Sonic 3 movie logo confirms fans' biggest hopes

For two years now, Paramount has been teasing us with what's coming in the Sonic 3 movie. The surprise ending of Sonic 2 suggested that a popular character will be making an appearance, and several teasers have been backing that up.

Now a glimpse of the animated logo for the film – and the accompanying caption – leave no doubt that Shadow, Sonic's arch rival created by Dr Robotnik to be the 'Ultimate Life Form', will be a big part of the movie (for more video game inspiration, see our pick of the best anime games).

The dramatic post-credits scene in Sonic 2 left fans with high expectations for the appearance of the brooding antihero in the follow up, which will again blend live action and animation. More recently, a post shared on social media in December gave us a glimpse of what appeared to be Shadow's shoes, which enough to send fans into a frenzy.

Now, we have the animated logo for the film and it appears to follow the direction of the previous film's designs by hinting at a character in the number. The Sonic 2 logo featured a design resembling the character Tails, and it's been speculated that the red and black of the Sonic 3 logo represents Shadow. The design looks a little like the logo for Sonic Adventure 2, which featured Shadow the Hedgehog quite heavily.

So is Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3? I think we can safely say not that it's looking pretty certain that he is. Any doubt would appear to be quashed by the caption used by the official account on X, which posted: "What you’ve seen from me is only a #shadow of things to come."

Sonic 3 is due to be released on 20 December 2024. For recent design wins from the film sector, see our favourite movie posters of the year so far and the new Madame Web posters.