Keanu Reeves is set to voice the character of Shadow in the upcoming movie Sonic The Hedgehog 3.

As reported by Variety, the John Wick star will voice the character in the next instalment of the film series, adapted from the popular video game.

In the game series, Shadow is an anthropomorphic hedgehog with black fur, and is somewhat of an antagonist.

Reeves will be joining a star-studded cast, with the previous films featuring Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Jim Carrey, James Marsden and Idris Elba among others.

The upcoming film, scheduled for a US release on December 20, 2024 will see many of the cast reprising their roles from the previous films. The sequel will draw inspiration from the early ’00s video games, Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow The Hedgehog.

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The franchise was commercially successful, with the combined global box office for the first two films being $725.2million.

The first film, which had its theatrical release in February 2020, became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2020, and the highest-grossing video game film adaptation in North America until 2022, when it was surpassed by its sequel.

In a three-star review of the second movie, NME wrote: “Schwartz was born to voice Sonic. Known best as scene-stealing Jean-Ralphio from sitcom Parks and Recreation, he’s sufficiently funny and energetic to keep the film’s pace up but also clever enough not to overdo it.”

The review continued: “The motor-mouthed rodent could be an extremely annoying protagonist in different hands. Here, he’s loveable.”

Earlier this year, Reeves’ band Dogstar announced that they will be embarking on a UK and European tour this summer.