‘The Suicide Squad’ Star Idris Elba to Play Knuckles in ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2’

The star of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Idris Elba, is heading to Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

Elba is set to play Knuckles, another popular character from SEGA’s video game franchise. The actor teased the role on social media by posting a photo of the red echidna’s recognizable knuckles, with the caption “Knock, knock…..” and the hashtags #SonicMovie2 and #Knuckles.

Idris Elba recently starred in The Suicide Squad, where he played Bloodsport– a mercenary who was tasked to become the leader of the titular squad of supervillains. Now he’ll voice Knuckles from the Sonic franchise, a powerful fighter and a more serious character when compared to the energetic Sonic. The title card for the upcoming film also teased the arrival of Tails, Sonic’s longtime ally in the video games.

Elba will join Ben Schwartz, who voiced Sonic in the first film, and returning live-action actors James Marsden as Tom and Tika Sumpter as Maddie.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will also feature Miles “Tails” Prower (who appeared in a post-credit scene in the first film), but it’s unclear if the flying fox character will be voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey — who also has voiced Tails in other Sonic games and media — or if he’ll be recast with an actor with more name recognition.

One of Elba’s greatest assets that makes him ideal for playing Knuckles is his gravelly vocals, which add a new dimension of threat to an already intimidating character.

While the exact plot points of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are yet to be revealed, the basic premise is that Knuckles will initially appear as an antagonist alongside Jim Carrey‘s Doctor Robotnik, and therefore be a credible threat to Sonic.

Elba is no stranger to lacing his character portrayals with menace, as shown by his Emmy-winning performance as Stringer Bell in HBO’s The Wire, in which those around him hung off his every word.

He has lent his voice to more gentle turns in both Zootopia and Finding Dory, it is his portrayal as the omnipresent threat Shere Khan in the 2016 Jungle Book that again proves his skill at representing antagonists.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is set to hit theaters on April 8th, 2022. (source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)