The third Sonic the Hedgehog film has opened with rave reviews from critics, with a fan-favourite character set to take centre stage and face off against Team Sonic in a thrilling adventure like no other before.
When Shadow the Hedgehog is awoken from a 50-year stasis by an unknown force, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles must discover who is behind the plan to stop a terrible fate.
The first two Sonic films teased major storylines for the next instalment during the credits. If you’re wondering whether Sonic the Hedgehog 3 follows the same trend, look no further. I’ve seen the film and can confirm how long you need to stick around.
I’ve also included a detailed analysis of that ending and what it means for the future of the Sonic live-action universe, with sufficient warnings for readers.
You can also read Tech Advisor’s official review of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 here.
Paramount Pictures
Does Sonic the Hedgehog 3 have a post-credits scene?
Don’t think you’ve gotta go fast out of the cinema just yet, because Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has two post-credits scenes.
One happens mid-way through, after the animated section of the credits. However, once that’s done don’t leave – you’ll have to stick around for the final teaser which happens after all the credits have finished.
Both set up for the next film, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is now confirmed to aim for a 2027 release according to Variety. They could also indicate another spin-off series on Paramount+, like the standalone Knuckles show.
If you don’t want to be spoilt for the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, do not read any further.
What happens in the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 mid-credits scene?
Paramount Pictures
The scene picks up after Sonic has finished his race with (the now real) Tails and Knuckles. In typical speedy fashion, the hedgehog has gone way too far and ended up across the country in the state of New York.
Suddenly, Sonic is ambushed by a robot that looks rather familiar – something the hero mocks. Fans will know this character as the villain Metal Sonic, who has appeared in multiple Sonic games, comics and the animated 1996 OVA movie.
But it’s not just one Metal, as many glowing red eyes appear from the darkness. Sonic is surrounded by multiple copies, who are closing in to fight him.
As Sonic prepares for a battle, a hammer comes from nowhere and smashes into the Metal Sonics. A hooded figure jumps into the air, catching the weapon and landing.
Sonic asks who they are, and they pull back the hood to reveal Amy Rose, one of the few main characters from the games who has yet to be adapted for the Jeff Fowler-led films.
Both Metal Sonic and Amy Rose were introduced in the game Sonic CD, with Sonic saving Amy from the evil robot. The story deals with time travel, with the player having to beat the game to avoid a fate where the world ends up ruled by Robotnik.
SEGA
What happens in the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 final post-credits scene?
We see a crater in the ground, and in it lies one of Shadow’s inhibitor rings – something the Ultimate Life Form took off to unleash his ultimate power to save Earth when he and Robotnik sacrificed themselves.
Naturally, it’ll take a little more than that to kill Shadow the Hedgehog. We see his iconic jet shoes walk into shot before the film cuts to black.
Game fans won’t be surprised by this. Shadow also seemingly died at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, the game that inspired this film. However, the character managed to return in Sonic Heroes – though with many questions about his background and history.
Paramount Pictures
Considering that the first post-credits scene gave us two new characters and a new setting with New York, this seems most likely to be the focus of Sonic 4.
Metal Sonic will almost certainly be the main villain. This robot can mimic Sonic’s moves and speed but is also more capable and intelligent than regular badniks. He consistently challenges Sonic to defeat him, even sometimes going against his creator – Doctor Eggman – to achieve his goal.
In later games such as Sonic Heroes, he’s gained more power through the chaos emeralds and transformed into monstrous forms such as Neo Metal Sonic and Metal Overlord, which allows him to utilise chaos control.
Amy’s introduction is a subversion of her origin in the games – she originally started as a damsel in distress and Sonic’s self-proclaimed biggest fan/girlfriend, often to his annoyance. When the games moved into the 3D era, she became a heroine in her own right, getting a more grown-up redesign (like what she has in these post-credits, though sans the mysterious cloak).
Over the years, her obsessive nature with Sonic has moulded more into a strong friendship, while her romantic feelings have mellowed into a more secretive crush – and even at times hinted to be possibly reciprocated during things such as Sonic Boom and the Sonic Twitter takeovers.
Her introduction in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 indicates that we may get more of the independent Amy Rose we see now in the modern era. However, it remains to be seen whether she and Sonic will have that strong bond in the movies as they do in other media.
Both Metal Sonic and Amy Rose play big roles in Sonic CD and Sonic Heroes, so it’s likely that these will be used as a base for the plot of Sonic 4. Amy also features heavily in Sonic Adventure and strikes up an unlikely friendship with a robot (not Metal), which causes friction between her and Sonic. She’s also been shown to have sympathy for Metal in other animated shorts like the one below:
Shadow’s fate does show that he will return in some capacity. It’s not known how much of a role he’ll play in the fourth film, but the producer of Knuckles, Toby Ascher, has mentioned doing more Sonic spin-off series, so his backstory could be explored further in a TV show such as this.
In the games, Shadow ends up becoming an Agent for G.U.N. Considering the show cast Krysten Ritter as one of the new head honchos of this organisation in the form of Director Rockwell, she could be a good antagonist (or even ally) for a story of this nature.
Of course, one question remains: if Metal Sonic is the villain, who created him? In the games, it’s Eggman – but his fate seemed pretty final in Sonic the Hedgehog 3…
…or did it?
Paramount Pictures
Is Doctor Eggman really dead in Sonic the Hedgehog 3?
While combusting in an explosion in space seems like something nobody could survive, the final post-credits scene confirmed that at least Shadow did.
There’s a possibility that the hedgehog teleported and saved Robotnik at the last moment. Alternatively, there was a throwaway line from the Doctor about ‘cloning’ Agent Stone, so perhaps there’s another version of the villain out there somewhere – one without the empathy to save the world.
The final way Eggman could return is through time travel. After all, Amy and Metal’s original game is Sonic CD, in which Robotnik uses the Time Stones to create his robot utopia. The only way to truly defeat him is by collecting these Time Stones, preventing that future from ever happening.
All three characters could be from the future, or even an alternate timeline, if the creators want to go down a slightly different path.
Adding to that, Jim Carrey gave the following quote to Screen Rant on returning for a fourth film:
I don’t want to say for sure, but it always comes down to what’s happening in the moment. And the guys, Toby Asher and Jeff Fowler, call me up and say, “We have this idea. What do you think? In where we can take Robotnik.” So it really comes down to that. I’m not against it, for sure.
Jim Carrey is a huge draw for audiences, and he genuinely seems to enjoy doing the movies, so we’d be unsurprised to see him return.
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