Spoiler alert: This article contains major spoilers for the ending and post-credits scene in “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” now in theaters.
Just like the ending of the first two “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies, Part 3 sets up the fourth movie — which will hit theaters in 2027 — with a surprise twist.
After Team Sonic saves the world from Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald Robotnik (both played by Jim Carrey), Sonic (Ben Schwartz) ends his race with Tails (Colin O’Shaughnessy) and Knuckles (Idris Elba) to see who is the fastest. The blue hedgehog wins the race easily as he speeds far ahead of his companions and finds himself lost in the dark forest. Things quickly take a turn when Sonic finds himself surrounded by a group of robots that look just like him. The robot designs are based on Metal Sonic, an evil robot created by Dr. Robotnik in the video games. Metal Sonic is one of Robotnik’s most elite creations with all of Sonic’s powers and more, such as super strength, invisibility, powers of chaos, and self-replication.
Fortunately, as the Metal Sonics close in on the hero, he is saved by a caped figure who turns out to be fan favorite Amy Rose. Just as Tails and Shadow (Keanu Reeves) were teased at the end of the first two Sonic movies, it’s clear that Amy will play a major role in Sonic 4. Amy is a pink hedgehog who is often portrayed as Sonic’s love interest. Although she does not have Sonic’s speed or Knuckles’ strength, she wields a giant hammer that can easily defeat any enemy.
What about Shadow and Robotniks? Well, it looks like they all meet their demise in the final battle aboard the giant space cannon. Betrayed by his grandfather, Ivo pushes Gerald into a power reactor, then he and Shadow sacrifice themselves to move the laser away from Earth. The space base explodes with everyone inside – but it won’t be the first time Ivo has narrowly escaped apparent death. Ivo also returns after disappearing at the end of “Sonic 2”. However, the final post-credits scene confirms that Shadow survived the explosion and returned to Earth, setting him up to appear in “Sonic 4”.
Schwartz didn’t talk much about what “Sonic 4” might entail, but he did tease that it would be “beautiful” and different from the previous three films.
“The specific things we’re teasing at the end of this movie are the same things I hope we’ll do in Part 4. There’s a beautiful story that can be used that takes our movie to a completely different place,” he said. “And that’s what makes these things exciting. Each of these films almost feels like a different genre. The first type of buddy comedy. The second part is a kind of adventure, which is the movie “Indiana Jones.” This brings darkness into the shadows, and the next part can have a completely different atmosphere. It’s just heaven. We can also have great people playing new characters and things like that, which is very exciting.
