Paramount Plus' Sonic TV spinoff Knuckles sees the Echidna warrior fight his own Dr Eggman in first trailer

Idris Elba reprises his best role. No, not Luther. Knuckles!

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It’s not every day you see Idris Elba play a furry anteater, but that’s exactly what you’ll see in the trailer below. He’s back again as everybody’s favorite echidna – the eponymous Knuckles – and will star in theSonic The Hedgehogspinoff seriesKnucklesthat’s coming toParamount Pluson April 26. The trailer is the first part of a two-handed promo push, the second part will air as a TV spot during the Superbowl on Sunday.

The series is set between the filmsSonic The Hedgehog 2andSonic The Hedgehog 3, and it follows the titular anteater and Sonic sidekick as he agrees to train cop Wade (Adam Pally) in the ways of the Echidna warrior. The goal? To save the world, of course. Dr Robotnik isn’t the villain this time around but one of his lackeys, The Buyer, is – and The Buyer wants Knuckles' power.

Knuckles is feeling super Sonic

While the series is only six episodes long, the list of guest stars somehow manages to include Stockard Channing, Edi Patterson, Scott Mescudi, Ellie Taylor, Julian Barratt, Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, Paul Scheer, Rory McCann and Rob Huebel. Sonic and Tails return too, their voices provided by Ben Schwartz and Colleen O’Shaughnessey, and Tika Sumpter reprises her role as veterinarian Maddie Wachowski from the two Sonic movies. There’s no Jim Carrey, sadly – while he’s out of retirement for a Sonic project, that’s for theSonic The Hedgehog 3movie and not the TV show.

I’ve got high hopes forKnuckles.the footage I’ve seen so far suggests it’s an entertaining blend of silliness and action, and it comes from the same brains as the surprisingly excellentSonic The Hedgehogmovies. They’re not quite as much fun as playing the games, of course, but they’re among the better gaming adaptations out there and contain considerably more LOLs and quite a few more gold coins thanThe Last of Us.

The trick here is to manage expectations. The movies were fun kids' films with enough laughs for the grown-ups, with the first one earning a place in our roundup of thebest Paramount Plus movies, and it looks like the spinoff series is going to be much the same, so keep an eye on ourbest Paramount Plus seriesto find out if it makes the cut. If anything it might be more fun: many reviews of the movies felt they overstated their welcome somewhat, stretching out the fun just a little too much for too long.Knuckles’episodes promise to be a lot more punchy.

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

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