The director of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 recently shared his thoughts on the Sexy Knuckles meme. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 follows the titular hero, Sonic (Ben Schwartz), on a journey across the world as he and his friend Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) try to protect the Chaos Emerald from Doctor Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Robotnik has returned to Earth with a new partner, Knuckles (Idris Elba), and wishes to take the emerald for himself to harness its great power. The film also stars James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Shemar Moore, and Natasha Rothwell.

Elba was announced to be voicing Knuckles in August of 2021, and it was not long before fans were sharing their thoughts about how “sexy” the new Knuckles voice may be. The casting choice was also praised by many who felt like Elba can bring a serious tone to the character while still keeping him somewhat comedic. And Elba is no stranger to voiceover work, having previously worked on Finding Dory and Zootopia, both in 2016.

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In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director, Jeff Fowler, commented on “sexy Knuckles,” calling the meme “incredible.” He assured that he found the meme to be a great laugh, and that he doesn’t believe that it “by any means could be classified as bad publicity.” Fowler also shared how the meme was helpful in immersing Elba into the Sonic family. Read his full quote below:

Oh my God, it was incredible. It was so amazing. So funny. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, is what they say, and I don’t think this by any means could be classified as bad publicity. But I thought was hilarious. It was so great, and a wonderful way of welcoming Idris Elba into our weird little family; our weird little Sonic family. I think he got a kick out of it. I was sending him stuff, saying like, ‘This is a good thing. It’s a good thing that this meme is out there.’ I was all for it.

Elba himself has commented on the meme before as well, saying that he does not think his portrayal of the red echidna is sexy. Though as trailers have been dropping for the upcoming film, fans are split on how accurate that statement may be. It is safe to assume that Elba’s portrayal was well done, because Knuckles is set to be around for a while. Paramount+ announced in February that Knuckles would be getting his own show in 2023. Plus, the highly popular character would likely return for a third Sonic the Hedgehog film, if one were to be made.

Elba’s naturally deep voice, paired with what one can assume to be comedic and evil dialogue, might just be the perfect recipe for a subtly seductive subtext for Knuckles. It is also likely that Knuckles being small and red and an animal might balance out the potentially desirable dialogue to make him a character simply that appeals to all ages. The time to speculate is rapidly closing though, as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 premieres on April 8.

Key Release Dates
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  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)Release date: Apr 08, 2022
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Elsa Schacht
(22 Articles Published)

Elsa (she/they) is a film and television writer based in Los Angeles. Screen Rant is her first professional writing gig, though she has been covering pop culture television as a host on the GET Real podcast for over a year. Most of their free time is consumed by nerding out over video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and her two cats Pumpkin and Barnaby.

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