Ah, Sonic. The world's fastest hedgehog. The speed demon. The blue blur. For decades he's been going fast, and for one of those decades he was played by voice acting veteran Roger Craig Smith. You might also know him as Ezio from the Assassin's Creed games, Resident Evil's Chris Redfield, or Oliver from Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour. Okay maybe not that one.
But it seems Craig Smith's long relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog is over, based on this tweet posted by the actor today, which resulted in a huge outpouring of sadness from some corners of the Sonic fanbase. He doesn't actually say he's dropping the role, or give any details about why, but it's fairly obvious he's talking about Sonic here, right?
Over the years, Craig Smith has played Sonic in a huge number of games and other media, including Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph, Team Sonic Racing, Sonic Boom, Sonic Forces, Sonic Generations, and... well, you get the idea. If it's got the word 'Sonic' in the title, chances are Craig Smith is in it.
But now that the role of Sonic is up for grabs, who should play him? I have some suggestions for Sega, and I expect a cut if they go for any of them.
Werner Herzog
Imagine Werner Herzog saying "Gotta go fast."
Roger Clark
Sonic has been a cocky, enthusiastic teen for long enough. It's time for him to get edgy, and I don't mean edgy in a Shadow the Hedgehog way; I mean edgy like a character from True Detective. And who better to play this newly grizzled Sonic (who is probably a private detective down on his luck) but the voice of Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan?
Matt Berry
Specifically, Matt Berry as Dr. Sanchez from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. If you don't know who I'm talking about, please watch this video.
David Bateson
David Bateson is the voice of Agent 47 in the Hitman games, and I'd love to see him play Sonic with exactly the same delivery.
Okay, these are all terrible suggestions. But it'll be interesting to see who lands the gig as Sonic. The blue blur doesn't have much cultural clout these days, at least not as much as in the 1990s. But the Sonic games just keep on coming, and for whoever gets the job, it's at least a guarantee of steady work.
