A new TV spot for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, coinciding with this weekend’s Super Bowl, has just been released by Paramount Pictures and features the titular blue blur, played by Ben Schwartz, as well as Idris Elba’s Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey’s Tails congregating, appropriately, on a football field.
But the real star of the show is all the newly-unveiled footage from the film, most notably many more scenes featuring Knuckles, the red echidna frenemy, who we previously only saw in a single scene, albeit one wherein he impressively blocks Sonic’s spin-dash move single-handedly.
In this new TV spot, we get to see Knuckles in a lot more of the action, including a head-to-head bout against Sonic in the ancient ruins that house the coveted and powerful Chaos Emerald, snowboarding down a powdery summit in pursuit of the hedgehog, and even an impressive look at a gargantuan mecha, piloted by Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik, as he tries to swat down Tails and Sonic in a red biplane.
This all comes on the heels of other sports-centered TV spots, including one themed after the Winter Olympics, in which Sonic shows off his snowboarding skills while throwing shade at gold medalist Shaun White.
There is no doubt that Knuckles is the film’s major draw, as his character in the games is a fan favorite rogue. Even Schwartz has touted Elba’s performance as the tougher-than-leather character as “awesome.” The Twittersphere similarly went nuts last year at the film’s character reveal during the first Sonic trailer at The Game Awards. In addition, the Japanese marketing for the film smartly includes the subtitle Sonic VS Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 spin-dashes into theaters April 8.