The Sonic the Hedgehog movie surprised a lot of fans when it became the most successful video game movie ever. The sequel is planned to release in 2022, and there’s not much we know about it other than some returning cast members. The first film introduced us to a few of the concepts from the games it’s based on, but was otherwise grounded in our reality. Hopefully, the sequel takes us further into Sonic’s video game world. 

Here are five elements from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series that need to appear in the upcoming sequel.

1) Other Characters From the Games

The first movie introduced us to Sonic and Dr. Robotnik… and that’s about it, other than Tails showing up after the credits. One of the most exciting elements of the games is the wide variety of colorful characters. Games like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes even had quite a large handful of characters who were playable. 

We can assume that Tails will have a bigger role in this new movie, but it’s shocking he didn’t the first time around considering he’s Sonic’s best friend. It’s also strange there has been no real sign of other main characters like Knuckles, Amy, or even Shadow. Perhaps if this film series continues on for a while, we may even see some of the more obscure characters like Omega or Chaos. 

2) Chaos Emeralds

The Chaos Emeralds are one of the most known MacGuffins in video game history. Sonic and Eggman have battled it out countless times for these gemstones with mysterious powers. Since Eggman can harness the Chaos Emeralds’ powers to boost his robots’ abilities and Sonic can become Super Sonic after absorbing the power of all seven Emeralds, their latest big-screen showdown would be a blast. 

Including the Chaos Emeralds could also lead to Knuckles’ introduction as he’s the guardian of Angel Island, where the Emeralds are found, as well as the adorable little Chao creatures. Exploring what the Chaos Emeralds are capable of in a blockbuster movie could lead to a lot of excitement.

3) Egg-shaped Eggman

Jim Carrey played an outstanding Robotnik, and his appearance when he was shown on the mushroom planet was almost identical to the character in the video games. The key detail missing was that he was still (obviously) Jim Carrey’s body type. That doesn’t hurt the story whatsoever, but where the character is typically referred to as Eggman, it may make more sense if he were a bit more egg-shaped. 

Carrey has expressed interest in potentially wearing a fat suit to better fit the character, which may be a good sign for those of us who want to see the games accurately portrayed. Sonic briefly called him Eggman in the movie because his drones slightly resembled eggs, but that’s not enough. It would be a lot of fun to see the egg theme fully embraced. That way we could eventually see the Death Egg, Egg Carrier, and other egg-based creations. 

4) Video Game Environments

The first movie primarily took place in our world (with a small town referencing Green Hill Zone), but there was a quick glimpse at Sonic’s homeworld that closer resembled Green Hill Zone from the games. That homeworld was like one of the most iconic locations from the games come to life, and it was beautiful. The only unfortunate thing about it is that we quickly left this wonderful new world without really exploring it. 

Getting the opportunity to explore that world further, along with seeing other environments from the video game series, would provide a lot of excitement. From Station Square to the Space Colony Ark, there are countless places the films could explore in live action.

5) Video Game Music

The Sonic the Hedgehog film mostly featured a soundtrack of pop music, which was fine. However, it was a little too much top 40 and not enough Crush 40. The Sonic video game series has plenty of iconic and catchy background songs and vocal music. The movie did give us a version of the Green Hill Zone theme, but there’s so much more they could do. 

The teaser trailer for the sequel releasing next year features music from the Emerald Hill Zone stage, which is promising. Hopefully that means more music is on the way. From the Bridge Zone theme to City Escape, there are countless options available. Plus, the music choice can help the movies feel even more like the games they are based on. 

With a sequel (and hopefully more) on the way, what do you hope to see in the next Sonic the Hedgehog movie?