Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Teases A New Direction For The Franchise After Breaking A Location Trend

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 set itself apart from the rest of Paramount's film franchise with its more unique and down-to-earth story. Such a narrative expanded the world of Sonic's movies by introducing beloved characters like Shadow the Hedgehog and Gerald and Maria Robotnik. However, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 distinguishes itself from previous films by limiting its story to planet Earth.

In the past, the Sonic the Hedgehog movies have shown characters exploring multiple planets and encountering aliens such as the Owls and the Echidnas. Such adventures built up the franchise enough that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 didn't need to leave Earth to tell its story. Considering how Sonic 3 was still a massive box-office success, the way the film restricted its setting to Earth could even be replicated in Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Is The First Movie That Takes Place Completely On Earth

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Stays Closer To Home Than Previous Movies

The first two Sonic films showed characters traveling to and from alien worlds listed on Sonic's Safe Worlds Map, specifically the planet Mobius and the Mushroom Planet. However, aside from some moments on the Moon and in the Eclipse Cannon in space, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the first movie in the franchise to take place entirely on Earth. Since the third film revolves around the Robotniks trying to conquer Earth using Shadow and the Eclipse Cannon, it makes sense for the cast not to go off-world in the story.

Much of Shadow's story takes place on Earth in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, so there's no reason for the heroes to explore any other worlds to learn more about him or try to stop him. Likewise, Sonic has no need to escape to any of the planets depicted on the Safe Worlds Map since the villains aren't after his power this time. There is hardly a reference to the planets beyond Earth, minus Sonic's cave drawing of Longclaw on Mobius.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Failed To Expand The Sonic Universe

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Doesn't Introduce Any Strange New Worlds

Because Sonic the Hedgehog 3 only takes place on Earth, this sequel does little to expand the vast and mysterious world beyond it. Instead, the movie spends more time exploring the new characters currently on Earth and their relationships with each other and the film's heroes. Specifically, it focuses on the backstories of Shadow and Gerald Robotnik, their conflict with Sonic and his friends, and their quest to destroy humanity after Maria's untimely death.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 does tease the existence of another alien world, quite possibly the Black Arms', due to Shadow's arrival on Earth in a meteorite. In addition, Sonic the Hedgehog 3's post-credits scene introduced Amy and Metal Sonic, who could also drive Sonic and his pals to have more adventures off-world. Regardless of these cameos and Easter Eggs, this threequel puts the cosmic part of the Sonic universe aside for a more grounded tale about Sonic and Shadow on Earth.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3's Complete Earth Setting Could Signal The Franchise's New Direction

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Could Also Take Place Solely On Earth

The first two Sonic films spent a lot of time building up their cinematic universe. As a result, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 didn't need to do much to tell its story, and the next film could do the same. Specifically, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced GUN, explored the war between the Owls and Echnidas, and showed Sonic acquiring the Chaos Emeralds on Earth. At that point, the franchise had done enough worldbuilding to create a faithful and satisfying adaptation of Shadow's first story on Earth in the Sonic franchise.

With all the characters and storylines already explored in the Sonic films, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has enough material to adapt several adventures from the video games. It is worth noting that the majority of the franchise's games take place on Earth. Despite their stories being limited to the Big Blue Marble, the Sonic games succeeded in building up years of lore and history linked to that singular world. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has done the same by exploring the history of Shadow, GUN, and the Robotnik family while keeping Shadow's cosmic origins a mystery.

In conclusion, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 proved that the Blue Blur's films didn't need to feature stories outside of Earth to succeed, at least now that the previous films had built up the hero's cinematic universe. It's unknown if Shadow, Amy, or Metal Sonic will lead to Sonic the Hedgehog 4 introducing more alien planets. However, seeing how the third film presented a thrilling and emotional journey without leaving Earth, the next film could continue to present such large, exciting adventures kept within the planet's orbit.