Elba will be familiar with spinoffs. After making his introduction in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the actor starred in six episodes of Paramount+ series Knuckles, in which the super-strength echidna trains an ordinary man to win a bowling tournament, all while being pursued by a former agent of Dr. Robotnik.

Idris Elba returns in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as Knuckles the Echidna, and he shared his process for finding the characters voice at the UK premiere in Leicester Square. He was joined by his co-stars Ben Schwartz,