When Paramount+ greenlit a Knuckles spinoff series from the hit Sonic the Hedgehog movies, fans expected a straightforward buddy comedy following the red echidna warrior’s adventures on Earth. What they got instead is a deliriously unhinged genre mashup that veers wildly between slapstick comedy, surreal dream sequences, and intense action stunts.
Knuckles is an absolute fever dream – and somehow it all works.
The six-episode series picks up after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with Knuckles (Idris Elba) adjusting to life in Green Hills, Montana alongside Sonic and Tails. At first, it plays out like a typical kid’s show shenanigans premise. But when the dimwitted local sheriff Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) gets roped into a cross-country road trip with Knuckles, the show transforms into a bizarre hybrid of Tommy Boy and a psychedelic fever dream.
One minute Pally is doing full Chris Farley-esque physical comedy getting battered and bruised. The next, the show launches into an interpretive dance number set to Michael Bolton as Knuckles hallucinates. There are shady government agents, bombastic bowling tournaments, Tiger King bounty hunters – even a random Shabbat dinner cameo from Stockard Channing. It’s a beautiful mess of mismatched tones and stylistic incongruities that somehow all flows together.
According to Pally, that go-for-broke manic energy stems directly from Jim Carrey’s unhinged performance as Dr. Robotnik in the Sonic movies. “Jim Carrey’s fingerprints are all over this series, probably my entire career,” Pally says. His co-star Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) echoes that, saying he aimed to channel Carrey’s iconic 90s comedy style into his overzealous government agent character.
The result is a Sonic spinoff that feels totally liberated from conventions or rules. Knuckles zips wildly between genres, tones, and even animation styles with reckless abandon. Yet it all works through sheer comedic committed chaos. Fans expecting a straightforward video game adaptation are in for a wild, weird ride.
Knuckles premiered on Friday, April 26, on Paramount+. You can also watch its trailer below.
