The next Sonic the Hedgehog movie will carry a punch. Specifically a punch delivered by a comically oversized hand in a white glove with two big spikes on it.

That would be the hand of Knuckles the Echidna, a longtime mainstay of the Sonic games franchise and a new addition to the film series for the upcoming sequel. He will be played by none other than The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba. He will join Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic. (Sonic’s buddy Tails will also appear in the film, but his voice has yet to be revealed.)

Elba himself announced the news on his Twitter account, posting a photo of Knuckles’ distinctive fist and the caption “Knock, knock....” Thus far, the image has been liked more than 72,000 times.

That’s a slightly better reception than the first Sonic movie got when its posters and trailer first premiered. You may remember that the initial design of Sonic was so ghastly, fans freaked out until Paramount Pictures decided to delay the movie and adjust the character to look more like the beloved Sega mascot. That turned out to be a wise decision; the updated film was a hit, grossing more than $310 million before movie theaters shut down at the start of the Covid pandemic.

So if Idris Elba is playing Knuckles, who’s going to be Tails? It’s got to be someone who can go toe-to-toe with an actor of Elba’s caliber. I vote for Helen Mirren. She would be perfect. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is scheduled to open in theaters on April 8, 2022.

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