The first poster for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog film that was announced in May has been revealed over on IGN, and my goodness, the anthropomorphic blue-furred speedster is packing a monstrous pair of hairy legs. That is a leg, right?
It's all very off-putting effect, isn't it? (The thick, human legs, I mean, not the monstrous rocket-in-his-pocket that you can now never unsee.) The real-world Sonic probably should have beefy legs, yes, but he also probably shouldn't be in the real world in the first place. I can't say with any certainty that his spindly, pencil-thin arcade legs would look any better—they might be even weirder when brought to meatspace life by the magic of cinema—and maybe Chun-Li Sonic will look better in a proper light, when we can actually see him. But first impressions? I am uncomfortable with this. I mean, is he even wearing pants?
Apparently not: Executive producer Tim Miller said that the fur is so visibly evident because that's what real animals look like, and also because otherwise Sonic would basically be a naked blue guy with wild hair and no, you know, stuff.
"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," he said. "It’s part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature."
Apparently Sonic's eye(s) will also be changed to fit the demands of our mundane world. He's often depicted with one goggle-like giganto-eye, but the filmmakers didn't think that would fly in a live-action film.
"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 said. "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."
Maybe so—but some things aren't meant for this world, Tim.
Sonic the Hedgehog is set to hit US screens on November 8, 2019. Here's a list of 13 times he was modded into games he didn't really belong in either.
