Netflix Is Making A New Sonic Show — But There's A Catch
Gotta go back to pre-school.
The recent trend of video game adaptations has been a lucrative one, carrying games like Devil May Cry and Resident Evil into a separate medium thanks to the strength of the large fanbases those titles already have. Because of the narrative complexity of the current and previous generation of games, lots of the movies or TV shows we already have or are releasing soon are based on relatively recent titles, including HBO’s successful adaptation of The Last of Us and Amazon’s upcoming adaptation of the Norse trilogy of God of War games. But while the games of the last two decades offer far more intricate storytelling than most games of the past, there’s nothing stopping Hollywood from reaching back to the arcade for inspiration as well.
Just this year alone, Mortal Kombat 2 has already been a moderate success, and the upcoming Street Fighter reboot is hitting theaters soon. But when it comes to the industry’s biggest success stories, two long-lived franchises are at the front of the line. Mario has given us two billion-dollar animated movies, and while Sonic the Hedgehog has already given us three movies and a TV show, there’s a new project coming that’s probably not what you think it is.
The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have been among the most successful video game adaptations so far.
Yesterday, Deadline reported that Netflix is partnering with Sega on a slate of video game-based streaming projects. While the partnership could lead to a host of different adaptations, only three have been announced so far: a film based on the Crazy Taxi games, a live-action cinematic adaptation of the upcoming Yakuza prequel game Stranger Than Heaven, and an animated Sonic series that may or may not connect to the live-action film trilogy.
Details on the series are incredibly light, but we do know it will target an “upper pre-school audience” and will replace Netflix’s kid-friendly Sonic Prime, which ran for three seasons. It will be the sixth animated Sonic TV series, but if it’s connected to the films, it’ll be the second show to spin out of the movie franchise, following 2024’s Knuckles series. This will definitely be the youngest target audience a Sonic show has had in a while, and while that may disappoint older fans, it’s further proof that iconic video games, regardless of how old they are, can draw a versatile audience of kids and adults. As long as that stays true, Hollywood’s current video game craze isn’t going anywhere.
