If you believe the reports, Keanu Reeves is playing Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
As of right now, however, we’ve had no official announcement – and Knuckles actor Idris Elba is mirroring the echidna’s guarded personality by protecting the threequel’s biggest gem of a secret.
"I heard the rumors. Yeah, I know nothing," Elba told GamesRadar+ during a recent interview for the Knuckles series. "But wow, Keanu, yeah? Big tings."
According to The John Campea Show and The Hollywood Reporter, Keanu Reeves is set to play Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform first teased in the Sonic 2 post-credits scene.
"I’m not allowed to say what I know about Sonic 3," Elba later admitted – before offering up one quick tease.
"Everything’s in increments, right? So if that [hand in the middle] was Sonic 1, that [hand higher up] is Sonic 2 then Sonic 3 [puts hand even higher]. Ding ding ding ding."
Next up in the Sonic-verse is a Knuckles spin-off series, which stars Idris Elba’s Knuckles in a six-episode adventure alongside returning sheriff’s deputy Wade Whipple (Adam Pally).
The Paramount Plus show – set between Sonic 2 and 3, which Elba calls a great "segue" before the threequel speeds into cinemas in December – will also dig a little deeper into another mystery: how will Knuckles adapt to his new home in Green Hills?
"First of all, he’s quite a mystery. You don’t really know him too well. The way the show starts and opens – he’s still a mystery. He unravels slowly and you get to know him a little bit," Elba explains.
"That’s the style we’ve adopted: Sonic is like, ‘Hey, hey!’ and Knuckles is like [Knuckles voice]: ‘OK? What am I doing here? What about this?’ It’s quite inquisitive."
Elba adds, "It’s the same team that created the film and it’s the same team going on to make the next film. From a quality perspective, it’s exactly the same."
Knuckles is premiering on Paramount Plus on April 26 in the US and April 27 in the UK.
For more, check out the new TV shows coming your way later this year.
