Summary
Sonic the Hedgehogis one of the most successful film franchises adapted from a video game. The third movie performed well and one of the cast members said they would want to return in the next one.
The firstSonic the Hedgehogmovie was released in 2020. Despite the initial criticisms that caused the delay in its release, it was a box-office success.Sonic the Hedgehog 2was as successful when it hit theaters in 2022. The third iteration,Sonic the Hedgehog 3, was released in December 2024 and it was well-received, with many fans saying it wasthe best in the trilogy.No wonderSonic 4was greenlit and one of the cast members said they were definitely excited to be part of the upcoming film despite playing a smaller role inSonic 3.
Natasha Rothwell playsMaddie Wachowski’s(Tika Sumpter) sister, Rachel, in theSonic the Hedgehogmovies. She’s a protective and outspoken sister who wants Maddie to divorce her husband, Tom (James Marsden). She played a much more significant role in the sequel that featured her wedding to Randall Handel (Shemar Moore), a human agent of Guardian Units of Nations (GUN). However, inSonic 3, she has a noticeably short screen time. Fans saw her sister Maddie take on her holographic guise to infiltrate Gun’s headquarters in London. Speaking withScreenRant, Rothwell said she hoped to return to the franchise because she had a great experience working with director Jeff Fowler and her co-stars. “I hope so. I mean, Jeff Fowler, he’s just so lovely. And Toby Asher and the gang, Tika, James, like I’ve been in all of them and so absolutely I’ll come back,” Rothwell explained.
Rothwell also shared how she filmed the third movie while working onThe White LotusSeason 3 in Thailand. According to Rothwell, she jumped between the two projects and she hoped to return toSonic 4. “What’s so crazy about the third one, I flew to London to shoot my scenes for the third one and then went to Thailand,” Rothwell shared. “So I literally stopped and shot it and then kept going. So it’s cool to look back because I’m just like, I barely remember being there because it was such a whirlwind of a trip. But yeah, hopefully I’ll be back.”
Based on Rothwell’s statement, she was busy with the third season ofThe White LotusduringSonic 3’sproduction, so this was probably the reason she had a minor role in the third movie. As for her potential return, Rachel is a source of comic relief in the films, so there will always be a place for her if they keep the human characters. However, sinceSonic 4will likely focus on game characters like Amy Rose, Rothwell’s role may not be essential. However, she could still return in a smaller comedic role.
Movie insiderMyTimeToShineHellopreviously shared that there were rumorsSonic 4would be a “romantic comedy” and fans speculated it would involve Sonic and Amy Rose after the latter saved the former from Metal Sonic in in the post-credit scene. Amy Rose’s bigger role inSonic 4is seemingly given because the logo for the upcoming movie is pink — a color strongly associated with Amy.Sonic 3writers had also previously named new characters they wanted to bring into the film. Pat Casey and Josh Miller wanted tobring Big the Cat on the big screen. Introducing new characters could mean shorter screen time for Rachel, but nevertheless, it would still be great to see her inSonic 4.
