Keanu Reeves “Did Research” to Play Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3

"He thinks the character is awesome and he definitely understood what we were going for and he was very excited to do his version of it. Like all the cast, [he] really wants to get it right and really cares."

Shadow the Hedgehog first appeared in 2001 video game Sonic Adventure 2. His trademark power is Chaos Control, which allows him to warp spacetime with a Chaos Emerald. He’s also got super strength, super speed, and at times wields a handgun.

"He would give us so many different versions of line readings and just want to keep going,” Fowler continued. “It was not sort of showing up and reading the script into a microphone.”

"He really wanted to create a very fan-faithful version of the character. He did research. In our first meeting, he very clearly had gone and done his homework, which was awesome. I can't say enough wonderful things about Keanu and what he brought to the character and the experience of making this movie. I think people are going to really, really love his version of Shadow."

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 also stars Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, James Marsden, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey. It premiers in cinemas December 20, 2024.