UPDATED 3/5/19 4:45 p.m. ET:
Yuji Naka, who previously headed up Sonic Team and also doubles as one of the blue blur's original creators, also did not appear to care for the character design, citing the image's proportions. "Is this a Sonic movie?" he wondered to his Twitter followers. "I feel that it is important to look at the whole body visual of Sonic and head, body, and stomach. Did you not get a little more balance?"
We're going to have to trust a rough translation from Microsoft here:
Naka also tweeted out that he thought the leak was intentionally done by either the filmmakers or the marketing company, but added that bad word-of-mouth is bad for the brand. Wouldn't be the first time. Guess we'll see if they make any changes between now and the time the trailer or the next leak drips out.
Original story below.
On Monday night images of what is probably the live-action movie version of Sonic leaked, and this time he's not obscured by shadows.
The source of the character model was a style guide from Hamagami/Carroll, Inc. which is a company the specializes in entertainment industry art and branding. Adding further credence, the guide was dated March 2019.
Said post refers to Sonic's model as "a new modern take on the brand without abandoning its core essence." While the gut reaction from social media seems to be cynical and sarcastic (ooo, there's a shock), you also got to wonder what exactly a live-action Sonic is supposed to look like. Here just check him out for yourself:
Also included in the style guide was a breakdown of his brand, which we suppose is handy for those who haven't been playing his games for the past nearly 30 years:
Worth noting is that HCI does not appear responsible for the actual redesign, but rather their responsibility rested with compiling a universal package to market the iconic character. It also looks like the page got taken down...so, whoops.
The movie is set to hit theaters on November 8, 2019. We'd say it's best to reserve judgment until then.
