Ever since the first movie poster was unveiled, the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie has been embroiled in controversy. The image, showing a muscular and lifelike apparition, much unlike the hedgehog of gaming legend, won laughs from fans around the internet. And if this new leak is any indication, that reaction isn’t stopping anytime soon.
Now, thanks to a leak by advertising agent Hamagami/Carroll Inc., we have a clearer look at Sonic the Hedgehog’s movie iteration. And in true internet fashion, it’s already being mercilessly ripped to shreds. See the controversial image below:
So, what’s the gist here, you may ask? This whole thing is a ‘style guide’, a branding deck for the Paramount Pictures movie. While much of the criticism and/or derision has been centered on the design for Sonic the Hedgehog, notice the ‘Brand Personality’. It consists of Sonic’s characteristics i.e. ‘irreverent & sarcastic’ and ‘confident & competitive’. So, at the very least, his personality is on par with the original videogame character.
Interestingly, this content has vanished from Hamagami/Carroll Inc’s website. Perhaps they figured the less-than-stellar reception would hurt the brand and future ticket sales?
There were some fairly humorous Twitter takes on the leak:
They made Sonic the Hedgehog look like the mascot for a disease in a pharmaceutical ad pic.twitter.com/RG1u8KOQjV
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) March 4, 2019
For some fans, the Sonic the Hedgehog design brought up eery reminders of Will Smith’s Genie from the Disney’s Aladdin remake trailer…
2 Angry Blue Boys #Aladdin #SonicTheHedgehog pic.twitter.com/ASJkrJvrmC
— MegaDriveBrad (@MegaDriveBrad) March 5, 2019
But not all reactions were negative:
Looks like they went with the “Chris pratt” poster design after all. I will say the poster version looks far better than the drawing so please wait until we see more images until you continue to condemn this as the worse film ever.#SonicMovie #SonicTheHedgehog pic.twitter.com/9Y2O4ModMz
— Asterisk* (@AsteriskOff) March 4, 2019
As the latter of the example tweets points out, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this design for Sonic the Hedgehog. In fact, these leaked movie posters – which showed a suspiciously Chris Pratt-like cop – depicted a more realistic version of the drawn one recently unveiled.
It’s important to understand that this isn’t the first time a character look has divided audiences. Heath Ledger’s Joker was derided by certain fans before The Dark Knight‘s release, but his performance is now considered legendary.
Here’s hoping the movie moves toward that extreme.
