It's been mere days since the world was exposed to the blue horrors of the first full Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer, but it feels like ages. Within a matter of minutes, social media and the internet at large was flooded with mockery, outcries, and artists making massive improvements to Sonic's chilling appearance with a few small tweaks. Now, director Jeff Fowler has taken to Twitter to confirm that the film will be changed before release.
"The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design and you want changes," Fowler wrote. "It's going to happen." Presumably, this still means the movie will be in theaters come November, so there are about six months to make said changes - hence the #gottafixfast hashtag Fowler included. He doesn't go into specifics on what these changes will entail, but they'll surely revolve around the look of Sonic's freaky face.
Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be... #sonicmovie #gottafixfast May 2, 2019
Based on a quick perusal of Twitter following Fowler's announcement, it seems like people are split down the middle on this decision. One half is overjoyed that Sonic's look will be improved and hopefully lift up the rest of the film along with it, while the other half was looking forward to ironically enjoying Sonic's original demonspawn version in all his toothy, hideous glory. Spare a thought for the poor animators and effects people who thought they were done working on the film, and will now have to laboriously rework the existing CG effects (presumably throughout the entire film) on a ridiculously short timeline.
It's wild to think that directors and studios can - and often must - be so reactive to public response even before a movie's debut these days. I'm sure Nintendo fans were absolutely mortified when they first saw the trailer for 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie, but they didn't have something called Twitter that lets mass opinions enact real change. Come to think of it, the Super Mario Bros. trailer inexplicably features Snap's I've Got the Power - not a far cry from Gangsta's Paradise, all things considered. To put all this Sonic business into focus, just look at what his old competitor was serving up over 20 years ago:
See what's happening this week in games and entertainment with our latest Release Radar:
