Surprising Sonic 2 guest star revealed in leaked on-set photos

Next year sees Sonic the Hedgehog spinning back onto the big screen and we've been eagerly awaiting news of the second film. We've already heard whispers of sidekick Tails making an appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and a recent tweet teases that Knuckles is invited along for the ride.

The tweet (below) shares an image straight out of the character design handbook, with stand-in props for iconic characters Sonic, Tails and Knuckles standing on set. Fans are naturally delighted over the inclusion of the Red Echidna, but his appearance does come as a surprise.

We actually thought we would have to wait until Sonic the Hedgehog hit its third instalment before we'd get to meet Knuckles, so his appearance in the next film is unexpected. Until now, we'd been working on the assumption that the films were mirroring the structure of the original Sega games  – as the symmetry of the titles and even theme music suggests (read more about it here). 

But, as the outpouring of online joy proves, the surprise is a welcome one, and questions are already being raised about the character design. Will Knuckles look like the above fan-made render by artist Rafael Grassetti or will the character design go in a different direction?

Some are asking why the prop doesn't include the famous crescent on his chest – but as others suggest, this could be down to it needing to be added in the CGI process or perhaps Knuckles will be wearing clothes.

We wonder if Knuckles will be as easily tricked by Jim Carey's Doctor Eggman as he was when first introduced back in the '90s. There's no word yet on who will be providing the voice for Knuckles himself – but we expect to learn more when official confirmation is provided by Paramount Pictures. 

Need more Sonic? You can find an additional series of photos taken by those on the ground on this Twitter thread. And be sure to check out this delightfully retro Lego x Sonic mashup, too.

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