Today, Netflix released a new trailer for its upcoming animated Sonic show, Sonic Prime, that is jam-packed with fun new multiverse designs for its colorful cast of characters.
We first got a glimpse of Sonic Prime back in September, but the teaser trailer didn’t give anything away in terms of what the show was actually gonna be about. Thanks to today’s trailer, we know that Sonic is getting into some timey-wimey shenanigans, and I’m all here for it. Much like Sonic petulantly touching something he shouldn’t be messing with in Sonic Frontiers, Sonic breaks Eggman’s mysterious paradox prism and thrusts himself into a world of hurt. The consequences of Sonic’s actions send him into a dystopian timeline, akin to the ‘93 Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, where no one knows who Sonic is and Eggman rules with an iron-gloved fist. But not everything is doom and gloom, because Sonic’s friends have some rather sick new designs.
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When Sonic asks Tails why the hell his friends look so different, Tails drops some much-needed exposition that he and the rest of the gang hail from “shatter spaces,” i.e. alternate dimensions. The new dimensions come with new glow-ups for Sonic’s chums. Throughout the trailer, we get glimpses of a mad-scientist Doc-Oc looking Tails, a cyborg Amy with extendo-legs, Big the Cat in tribal garb, and Knuckles and his on-and-off girlfriend, Rouge, in slick militia get-up. We also get the teensiest glimpse of Shadow the Hedgehog at the butt-end of the trailer, but he seems to be sporting his usual forever-nude look. I’m yawning at him for this.
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Outside of the new multiversal looks for Sonic’s compatriots, the neatest design choice, in my humble opinion, goes to the speedline design for Sonic’s run animation. Instead of having the circular speedline run animation from games like the OG games for the Sega Genesis, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, or Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic has a Möbius loop-esque running animation as he did in Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
This new animation not only serves as a nice change of pace from the animations in shows like Sonic X and Sonic Boom, but it also gives a neat tie-in to the concept of infinity. It’s as if Sonic Prime is messing a Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness plotline. Yes, I did look up a Niel DeGrasse Tyson video and leaned heavily on my JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure knowledge to regurgitate the concept of a Möbius loop so I could sound smart. Sue me. The trailer shows Sonic’s shoes lighting up like some Payless-bought kicks, so I theorize his shoes are what allow him to dimension hop. Either that or he’s just new boot goofin’. Time will tell.
Sonic Prime is being jointly produced by Sega, WildBrain Studios, and Man of Action Entertainment, the folks behind Ben 10 and Big Hero 6, according to The Wrap. The show’s first season will have 8 episodes.
Sonic Prime is slated to release on Netflix on December 15.
Correction, 11/17/22, 4:50 p.m. ET: The post has been updated to correct the number of episodes in the show’s debut season.