Dr Eggman survives Sonic the Hedgehog voice cast cull
"SURPRISE!!!!"
The voice actor of Sonic the Hedgehog villain Dr. Eggman has announced he has survived the franchise's current cast cull.
The past few weeks have seen various Sonic voice actors announce they have sadly parted ways with their characters - including Sonic himself, Roger Craig Smith - with fans left in the dark as to why.
Over the weekend, Dr. Eggman actor Mike Pollock posted the following to his Twitter, where fans reacted with glee:
"You know what they say: the more the merrier! You've not yet heard the last of me as Dr. Eggman in Sonic the Hedgehog video games! Kindly prepare your ears accordingly. If you guessed otherwise, SURPRISE!!!! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to stock up on lozenges."
Pollock has received numerous questions from fans about why he had seemingly escaped the cull while other fan favourites had been dropped. Anticipating these, Pollock responded:
"On a personal note, I know you'll want to speculate about what happened, and possible casting choices, but please bear in mind that, IRL, actors' careers are steered by auditions, callbacks, bookings and rejections. It's a bit more complicated than choosing sides for kickball."
Just over a week ago, long-time Sonic the Hedgehog voice actor Roger Craig Smith broke fans' hearts when he announced he was leaving the role after 10 years. Smith voiced Sonic in numerous video games, plus the Sonic Boom TV series and in Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph, though was left out from the recent Sonic the Hedgehog live action film.
Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who voiced Tails for almost as long and did make the cut for the live action Sonic movie, also suggested last week she would no longer voice the character. Asked by a fan whether she would continue to voice Tails in the upcoming Netflix series Sonic Prime, she replied: "No. I'm sorry to say I am not."
Meanwhile, Amy Rose actor Cindy Robinson replied to a fan who suggested the entire Sonic cast had been replaced by saying: "It's true. I'm loading out with my brilliant compadres."
Upcoming Sonic projects include that Netflix TV series which is due in 2022, a sequel to the live action Sonic film, and at least one major Sonic game in development. Also, some Sonic Lego.
We've contacted Sega for comment.