According to both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, Keanu Reeves has been tapped to voice Shadow, the anthropomorphic hedgehog best known for his jet-powered sneakers and fondness for guns. While the studio’s yet to make an official announcement, news of Reeves’ casting comes after director Jeff Fowler teased that the next Sonic movie will be inspired by Sonic Adventure 2, the Dreamcast game that first introduced Shadow in 2001.
Shadow’s cinematic arrival was also teased at the end of the last Sonic movie, where he appeared to be cryogenically frozen at a mysterious black site. We didn’t get a chance to hear him shout “chaos control” or “this is the ultimate” then, but it feels safe to assume that he’ll do that and then some when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premieres on December 20th.