Knuckles: Everything to Know About the Sonic the Hedgehog Spinoff Series

Power bump! Knuckles, the Echidna warrior, is hitting the small screen in his own TV show. Set between the events of the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the new series follows Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery — to Reno, Nevada — as he trains Green Hills Sheriff’s Deputy Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) as his protégé, teaching him the ways of the Echidna warrior.

Below is a rundown on everything you need to know about the Sonic spinoff, and how to watch Knuckles online. 

How to Watch Knuckles: Release Date and Time

Knuckles premieres with “The Warrior” on Friday, April 26, at 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET on Paramount+.

How to Stream Knuckles Online

You’ll need an active Paramount+ subscription to watch Knuckles, which is exclusive to the streaming service in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Latin America, Australia, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, and Japan. Outside North America, Knuckles will stream on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, and Central and Eastern Europe.

All episodes of Knuckles are streaming April 26 on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada; the episodes will become available in all additional Paramount+ territories on Saturday, April 27, followed by a release in Japan later this year. 

You can watch Knuckles for free with a 7-day Paramount Plus free trial by signing up for either Paramount+ With SHOWTIME ($11.99/month after trial) or Paramount+ Essential ($5.99/month after trial).

How Many Episodes of Knuckles Are There?

Knuckles is a six-episode event series. All six Knuckles episodes will release simultaneously on April 26 (in North America) and on April 27 (in other territories).

Knuckles Cast: Who’s in the Knuckles Show?

Idris Elba reprises his Sonic 2 role as the voice of Knuckles alongside Adam Pally as Wade Whipple. They’re joined by special guest stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, and Tika Sumpter as Maddie from the Sonic film franchise.

The Knuckles cast includes Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones) as Wade’s sister, Wanda; Stockard Channing (The West Wing) as Wendy Whipple, mother of the squabbling siblings; and Cary Elwes (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) as Wade’s father, conceited champion bowler “Pistol” Pete Whipple. Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) plays The Buyer, a former lackey of Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik who tries to steal Knuckles’ power by dispatching agents Mason (Scott Mescudi, Don’t Look Up) and Willoughby (Ellie Taylor, Ted Lasso). Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) voices the sage Echidna, Pachacamac.

Jeff Fowler, who directs the Sonic movies, directed the first episode to transition the film’s signature cinematic animation style to television. Elba and Fowler also serve as executive producers with franchise producers Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, John Whittington, and Toru Nakahara.

John Whittington — who co-wrote Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which introduced Knuckles to the Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog from Paramount Pictures — co-created the series with showrunner Toby Ascher (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2). Whittington is head writer and wrote the pilot, with episodes directed by Ged Wright, Brandon Trost (An American Pickle), Carol Banker (Reacher), and Jorma Taccone (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping).

Knuckles Review

“The humor in Knuckles is similar to the first two Sonic movies,but it leans much more into the absurd. The show’s fourth episode inparticular dials things up in a very big way,” Mark Deschamps writes in ComicBook‘s 4/5 review. “While I found myselfenjoying the first three episodes, it’s here that the show really findsitself, ironically just as Wade also starts to uncover his own innerstrength. The episode might be my favorite thing that’s been done withthe Sonic Cinematic Universe so far, and it’s destined to spawn aplethora of gifs and memes.” 

Deschamps concludes that Knuckles is “a delightful new chapter in the ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog CinematicUniverse. What could have been a drawn out movie with a lower budget isinstead an absurdly hilarious adventure that adds more depth to a pairof established characters.”

Knuckles hits Paramount+ on April 26.