Sonic getting a redesign after massive trailer backlash

A movie about a furry blue Hedgehog living in the real world was always likely to be a difficult one to get right, but for most people that was assumed to only be an issue was the story for the movie. After all, as long as you keep Sonic looking as cute as he does in the games you’re bound to still get fans on board with the movie. And then Tuesday happened, the trailer dropped and suddenly people were having induced nightmares because Sonic was an abomination.

In that short time since the trailer released, the backlash on the internet has been massive and as a result, it appears they are going back to the drawing board as director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter to announce that Sonic’s getting a redesign.

Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast ?✌️

— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019

Now I can’t say I am too surprised by this news given the amount of backlash the trailer has been getting and the importance of Paramount getting a property like Sonic the Hedgehog right, though I can’t help but feel sorry for all the VFX artists who worked so hard on the film already and now have to put in even more long hours doing it all over again. Especially considering that not only were they likely taking direction from the studio on their designs, but that when a picture of Sonic arrived earlier this year, those same comments were made about the design, so why not change it all the way back then.

Fowler makes no mention of some other really bad elements of the trailer like the poor dialogue or Gangster’s Paradise playing for apparently no reason whatsoever. While I definitely am not a fan of the new Sonic design, those were admittedly the things that disappointed me more, so simply just redesigning Sonic is probably not going to be enough.

Additionally, with the studio keeping the release date of November 8, it means their time is limited to get this right and we all know how rushed VFX jobs generally look in the movies:

Do you think Sonic’s aesthetic is bad enough that it warrants a re-do or do you think the studio should’ve just trusted their instinct and focused on making the rest of the movie entertaining to watch?

Last Updated: May 3, 2019