Sonic 3 director says Keanu Reeves "researched" Shadow the Hedgehog because he wanted to create a "faithful version" of the character

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 director Jeff Fowler has praised Shadow the Hedgehog actor Keanu Reeves ahead of the threequel’s release.

“It’s so great that we gave Keanu Reeves the voice of the character and he was so fantastic to work with,” Fowler said on Day 2 of Sonic Revolution’s Shadow Revolution online stream (skip to 4:57:30 on their Twitch channel for more).

“He loves the character and he definitely understood what we were going for and he was really excited to do his version of it. Like the whole cast, he really wants to do well and he really cares about it.”

Fowler pointed to Reeves’ dedication to the role — from the recording booth and beyond — as a key factor behind why he thinks fans will “love” his take on Shadow.

“He gave us so many different versions of line readings and just wanted to keep going. It wasn’t like showing up and reading the script into a microphone,” Fowler said.

“He really wanted to create a fan-faithful version of the character. He did his research. During our first meeting, he was very clear about doing his homework, which was great. I can’t say enough wonderful things about Keanu and what he brought to the character and the experience in making this film, I think people will really love his version of Shadow.”

As fun as the idea is of Keanu Reeves portraying Shadow’s debut in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2, we imagine the John Wick actor probably sifted through pages of notes and other media before settling on his take on the Ultimate Lifeform dedicated.

Earlier this year I spoke to GamesRadar+Sonic 3 producer Toby Ascher labeled the upcoming release as “probably the most exciting thing we’ve done in this franchise.”

Ascher added, “It’s going to be this huge, fun, incredible movie that obviously takes a lot from Sonic Adventure 2 and some of the games that I know the core Sonic Team team grew up loving.”

Sonic 3, which introduces Keanu Reeves’ Shadow, also stars Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, James Marsden and Colleen O’Shaughnessey. The film will hit theaters on December 20.

For more information, see upcoming video game movies coming your way soon.