‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Movie Taps James Marsden to Star

Will the Westworld star be able to keep up?

Over at The Hollywood Reporter, the casting of James Marsden has been made official for an upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Produced by Paramount Pictures, the film is obviously based on the video game series of the same name, first introduced by SEGA in 1991. Though plot details are not yet available, the movie will apparently feature both live-action and CGI – think Garfield or Scooby-Doo.

What’s not clear is if Marsden will actually be playing the titular hedgehog, which would of course be in voice only if the character is CGI. Possibly, he’s playing a human friend to Sonic, ala Shaggy and Scooby or Jon Arbuckle and Garfield. We should hopefully find out soon enough which role Marsden will be taking on.

This is the first movie to be released based on Sonic the Hedgehog, but the blue speedrunner has a lot of experience with TV. Many different shows have been adapted using the video game as a base. One can’t help but wonder if Hollywood is just a few years too late to be producing a movie about Sonic, but for longtime SEGA fans, I’m sure it’s better late than never.

Other characters from the series said to appear in the upcoming film are Sonic’s buddies Tails and Knuckles, as well as his arch-nemesis Doctor Robotnik. Catch them all in the film when it premieres in theaters on Nov. 15, 2019.