Keanu Reeves Joins ‘Sonic 3’ as Shadow

Keanu Reeves is speeding along to another franchise, with the John Wick star heading to Sonic the Hedgehog 3. He will be voicing the popular character named Shadow, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The news comes on the heels of a jam-packed CinemaCon presentation from Paramount last week, when the studio debuted the first footage for Sonic 3. This included the revelation that Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey, was depressed and out of shape after the events of Sonic 2, but gets his groove back thanks to creating Shadow the Hedgehog, a character first introduced in the video games in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2. The character is in many ways the anti-Sonic: dark and edgy, while mirroring the hero’s powers.

Paramount’s Sonic movie franchise dates back to 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which overperformed with $319 million globally, becoming a breakout hit in the video game space, a genre that had struggled at the box office. Sonic 2 followed in 2022 and grossed $404 million globally. Director Jeff Fowler is behind all three installments, which voice star Ben Schwartz as Sonic opposite James Mardsen as Tom Wachowski, a human pal of Sonic’s.

Reeves has been in blockbuster mode for the past several years now, last starring in John Wick: Chapter 4 and before that reprising his iconic role of Neo for 2021’s The Matrix: Resurrections. Coming up, he has roles in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, in which he plays a guardian angel, and has a small part as the popular assassin in John Wick Presents: Ballerina, a spinoff starring Ana De Armas.

The John Campea Show first reported Reeves’ casting.