The Sonic movie director talks redesign: "It was pretty clear on the day the trailer was released that fans were not happy"

GamesRadar+ recently had the chance to sit down with Sonic the Hedgehog movie director Jeff Fowler about the blue blur’s upcoming big-screen adventure. Of course, the elephant in the room had to be addressed. You know the one: blue, tall, lots of teeth. That elephant. According to Fowler, it was “pretty clear” a redesign would be required on literally the day of the first trailer’s release back in April.

“It was pretty clear on the day the trailer was released just seeing the feedback and hearing the feedback… that fans were not happy enough with where we were at,” Fowler says of the reaction to the original design.

Not only did he tweet out “you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen” shortly after the controversy, he reveals that, internally, there was a steely attitude to getting things right on the second go: “The message was very clear,” Fowler reflects. “In a situation like that, it was very little discussion – we just knew that that work had to be done. We just rolled up our sleeves and dived in.”

While the director didn’t share his favourite aspect of the newly-redesigned Sonic, he did say that “the end result and to see fans embrace the work in the way they did with the second trailer was just fantastic” was a highlight.

Find out what's coming your way for the rest of 2020 with our movie release dates calendar.

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.