The memory of Netflix’s 3D animated series Sonic Prime, which wrapped up in 2024, has barely faded—and it’s still available to watch, along with the Japanese Sonic X, the French-American Sonic Boom, and the second live-action movie—but the streamer has announced it’s going back for more, albeit this time with a slightly younger demographic in mind. But only slightly.
According to Variety, the new Sonic the Hedgehog adaptation will specifically target the “upper preschool audience,” which is approximately the age when kids can start playing the actual video games the show will be based on. There’s no set title yet for this gateway drug in the making, but the trade reports the animated show, which is being developed by Carlos Stevens and Sega head producer Toru Nakahara, is described by Sega as a “high-voltage, comedic, yet emotionally grounded series built for kids who want to feel a little edge, a little attitude, and a lot of ‘that’s my crew’ wish fulfillment.”
The Sonic news comes as part of a wider announcement regarding Netflix’s continuing relationship with Sega, which will also see a live-action film based on the January 2027 gaming release Stranger Than Heaven; Nakahara is also a producer on this project. The game is described as being “set in early 20th-century Japan, following a foreigner who claws his way from destitute stranger to feared yakuza to entertainment tycoon.”
And, finally, we’re getting a feature film based on the Crazy Taxi driving game franchise, to be written by the pair behind last year’s Naked Gun reboot, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, and the producers of the live-action Sonic films, including Nakahara, Neal H. Moritz, and Toby Ascher.
In a statement shared by Variety, Sega’s Nakahara promised “something cute yet cool for Sonic, hilariously crazy for Crazy Taxi, and a badass action drama for Stranger Than Heaven, because we’ve got some amazing creative ideas lined up and we are just getting started.”
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