Idris Elba As Knuckles In Next Sonic Movie Proves Catalyst For Ugandan Knuckles Revival

Idris Elba revealed yesterday that he's going to be the voice of Knuckles the Echidna in the new Sonic The Hedgehog sequel movie, which is the first piece of info leaked about the movie since the set pieces were shown months ago.

This career move isn't an irregular one for Elba, who previously did voice acting work in Zootopia, Finding Dory and The Jungle Book, all in 2016. More recently, Elba has been seen in the James Gunn Suicide Squad movie, so his star power was already at an arguably all-time high. Fan reactions to his selection were unanimously positive on social media.

I hope he's ready #SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/g1dwICZGFi

— Cuppa (@CuppaYT) August 10, 2021

💥Knock Knock!💥
Glad to see Knuckles officially revealed for the Sonic 2 Movie c: And with Idris Elba voicing him, I felt the need to draw a lil something for fun! #Knuckles #SonicMovie2 pic.twitter.com/3JY3gBNHLQ

— JYoshi 🌙 @ 24 Days 💙 (@JYoshimon) August 10, 2021

.@idriselba can do anything! #SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/rheBKrmjZw

— Polka Dot Man FTW (@ManPolka) August 10, 2021

While many fans were showing their support by photoshopping Idris into a Knuckles costume or comparing Knuckles to other roles he has done, there were many who noted the extreme amount of meme potential emanating off the tweet, which simply read "knock knock."

Knock, knock….#SonicMovie2 #Knuckles pic.twitter.com/N1PW5XaCEd

— Idris Elba (@idriselba) August 10, 2021

tell me i’m not the only one who saw it..#SonicTheHedgehog #SonicMovie2 #knucklestheechidna #Knuckles #deadmemes pic.twitter.com/XBs0VuUA4c

— ehuante(7/25 commission slots filled-read my pin) (@EmilyHuante) August 11, 2021

When Knuckles eats Sonic's chilli dogs#Knuckles @idriselba #sonic #SonicTheHedgehog2 pic.twitter.com/awkl6qHoRZ

— Jaimsuu Gaming (@JaimsuuGaming) August 10, 2021

With Knuckles back in the limelight, it didn't take long for a resurgence in Ugandan Knuckles to occur. This meme, which was already resurrected once prior, had a massive resurgence due to people wishing for Idris to play that version of Knuckles, or for Ugandan Knuckles to be in the film in a similar way that Sanic was.

have u seen this pic.twitter.com/sRYv4C6M8B

— connor (@ConnorEatsPants) August 10, 2021

I wonder if they'll have a Ugandan Knuckles reference like how they had a reference to sanic in the first one

— Al3xNGera#BLM (@GeraAl3x) August 11, 2021

Not to sound cringe, but if the first Sonic Movie gave us a SANIC reference, can we get a Ugandan Knuckles reference? Maybe another drawing from Crazy Carl? 😅 pic.twitter.com/xEIdHvfEhy

— 🔥Maury Media🔥 (@maury_versal) August 11, 2021

For once, it seems a movie studio made the absolute right call that no one is upset with, which means they really did learn after the first Sonic design fiasco. Now we just need to worry about a Sonichu reference being made in the film.