Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Director Discusses the Fate of Maria in the Movie (Exclusive)

At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, viewers were given their first tease of Shadow. That reveal prompted a lot of discussion among fans, with many wondering whether Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would keep the character’s backstory the same. The biggest questions revolved around Maria Robotnik, whose fate played an integral role in Shadow’s arc in Sonic Adventure 2, and in many games beyond. In an interview with ComicBook, director Jeff Fowler talked about Maria’s fate in the movie, revealing that this is one area where it felt vitally important to keep things consistent with the games.

“There were certainly a lot of questions to be asked about how we were going to approach that, knowing it had to be there. That was something I give all the credit in the world to our friends at Paramount and to Sega. Because look, everybody was excited about Shadow coming into these movies. But it’s a package deal, you can’t introduce Shadow without giving the audience what his story is and that story does involve some heavier stuff. And knowing that we also are very protective of the family audience and we don’t want it to ever feel like we just completely pivoted into territory that feels like too much of a departure,” said Fowler.

“So no, we really handled it with great care. We wanted to do Shadow justice, we wanted the Shadow and Maria story to really land emotionally and offer something really powerful. Because it is powerful, and it is something that the fans absolutely love and it just has to be there. So we went to great lengths to give them the best movie version we could.”

In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow was a genetically engineered creation of Gerald Robotnik. The doctor created Shadow as part of an experiment to save the life of his granddaughter Maria, who was dying of an illness. During this time, Shadow and Maria became close friends. However, their friendship ended tragically; fearing Shadow’s potential as a weapon, G.U.N. (Guardian Units of Nations) brought in Shadow, arrested Gerald, and accidentally killed Maria. Shadow was placed in suspended animation, and when he awoke, he vowed revenge for her death. Earth was nearly destroyed in retribution, but Shadow inevitably realized that Maria would not want that.

RELATED: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Director Addresses Sequel’s Mystery Character

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 does not completely follow the events of Sonic Adventure 2, as there are some creative liberties found throughout. However, the movie does keep several key parts of the story intact. Doing so likely proved a challenge in a PG-rated movie, but as Fowler notes, doing so was very important. You simply can’t tell Shadow’s story in a way that would please fans of the Sonic franchise without exploring his friendship with Maria.

Have you ever played Sonic Adventure 2? How did you feel about the movie’s handling of Shadow’s backstory? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!