Product Info

Studio

Paramount Pictures

Genre

Action, Adventure, Comedy

Rated

TV-PG

Release Date (NA)

Apr 26, 2024

Purchase From

Knuckles is a short, six-episode series that takes place between Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the upcoming third movie, set to release later in 2024. The series is a fun but short ride, like a bonus stage in a video game.

The Knuckles & Wade Show

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures/Sega/Paramount+

While the title of the series is named after one of the popular characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it isn’t just about Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba (Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Thor: Ragnarok). Wade Whipple, a dense, local sheriff’s deputy, played by Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog, Iron Man 3), joins Knuckles on a quest to be turned into the next echidna warrior.

After the events in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is having difficulties keeping himself occupied after fulfilling his duty as a guardian and stays on Earth with Sonic and Tails. Meanwhile, Wade, who made appearances in the last two Sonic films, loses his spot in a two-team bowling league that would pit him against other top-tier bowlers in Reno, Nevada. However, there’s more at stake for Wade, and he’s desperate to get back to play. After receiving a message from his deceased clan leader of the echidna warriors, Knuckles is tasked to make Wade a warrior.

Meanwhile, Agents Mason and Willoughby who work for ​​Guardian Units of Nations (GUN) have decided to work for Dr. Robotnik’s lackey for personal goals. Known as “The Buyer”, the agents go after Knuckles after finding out about his departure from Green Hills, the town where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles reside at the end of the last film. The Buyer is looking to create destructive weapons by using Knuckles’s quills for power. Sound familiar? They almost successfully capture Knuckles, but Wade interrupts in the goofiest way possible. Blaming Wade for causing a stir, the agents designate him a wanted criminal, which causes bounty hunters to go after him.

If being marked as a criminal and riding along with an alien from one state to the other sounds familiar, it’s exactly what happened in the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie where Sonic and his human friend Tom teamed up for the first time. If you enjoyed the first film and want more slapstick comedy between a klutzy human and a heavy going powerful fighter, you’ll enjoy Knuckles.

After halfway through the season, the show becomes more about Wade and his struggles and personal growth than about Knuckles. You almost forget about the agents coming after Wade and focus more on his personal life. It puts Knuckles in the passenger seat until the very end where the two come back together for one last hurrah.

By the end of the series, it feels like Knuckles and Wade are like peanut butter and jelly—a good combination that maybe viewers will continue to see in the upcoming film. For a series called Knuckles, it feels that there should be more Knuckles, but instead, maybe the series should have been titled Knuckles & Wade, which they could have done easily with the “& Knuckles” meme and used Wade’s name instead.

A Forever Dream

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures/Sega/Paramount+

This transition is kind of foreshadowed about halfway through the series. There’s an episode that’s dedicated to a long dream sequence where Wade talks to Knuckles’s clan leader and becomes part of a theater play about Knuckles’s past, discovering how the echidna learned to be strong and confident.

The theater play itself is a slapstick comedy. Wade is dressed up as Knuckles as he fights off a monster held up by a few people dressed in solid black bodysuits. In another sequence, Wade collects rings on a stage resembling a Sonic the Hedgehog video game.

While the sequence is comical, the show didn’t need to dedicate almost an entire episode to the play. After this episode, each one becomes less serious and more comical than the first few episodes. If you’ve watched movies like Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, you will know the feeling on the level of comedy.

There’s a lot of references in the series and not just from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. For example, ESPN8, a fictional television channel that originally came from the 2004 Dodgeball movie, returns as a broadcaster for the bowling tournament.

Episodes are about thirty minutes long, so the audience can easily binge the show in one evening. With how long the dream sequence was and the storyflow, thirty minutes feels like a good amount of time, but there’s definitely more to tell after the last episode.

The ending of each episode uses a popular pop culture song that represents each episode’s theme. For example, “The Warrior” by Patty Smyth is used at the end of episode one and as the intro for every episode, representing the whole warrior goal for both Knuckles and Wade.

The Last Knuckle

Knuckles is a fun and slapstick comedy ride that takes the successful formula from the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie and applies it to a six-episode series. Although Wade takes over the show halfway through, it still feels like a bonus for fans awaiting the upcoming film. Become the warrior!

An early screening was provided for this review.