The first trailer for the mostly live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie arrived on Tuesday, and some people had strong feelings about it. To be fair, the trailer was better than I expected. To also be fair, my expectations were set at “surprise catheterization” level. That’s a low bar to hopefully not jam into any urethras.
People had already been joking about Sonic’s legs and his appearance in the first poster, the second poster, and the style guide. Now, with the trailer, Twitter users also had something to say about THE TEETH and the use of Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” throughout the trailer. Weird Al Yankovic arguably had the best response about the latter, tweeting, “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with them using a parody of ‘Amish Paradise’ in the Sonic the Hedgehog trailer.”
Funny reactions to the trailer have continued to pour in since its release, and we’ve already seen a truer-to-life version of the story:
https://twitter.com/lo_lifer/status/1123280620715745281
Meanwhile, other people decided the film is unmitigated nightmare fuel:
after watching that sonic the hedgehog trailer i would like to formally announce that i am no longer a furry
— Daniel Howell (@danielhowell) April 30, 2019
Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie: What if we were back in the 90s but also, simultaneously, in hell
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 30, 2019
Sonic the hedgehog looks promising pic.twitter.com/pkLtGkIqUd
— morgan sybert (@yeastybeastyUwU) April 30, 2019
Some people pondered the design process:
You just KNOW they spent WEEKS fighting over whether or not to give Sonic an ass. pic.twitter.com/u1PBJqBJZR
— Peach Saliva (@PeachSaliva) April 30, 2019
no one:
not a soul:
literally not a single person:
me: ok i'll ask. where are sonic's genitals? pic.twitter.com/HdUYoRWepc
— David Mack (@davidmackau) April 30, 2019
The mockery continued:
I know everyone is talking about the actual visuals of it all but this was the part of the sonic trailer that made me laugh pic.twitter.com/60WN23MKNc
— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) April 30, 2019
the best parts of the sonic trailer are when dr robotnik calls someone “basic” and when sonic checks his daily step count app on his smartwatch. everybody loves when movies do that sort of stuff
— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) April 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/KrangTNelson/status/1123261654895026181
https://twitter.com/ne0ge0_/status/1123244434433421321
Oh, hey, Jim Carrey’s in this.
I kinda respect that, after years of attempting serious roles, they uncorked The Old Jim Carrey for the fucking Sonic Movie pic.twitter.com/SM6ZMig6Jv
— mr. “just joined a new forum” (@Papapishu) April 30, 2019
I’m not happy with how they changed the plot of Sonic pic.twitter.com/JbqOwYz89F
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 30, 2019
Maybe that California court was too harsh when it sentenced Jim Carrey to appear in this movie for causing a measles outbreak
— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 30, 2019
People couldn’t help but compare Sonic the Hedgehog to another fuzzy movie character adapted from a long-running video game franchise, Detective Pikachu:
https://twitter.com/DDoherty23_/status/1123211088026329088
Calling it now: Detective Pikachu is the new MCU and the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is the new DCU. pic.twitter.com/nCkstaB9aZ
— Jason Arriola (@darthmeticulous) April 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/cubeyrose/status/1123268264149356552
when i see peers popping off about Detective Pikachu and Sonic on here I imagine my dad in 1992 coming home from a long day of work and calling his friends to argue with them about the design of the bat from Ferngully
— dave horwitz🪣 (@Dave_Horwitz) April 30, 2019
Comparisons were also made to other movies:
When I saw Sonic's design, it looked vaguely familiar…
And then it hit me. #SonicMovie pic.twitter.com/isCVUtzazl— Ryboflavin (@ryboflavin__) April 30, 2019
The Sonic Movie is just a sequel to Hop or at the very least takes place in the same universe. You can’t convince me otherwise! pic.twitter.com/MRf8WggD3y
— Nightwing dragoness (@nightwing_o) April 30, 2019
— Saberspark (@Saberspark) April 30, 2019
More Coolio jokes were shared:
We been livin’ most our lives, livin’ in a Sonic paradise, I had human teeth once or twice, living in that Sonic paradise, but you’d prolly think it bites…
— ChrisSawyerArt.bsky 💙💛 (@HarpyFeathers) April 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/yerpalmildsauce/status/1123225275674845186
As were jokes about THE TEETH, and yes, we have to capitalize that every time:
don't worry i fixed the teeth pic.twitter.com/LRLN8txdp1
— Crows Crows Crows (@crowsx3) April 30, 2019
https://twitter.com/EiffelArt/status/1123234820023304192
remember to take good care of them sonic :) pic.twitter.com/GRTBgXyvFw
— Jackie Lee 💖🍰🌷 (@_itsjackielee) April 30, 2019
I can't believe you guys were right pic.twitter.com/5PrpobudZx
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) April 30, 2019
Some artists thought they could improve Sonic’s look:
Left is original screenshot. Right is my rework to make #Sonic more stylized. pic.twitter.com/IhXeAZYlQI
— Edward Pun (@EdwardPun1) April 30, 2019
Relax, everyone. It's nothing some good ol' Buscemi eyes can't fix. pic.twitter.com/2Hw2yWi3E7
— Cal Skuthorpe (@buzz_clik) May 1, 2019
Even a GIF of the character Sonic’s voice actor played in Parks and Recreation made an appearance:
This is, in the words of Sonic himself, pic.twitter.com/3XRzt6Hzrh
— Hank Sharpe (@Paleoartologist) April 30, 2019
Speaking of Ben Schwartz, he’s already shown he has a sense of humor about the (non)seriousness of the whole thing when he shot his shot at the Golden Globes voters back in January:
#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/5qSqE6ZhqY
— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) January 7, 2019
We’ll see where this goes when Sonic the Hedgehog opens November 8th.
(Hat tip to SyFy and Pleated Jeans)