Rouge

I can’t believe we haven’t seen Rouge the Bat in the live-action Sonic universe yet. Unless Paramount is deliberately hiding her in all the trailers and promotional materials, it doesn’t seem like she’ll be making an appearance in Sonic 3 proper despite it being a loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2, which featured the debut of the treasure-hunting spy. I was hopeful she would show up in the Knuckles show since she’s considered the titular Echidna’s rival, but again, that show barely had time for one CG character, much less two. So here we are, with no sign of the leader of Team Dark even after a show and a movie that would have been easy entry points.

If Rouge isn’t secretly in Sonic 3, I could see her debut in the live-action universe being much like the beginning of Team Dark’s story in Sonic Heroes. She could happen upon Shadow in stasis while looking for treasure in Eggman’s base, then one thing leads to another and the team is formed. Typing that out, I realize it seems like a stronger basis for the opening of the reported Shadow spin-off, but I do think Rouge joining the cinematic universe is a matter of when, not if. In recent games and shows like Sonic Dream Team and Sonic Prime, Rouge has been treated as a friend of Sonic, rather than being more closely tied to Shadow as she has been in most other appearances, so there’s a chance the Sonic movies go that route. That would be incredibly disappointing to me as a Team Dark stan, though, especially after Sega brought the band back together this year in Shadow Generations