With a box office total of more than $200 million worldwide after only two weeks in theaters, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has been a major success that has already carried the franchise to new heights after receiving record scores from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Paramount was so confident in the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 that a fourth installment in the Sonic franchise was confirmed to be in development around the same time as the film’s premiere. The Sonic movies have evolved and expanded through the addition of new characters like Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Shadow (Keanu Reeves), and during a recent interview with CBR, scribes Josh Miller and Pat Casey teased that the evolution of the next Sonic film may take the team on an interstellar journey in addition to new characters joining the fold. Casey teased:

“We almost put a sequence like that into Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and then ended up not having space for it. But we definitely know that there are other worlds and these more fantastical zones, and we would like to see it, so we assume the audience would like to see it as well.

For Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the story was all about all this military stuff and it was inherently Earthbound. But possibly in the future, we might get out into some more fantastic places.”

It was always inevitable for Sonic and the team to eventually leave Earth, and while it hasn’t been officially confirmed if that’s the direction the fourth movie is going to take, it would certainly be a challenge to keep everything terrestrial, especially with the addition of Amy Rose and Metal Sonic. Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter) have been a crucial part of Sonic’s journey to this point, but their involvement in the third movie felt less consequential than previous projects. If the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is ready to take the next step, especially with the loss of Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), it may be time to also leave Tom and Maddie behind and focus on bigger things, but only time will tell how Casey, Miller, and director Jeff Fowler decide to proceed.

Where Could the Sonic Franchise Go After ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 4’?

The Sonic movies have established a pattern of teasing a new character at the end of a film to introduce them as a main character in the next project, I.E. Knuckles, Shadow, and now Amy Rose, who is expected to join the team in a significant capacity in Sonic 4. At the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, there are a few directions the franchise could decide to go, but many fans are anxious to see the introduction of Silver, the time-traveling, telekinetic hedgehog who has had many run-ins with Sonic and the gang over the years.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters everywhere.

via Collider