Earlier this week the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog surfaced on YouTube, and as expected the internet reacted in a strong way.
At the time of writing said trailer has 21 million views, with 283k likes and almost double the amount of dislikes at 479k.
It was certainly something we saw coming, especially following some teaser images of Sonic raised more than a few eyebrows.
It’s an issue that the creators of this live-action project are fully aware of, with director Jeff Fowler taking to Twitter to address fans and say that they’re heard their criticisms and are going to fix it with 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
With Sonic the Hedgehog still scheduled to land in cinemas later this year in November, there’s certainly enough time for a redesign to be implemented. Our only issue with that is what design they decide to switch too, especially as fans of the SEGA character have some strong opinions as to how he needs to be represented in celluloid.
Also interesting to see is whether a substantial redesign will make people want to go watch this movie. We say this as the trailer itself, Sonic aside, does not look particularly good.
That said a second trailer for the live-action Aladdin movie following the first reveal of Will Smith as the blue genie quelled some fears from Disney fans. Here’s hoping SEGA and Paramount Pictures can do the same.
If you still haven’t seen the trailer, click on it below, and try not to look away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvvZaBf9QQI