From his quiet life as a sheriff in Green Hills to a battle-filled one after meeting Sonic, that also saw him become a fatherly figure, it’s been quite the journey for JAMES MARSDEN’s Tom Wachowski over the course of the last two movies. Ahead of the release of SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3, we caught up with James to dig into the evolution of the family dynamic between the Wachowskis and Sonic, along with uncovering just some of the high-stake elements of the third instalment…

STARBURST: By the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tom and Sonic become a family; they really are like a father and son. What can you tell us about the dynamic between Tom, Maddie, and Sonic within this third chapter, and how it compares to what’s come before it?

James Marsden: In the first film Tom and Sonic are on a road trip, and it’s kind of a buddy action comedy. By the end of that movie, you see a father and son thing start to evolve. You remind the audience that this character, who has all of these great superpowers is still a kid, in an environment and in a world that is very foreign to him. He needs guidance, and support, and love. In the second film, you see some flavours of Superman in his Earth father dynamic there. I always found that interesting, because here’s this character that is capable of such great and incredible things who still has self-doubt. The normal things that any kid going through adolescence would be experiencing, and the need for a calming presence, and a support figure in Tom and Maddie. So, it’s evolved into a family, where Tom and Maddie are essentially his parents, and now they also become parents to an echidna and a fox! As playful and fun as it can be on paper, where you see these two parents that are parenting three colourful, animated creatures, you never get the sense that you just have to play it silly. There’s a human component to all of this, and a human element that shines through, and I think that’s one of the reasons why these movies have more depth. Not in a heavy-handed way, but I think there’s more dimension to them. In the third film, Sonic is really starting to build his confidence. He’s got his core group of friends, and he’s now met with a new adversary through Shadow, who’s quite a bit more powerful than he is. He’s having to learn to allow other people to come in and help as well. “You can’t do everything alone!” It’s almost like you’re witnessing him turn into a fully realised adult, with the constant support of love and guidance from his family.

Was there any new aspects that you really wanted to bring to the portrayal of Tom in this movie?

I never wanted to have Tom lose his sense of playfulness either. It’s fun to play the father who’s guiding Sonic and giving him sage advice about life and the world, but you don’t want the whole thing to be a lecture. You want to remind people of the first film as well, where these guys were just two buddies who were enjoying each other’s company. So you get to see some of that with Tom this time around. I think Sonic brought out the kid in Tom, and Tom is helping Sonic grow up into an adult. You get to see a little bit of that playfulness in the third film, with Tom again. There’s a moment where Tom and Maddie are starting to feel a little bit like “Alright, Sonic is good now, he’s on his own.” It’s a little bit empty nest, and they’re wondering, “What’s our purpose now?” But maybe they get to join forces and help out a little bit with some of the fun action pieces…

Talking a bit more about these movies as a trilogy, what else do you think Sonic the Hedgehog 3 contributes to the overall arc of the series?

With each film the scope grows. The scale of these movies continues to just multiply and become really universal with the places we travel. But I think the most important difference between this film and the last two, is that there’s a level of darkness to it; not to say that we’re going full on Batman Begins here, but the threat is more dangerous and it’s a lot more advanced. I think there are moments in this one where there maybe aren’t as many jokes being thrown out when the battle sequences begin; it’s like “Oh, there’s real peril here! This is real danger!” You’re dealing with a character who has a severe chip on his shoulder, and a sense of vengeance, and anger. Shadow is dealing with a loss from his past, and he’s let the sense of revenge and anger kind of drive him. Whereas Sonic had a similar occurrence when he was young, but he didn’t let that overtake him or define who he was. So, you have this character of Shadow who is very powerful, even more powerful than Sonic, who is driven with ill intent and real, extreme negative emotions. It’s a recipe for some trouble. The threat level is much higher, and much more real this time around, but I think the audience is ready for it!

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 zooms into cinemas on December 21st