Idris Elba To Voice Knuckles In Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Idris Elba has been cast as Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

The actor revealed his casting in a social media post, showing the signature spiked fist of his character.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a sequel to the 2020 original - which was a box office hit shortly before the pandemic struck, grossing $320 million (£231 million) worldwide.

Joining 48-year-old Elba in the sequel are many returning stars, including James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Jim Carrey (as Doctor Robotnik) and Ben Schwartz (as the voice of Sonic).

Elba, who recently starred in superhero film The Suicide Squad, is no stranger to playing animated characters, having lent his voice to Zootopia, Finding Dory and The Jungle Book.

Knuckles first appeared in video game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is set for release in April 2022.

Paramount Pictures

Meanwhile, Elba will also be working on the much-anticipated Luther film.

Elba, who plays the titular character DCI John Luther, said he's 'so excited' to get to work on the movie.

"We go into production, fingers crossed, in September," the 48-year-old told Variety in May.

"I'm so excited about it, it's been a long time coming.

"We're very, very close to pulling the green light on production."

Bring it on.

Elba has been keen to take the character to the big screen for a while, and has been talking about the prospect for donkeys.

Speaking last year, he said: "I've maintained that I'd like to see [Luther] come to a film. That's what I think we're headed towards, is a film. I'm looking forward to making that happen... It is happening!

"With film, the sky is the limit. You can be a little bit more bold with the storylines, and a little bit more international, and a little more up the scale. But John Luther is always going to be John Luther."

BBC

There have been five series of the BBC crime drama, the first of which aired back in 2010.

The most recent series was broadcast over four consecutive nights in 2019, and Elba said it set things up perfectly for a movie.

Speaking to LADbible at the time, he said: "When you scale a movie up, you have to give it size - that means taking it into other territories, internationally, but I still think it will feel like the 'Gotham City' in London. But obviously on a bigger international scale, it could take us anywhere.

"I'm really up for the movie now. I'm really up for it. And I think this season is set up to tee that up."

Topics: idris elba, TV and Film, Celebrity

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey