Sonic the Hedgehog 3 writers reveal why the third film was harder to write than others

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has people rolling in their isles across the world. It has become a major box-office success as it recently crossed a $200 million milestone.

While it is a commercial success, it is also loved by the critics, evident from its Fresh ratings. The credit goes to the movie's blend of comedy and action, established through its last two films. However, it wouldn't be the same without the two creative minds who make the magic happen every time - its screenwriters.

Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who wrote the screenplays for all chapters of this movie series, recently spoke about the creative process behind these projects. They revealed the details about what went into adapting this popular video game and it is as fun as one might expect! However, just like any other work, they faced some difficulties along the way.

Before digging into any specific details, please note that this article contains spoilers from the Sonic movie series. So, reader discretion is advised.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Writing process explored

Behind the scenes of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Image via YouTube/@paramountpictures)

During a recent interview, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 co-writers, Pat Casey and Josh Miller spoke about the writing process behind their new project. They mentioned that it was fun but trickier due to the latest inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves). Shadow was the new villain pitted against Sonic, which made Casey and Miller's jobs slightly more difficult.

In the previous movies, the writers approached the Sonic stories with a more rudimentary approach similar to the video games. So, the character of Knuckles was motivated by his need to protect the Emerald. Robotnik manipulates Knuckles into thinking ill of Sonic, but Knuckles eventually realizes the truth.

However, in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, they had to focus on the emotional story behind Shadow's character and what happens between him and Maria. While speaking about some other challenges about its setting, they mentioned that:

"Some details were changed to sort of simplify things, or make things make a little more sense within the context of our real world that these movies take place. Whereas in the Sonic Adventure games, there's humans, but it's like, 'Is that our world? Is that another world?'"

During the process, Casey and Miller shared their ideas with the film's director, Jeff Fowler to see what makes the final cut. When asked about their collaborative efforts with Fowler, Miller said,

"We know he (director Jeff Fowler) was very concerned with getting the Maria elements and all that backstory stuff correct."

Besides these animated characters, Casey and Miller saw writing for Jim Carrey as a big challenge. They knew that Carrey did not like to repeat himself. So, they needed to write fresh material for Carrey and make the material attractive for him. While speaking about his arc, they said,

"We had to give him something fresh to play, and giving him two characters, and also really sending Ivo on this emotional journey with a little bit of a redemption arc, teaming Ivo up with Sonic."

Luckily, the producers behind the franchise brought Carrey back to the screen. So, we can see Casey and Miller's efforts coming to fruition.