Ben Schwartz Voicing Sonic the Hedgehog In the Forthcoming Film

Jean-Ralphio is moving up in the world!

Variety recently ran a report announcing that Ben Schwartz, the Parks and Recreation star who also lends his voice to DuckTales and also appears as Leonardo in the forthcoming Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, will be voicing the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog in the film of the same name. He’ll be filling in for Roger Craig Smith, who usually voices the character in various games, as well as Wreck-it Ralph. (Smith is set to return for Team Sonic Racing, so rest easy, fans.)

Schwartz joins James Marsden, Tika Sumpter and the recently confirmed Jim Carrey, who’s portraying Dr. Robotnik. The film is set to be directed by Jeff Fowler, who previously worked on the Oscar-nominated Gopher Broke. Meanwhile, the film will be produced by Deadpool director Tim Miller, along with Toby Ascher and Neal H. Moritz.

The film will be taking a live-action/CG approach, with Marsden, Sumpter, Carrey and other actors interacting with Sonic and company in CG form. So Schwartz will mix right in with the action, though it’s unknown which other voice actors will be cast in the film to portray Tails and potential other characters.

Schwartz’s experience with voice acting will certainly pay off with the film, as he’s portrayed Dewey in Disney’s DuckTales reboot, as well as Leonardo in Ninja Turtles. He’s keeping busy on the live-action front as well, between his appearances in House of Lies for Showtime, as well as a starring role in the forthcoming Kevin Hart-Tiffany Haddish film Night School.

While some fans have been skeptical of the live-action/CG approach, some signs have been showing that it will be loyal to the Sonic theme. For instance, the movie’s logo looks pretty spot-on; and there appears to be some excitement going into the film’s production. On top of that, Carrey sounds pretty ideal for the role of Dr. Robotnik. Now the question is just how out of control his facial hair will get…

The Sonic the Hedgehog film will be released by Paramount on November 15, 2019. We’ll let you know who else gets cast.