There's no denying that the beloved blue speedster Sonic The Hedgehog stands among the most iconic video game characters of all time. So much so, in fact, that countless people have come to cherish the creature's design. Evidently, Paramount Studios recently came to learn the extent of the fandom's appreciation. Upon delivering the first official trailer in early May, the newly designed Sonic quickly whipped up an intense backlash from fans.
For one, Sonic's strangely humanoid legs seemed grotesquely disproportionate with the rest of his body. Not only that, but his teeth looked equally "human," taking the creature firmly out of cuddly territory, and into the realm of "nightmare fuel." With Sonic's new look as the scapegoat, the Twitter mob openly ridiculed the trailer to the point where the film's director Jeff Fowler stepped in to quell the storm. "Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear," he wrote, via Twitter. "You aren't happy with the design & you want changes. It's going to happen."
Well, as you might know, change takes time. Today, Fowler returned to Twitter with an updated release date, revealing that the film has been pushed to February 14th, 2020. The perfect Valentine's Day movie, is it not? "Taking a little more time to make Sonic just right," he writes, an olive branch to those who felt personally wronged by Sonic's digital-age depiction. We can only hope that the VFX team isn't taking this one too personally. In any case, look for Sonic to sport yet another new look come 2020. Will you be tuning in?