For the most part until the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Jim Carrey never did sequels. Aside from Dumb and Dumber To in 2014, most of Carrey’s characters were one-offs despite there being vast potential for him to return as any given character. Now returning out of retirement for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Carrey will have played Dr. Robotnik three times, a once unthinkable idea. Here’s why he changed his mind.
Jim Carrey Finally Found a Character to Sit With in Sonic the Hedgehog
For a long time, Jim Carrey always wanted to move on from a character or a movie. Franchises were not his cup of tea, and now he’s arguably the biggest and most beloved character in the biggest video game movie franchise out there. “For me, at this time of my life – for some reason – I’ve never really wanted to do sequels. I’ve never really wanted to do franchise stuff. It didn’t occur to me. I just thought, ‘I want to move on and do something new’,” he told GamesRadar in an exclusive interview.
“Maybe six months before the first Sonic movie, I thought to myself I’d like to have a character that I could sit with for a bit for a few films,” the Ace Ventura star said. “Especially if it could evolve, if it could change from film to film.” The latter has been true for his version of Robotnik (a.k.a Eggman), who seems poised (before I’ve officially seen the movie) for some major evolution in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Carrey has been able to sit with this character for over four years since the filming of the first movie. In that time, he’s only been in 26 episodes of television (some of which were Saturday Night Live) and a few shorts. He has largely been focused entirely on Robotnik for the last five years, and movie fans and gamers alike can enjoy that fact.
Jim Carrey Opens Up on Dr. Robotnik’s Development
In many ways, the Dr. Robotnik who’s poised to try and work with his grandfather and Shadow the Hedgehog to take over the world is not the same one that tried to use Sonic’s power in the 2020 film. They have a lot of similarities, namely their evil nature and the perennial scheming to take over everything, but there’s been an evolution.
Carrey said, “Robotnik has been able to evolve in his look and his manner from film to film. Every time he gets defeated, he becomes more bitter and hostile. His megalomania gets ratched up and these inventions, the technological wonders that he keeps coming up with, keep topping themselves.” One can only imagine what he’s got planned for the character in the third and potentially biggest movie in the franchise.
Carrey has twice gone back on his general practices for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. He never did sequels, but he’s here starring for the third (and there could be more films to come) time in the same franchise. He also said he was retiring from acting following the second movie. Yet, Carrey is not only returning as Dr. Robotnik but pulling double duty as the older Gerald Robotnik as well.
In Conclusion
Jim Carrey is one of the most beloved and adored comic actors of this generation. It was a treat for audiences when he decided to step into the role of Dr. Robotnik, especially considering how rare a repeat performance is. Fortunately, he decided to return and helped spawn and keep alive this franchise. So far, it is one of the best video game adaptation franchises out there, and it’s largely thanks to Carrey.
