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Sonic 3 director Jeff Fowler has opened up on why those two new characters were picked as the threequel's big post-credits surprises.
Spoilers for the Sonic 3 post-credits scene follow. You have been warned.
"I think it's always: 'Which character is going to give us something new?'" Fowler says in an interview with GamesRadar+.
In the first of two post-credits scenes, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) is seen speeding around a park near New York. There, he's confronted by Metal Sonic and, eventually, an entire army of the robotic doppelgangers. He's only saved by a familiar face to many Sonic fans: Amy Rose, who bests the army with her trademark hammer.
For Fowler, their introduction is a tone-setter for future Sonic stories – in much the same way Tails' arrival in the first Sonic movie and Shadow's post-credits tease in Sonic 2 then became major parts of their sequels.
"In terms of the storytelling, we know where we've been. We're always looking for the next movie to have something unique or offer something fresh to the storytelling. We always make these choices based on where we kind of want the world to go. That's certainly how we chose Shadow at the end of [Sonic 2], wanting to bring in someone who can challenge Team Sonic in exciting ways. I think this film is the same."
Fowler has long been transparent about the Sonic trilogy's pattern of introducing new characters from the wider Sonic universe in post-credits scenes and folding them into the main story in the next instalment.
Now, it seems, Amy Rose and Metal Sonic will shape Sonic 4 – which has recently been confirmed to hit cinemas in 2027.
For more on Sonic 3, check out our breakdown of the Sonic 3 ending. Then dive into the rest of our interview with Jeff Fowler as he talks about Keanu Reeves nailing the role of Shadow.
