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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is racing to our screens this month and we’re all excited (and a bit nervous) to see how Keanu Reeves portrays Sonic’s most dangerous enemy. No, he isn’t taking over as Dr. Robotnik; we’re talking about his role as Shadow the Hedgehog. According to the film’s director, Reeves was very clued in on exactly what made Shadow tick and it was his relationship with Maria, and it has us seeing parallels with John Wick.

Keanu Reeves has plenty of experience playing emotionally unstable killing machines. After John Wick 4 seemingly killed off his character, he began preparing to play the Ultimate Lifeform in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Jeff Fowler, who is directing the sequel, says that it was clear that Reeves showed up to the studio prepared, saying he “definitely wouldn’t question that he did a deep dive” into the character.

“[Keanu Reeves’] questions were really smart,” Fowler said in an interview ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s premiere. “It was very clear to him what the Shadow and Maria relationship meant to Shadow as a character [and] to the fans as a story they loved. He just knew that we really had to nail it for the film.”

Maria, of course, was the young girl Shadow had befriended in the past. It was her death that drove him to swear vengeance against all of humanity in Sonic Adventure 2. Keanu Reeves is right to focus on that aspect of the character’s history as it is what changes Shadow from a palette-swapped version of the hero into a compelling anti-hero with a tragic backstory.

Hold on; Keanu Reeves is, once again, playing a dangerous and seemingly unstoppable killing machine who is driven by a need for revenge for the one woman he ever loved? Is Shadow the Hedgehog just a kid-friendly version of John Wick? If they let him use the guns from his stand-alone game, then we’re going to say yes, and that realization has made us so much more excited for Sonic 3.

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