Keanu Reeves fixed a key scene for Shadow in Sonic 3

For Jeff Fowler, director of the Sega and Paramount live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films, bringing Shadow the Hedgehog to life on the big screen has been a two-decade journey. With his 2024 film, Fowler finally got his wish Sonic the Hedgehog 3. But he got his hands on Shadow back in 2003, when he was working on the dark hedgehog’s first standalone game: Shadow the hedgehog – a project that goes back almost to the creation of the character.

At the time, Fowler was working at Blur Studio, an animation and visual effects company based in Culver City, California. Blur has worked on dozens of video game trailers and cinematics, most recently releasing the Prime Video series Secret level.

“We were hired by Sega for the game Shadow the hedgehog – Shadow’s second game,” Fowler recalled to Polygon. “Sega knew they really had something in him, and that’s why they wanted to give him his own game. (Blur) wanted to create some cool, really splashy cinematics to help. The piece I remember most, because it was the most dynamic and had a lot of great action, was the intro where the city is invaded by the Black Arms forces.”

Fowler recalls: “All these big alien creatures running around and wreaking havoc in the city. Shadow rides in on his motorcycle. The motorcycle crashes into one of the attackers, who does a backflip and somersaults through the air. He has a submachine gun, is just great and does very, very great things.”

One of Shadow’s great scenes Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has some of that cinematic DNA. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails confront Shadow in the heart of Tokyo’s Shibuya district – only this time it’s the dark hedgehog wreaking havoc, throwing cop cars and strangling our hairy heroes. Shadow grabs his gun and escapes on the back of a motorcycle, doing some extremely awesome stuff along the way.

At Blur, Fowler also worked on the more restrained cinematic moments seen in Shadow the hedgehogincluding tragic moments from Shadow’s backstory, such as his relationship with Maria Robotnik. These same moments are also woven into the narrative events of Sonic3which is based on Shadow’s first solo game and his first appearance in Sonic Adventure 2.

Thanks to this early animation experience, Fowler said, “I really loved the character. The idea that now, 20 years later, we’re offering this film version with Keanu (Reeves as Shadow) is just incredible. It’s such a full circle moment and very surreal.”

Shadow’s debut in the Sonic film universe was hinted at in a post-credits sequence Sonic the Hedgehog 2before the production cast Reeves for the role. But Fowler said Reeves “was The at the top of the list” to express the nervous “pig”.

“His characters tend to have a little more edge and a tone that felt like it would fit Shadow really well,” Fowler said, referencing Reeves’ groundbreaking John Wick films. “He’s this anti-hero who’s still very likeable and you root for him all the time.”

Fowler suggested that Shadow and Maria’s relationship was one of the main reasons Reeves signed on for the role – and not just that John Wick– And The Matrix-inspired, thrilling action. The director explained to Reeves what’s “under the hood of the characters and what’s needed from an acting perspective.”

“With Shadow, it’s that backstory that matters,” Fowler said. “Shadow and Maria’s relationship is so important to the fan base and it’s so important for us to get it right. (…) Keanu really felt connected to all of these elements, the depth of Shadow, his dramatic backstory. I think he really saw an opportunity to do something that would be challenging. Of course he had a lot of questions – he really, really wanted to do it right.”

According to Fowler, it was a blessing for Reeves to approach the character Shadow from an outsider’s perspective and thus find the cinematic version of the character. “A great example is just the very first meeting between Sonic and Shadow,” Fowler said. “We had written it in different ways. Was it supposed to be a joke? Should it be serious?”

Reeves’ pitch was somewhere in between, with Shadow taking the introduction seriously and seeming a bit standoffish compared to his then-rival Sonic. Fowler recalled: “When Sonic says, ‘Who are you?’ And Shadow says, “Who am I?” Who are you?‘ Sonic says, ‘Why do you look like me?’ He says, “I don’t look like you.” You look like me.’ It was just very simple – funny, but not trying too hard to be funny. Everyone loved it.”

Fowler also acknowledged that Reeves’ approach to “Shadow” was not to compete or match the voice work of his co-stars – Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Idris Elba as Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails. but in finding your place among furry friends.

“The thing (Keanu) was really smart about is he looked at the spectrum of characters, with Sonic being higher than Ben’s normal speaking voice,” Fowler explained, “and Tails being very high, kind of on the high end .” of the register, and Knuckles is very deep – so deep that it’s a great source of comedy. Keanu didn’t want to be near Ben or Idris. And so he just found the sweet spot between the two.

“As far as execution goes, we really talked about how Sonic and Ben are so lively, Knuckles is bombastic, and Tails is very energetic and youthful. Shadow is kind of like still water that’s deep, right? He doesn’t say much, but when he does say something, it carries a lot of weight. So it wasn’t about creating a caricature or even changing his voice much. When actors come in they often think: Oh, I’m playing an animated character, so I have to do something stylized with my voice. The character didn’t need that, but he needed to be taken very seriously.”

Given that Fowler has been thinking about Shadow the Hedgehog for 20 years – a long time for someone who no longer works on the games – I asked him what his favorite part of Shadow trivia is.

“Shadow’s favorite food is coffee beans,” Fowler said. The dark hedgehog eats them by the spoonful. “That’s very bizarre and I couldn’t even tell you (how I know that) but it’s stuck with me and I don’t know how many people know that. He chews on raw coffee beans! That’s how tough he is.”