Paramount+ today revealed the official trailer for the upcoming original Knuckles series, the latest in the “Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog,” from Paramount Pictures and SEGA of America.
The service also announced that all six episodes of the series will be available to stream on Friday, April 26, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada; the following day, April 27, in all additional Paramount+ territories; and in Japan later this year.
In addition to today’s official trailer, on Sunday, Feb. 11, an all-new Knuckles spot will debut during the CBS Television Network’s Super Bowl LVIII pregame broadcast. The Super Bowl spot will also be featured in Nickelodeon’s special kids and family broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, where Knuckles and some friends will make a surprise appearance.
The new live-action Knuckles series follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. The series takes place between the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
In addition to Elba starring as the titular character, Adam Pally reprises his role as Wade Whipple from the film franchise.
The ensemble cast includes guest stars Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don’t Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), and Rory McCann (Game of Thrones).
The cast also includes Cary Elwes (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital).
Special guest star Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as Sonic and special guest star Tika Sumpter will reprise her role as Maddie. Colleen O’Shaughnessey will also return as a special guest star in her role as Tails.
All of the key creative team from the previous films have returned for the series, including the films’ director/executive producer Jeff Fowler, who directed the pilot episode and helped transition the film’s signature cinematic animation style to television.
Also returning are Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, John Whittington, and Toru Nakahara, who serve as executive producers along with Idris Elba. Additional directors for the series include Ged Wright, Brandon Trost, Jorma Taccone, and Carol Banker.
The series was created for television by John Whittington and Toby Ascher, who is showrunning during production.
Whittington, who wrote Sonic the Hedgehog 2, served as head writer and wrote the pilot for the series. Additional series writers include Brian Schacter and James Madejski.
The combined global box office for Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 stands at $725.2 million. On Paramount+, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the top-performing Kids & Family film on the service in reach and is also one of the service’s most re-watched films. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released in theaters on December 20, 2024.
In addition to streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Latin America, Australia, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan, the Knuckles series will stream on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain and Central and Eastern Europe. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.