Idris Elba swears he will not intentionally make Knuckles sound sexy when he voices him in the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie.
The actor delighted fans when he was cast in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 after the surprising success of the first chapter in theatres.
The award-winning actor has an extensive portfolio of high-profile roles under his belt, including in The Wire and Luther, but he’s no stranger to voice acting either.
The 48-year-old voiced Shere Khan in the 2016 remake of Disney’s The Jungle Book, as well as appearing in Zootopia and Finding Dory.
But along with being a prominent and talented actor, Idris is also known for, well, being sexy.
And in 2018, he was even named the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine.
So when he was cast as the mildly antagonistic children’s character, it was only a matter of time before he was forced to address the question on many people’s minds: Will Knuckles be sexy?
The 49-year-old was speaking to Screen Rant when he was asked how he would play the character of Knuckles, considering the suave, charming and downright sexy characters he’s played in the past.
Not wanting to give too much away about the character and upcoming film, Idris replied: ‘Honestly, I cannot say. Contractually, I cannot say anything.
‘But I wouldn’t say he was sexy. I don’t think I’m going for that. That’s for sure.’
The quote spread like wildfire on social media, with fans of the franchise pointing out that, in many strange corners of the internet, some people already had a weird ‘thing’ for the Sega character even before Idris was cast in the role.
As one person wrote on Twitter: ‘Unfortunately it is not up to Idris Elba whether or not people think Knuckles is sexy.’
Idris will join Ben Schwartz (Sonic), Jim Carrey (Dr Robotnik) and James Marsden in the star-studded sequel, set for release in April 2022.
Traditionally, Knuckles – a hot-headed and ill-tempered echidna – holds the role of Guardian of the Master Emerald.
It is expected that Sonic The Hedgehog 2 will see Sonic enlist the help of Knuckles in the search for the emerald to defeat Dr Robotnik once again.
As well as the CGI echidna, Idris has been tipped again and again to take up the role of the next James Bond – an entirely different type of character, but one that most people would agree fits him perfectly.
Perhaps shattering hopes for some, the actor recently addressed these persistent rumours in an interview with Metro.co.uk.
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