworking CG shots to put together a different Sonic design is going to be a challenging thing to do quickly - unless the film gets a delay from its November release date.
The fact that this announcement comes as the Detective Pikachu review embargo is lifted feels appropriate. While it's not without its share of problems, one thing the first live-action Pokemon cinematic outing gets absolutely right is the design and representation of its creatures - something reviews are roundly praising the film for. You can read the VG247 Detective Pikachu review here, and see a round-up of all the critic responses here.