The Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise has continued to surprise fans and has reached new heights with how well Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been received. The newest film in the series has hit a higher financial success than any of its predecessors, and critics and audiences have been raving about it. It has a much grander scale, as it heavily adapted the fan-favorite Sonic Adventure 2. After the movie’s explosive release in theaters, it makes one wonder where the franchise can go next. Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Spoilers for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are ahead.

Shadow’s Story Continues

Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the most popular characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog canon, and he was portrayed perfectly by Keanu Reeves in the recent film, so more of him in the series would be far from a bad thing. A post-credits scene reveals that Shadow survived the events of the third movie, so it’s safe to say that Shadow will still be around to some capacity.

This is the perfect setup for some sort of spin-off for the character. A movie or TV show based on the Shadow the Hedgehog video game would make for an exciting adaptation. Additionally, later down the line, his missions for G.U.N. alongside Rouge and Omega could make for a fun episodic experience as well. There’s no doubt that Shadow will have a large presence in the future of the franchise.

Space

Much of the third act of Sonic 3 took place in outer space, and we’ve already gotten glimpses of other planets throughout the series, like the mushroom planet or Sonic’s homeworld. Diving deeper into the space setting would be a good way to turn things up a notch. Plus, there will surely be repercussions for the moon now being partially destroyed. They didn’t have the wrecked moon lingering in the background of the mid-credits scene for nothing, right?

This could mean that an otherworldly threat or storyline from the games may be on the horizon. Black Doom and his evil alien soldiers could be on their way, or Sonic and Tails could make the trip to Planet Wisp.

Amy and Metal Sonic

A rather exciting mid-credits scene showcased an army of Metal Sonics chasing down the titular blue hedgehog before he’s rescued by a hooded Amy Rose armed with her trusty Piko Piko hammer. It looks like the next film will focus on Amy and Metal Sonic like how Sonic the Hedgehog 3 focuses on Shadow.

There are two likely games Paramount Pictures could be taking inspiration from. One is Sonic CD, which introduced both Amy Rose and Metal Sonic. The other is Sonic Heroes, which is more of an Avengers-level team-up featuring 12 playable characters, but it does feature Metal Sonic as the primary antagonist. There could certainly be elements from both games featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

Time Travel

There’s definitely the potential for a time travel storyline, and I’m not just saying that because it’s popular in the sci-fi adventure genre. The video game that introduced Amy and Metal Sonic, Sonic CD, is all about jumping between the past and future throughout each level. Plus, when Metal Sonic appears in the post-credits scene, he does so in a fashion that resembles time traveling in The Terminator. Plus, Amy is known for fortune-telling using tarot cards.

This could lead to a fascinating story. Maybe Sonic can see Longclaw one last time. Maybe the heroes will see a future so terrible they need to prevent it. Additionally, this could easily lead into the introduction of other fan-favorite characters. If Amy is leading some sort of futuristic resistance against the Metal Sonic army, perhaps she has a team involving characters who don’t need an entire movie to set up, like Cream the Rabbit or Big the Cat. Of course, this could also lead to the inclusion of Silver the Hedgehog, who comes from the future.

End of Eggman

During the final act of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Jim Carrey’s Dr. Eggman met his demise by sacrificing himself to save the world. It was rather emotional as his arc came to a satisfying conclusion. This might mean that future movies will likely focus on other antagonists from the video games. We know the next installment will focus on Metal Sonic, but we may also eventually see Chaos, Iblis, Infinite, the Deadly Six, Eggman Nega, and other baddies.

There are a lot of potential paths for the future of the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, so it will be exciting to see which ones they make.

Read Next: ‘Sonic’ Characters Who Need Their Own Spin-off After ‘Knuckles’