Last year's Sonic the Hedgehog movie was an undeniable financial success and not just at the box office. According to JAKKS Pacific, the company Sega partnered with to create merchandise for the movie, said merchandise saw strong performances at retailers worldwide, so it's unsurprising that Sega and JAKKS will continue their partnership for the sequel coming next year, Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The two companies first partnered back in 2019 for the first movie and JAKKS has once again been given global toy rights to produce action figures, playsets, vehicles, plush toys, and other collectibles for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Disguise, JAKKS' costume division, will also release costumes and accessories based on the cast, which will no doubt include Sonic, Robotnik, and Tails, who has basically been confirmed to be making an appearance thanks to the movie's logo.
Craig Drobis, JAKKS' Senior Vice President of Marketing had this to say about the continued partnership:
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is sure to be a runaway hit in 2022. Given the success of the first movie and performance of our current Sonic the Hedgehog product line, we are excited to continue to develop toys that follow along with Sonic’s next great movie adventure.
"JAKKS brings decades of innovative product development experience to the table and will continue to bring to life these iconic characters in a wide variety of new and unique ways for kids and fans alike."
As successful as the first movie was, one criticism some fans had was the sheer lack of characters from the games, outside of Sonic and Robotnik. Tails' inclusion in the sequel will help rectify that somewhat and some theorize that Knuckles will appear too, considering his echidna tribe made a brief appearance in the first movie and have ties to Sonic's backstory. Tails and Knuckles have been mainstays of the games since the original trilogy on the Sega Genesis, so any merch of them is bound to be very popular with die-hard fans.
Sonic fans are also eager for any game related news at the moment, since this year marks the series' 30th anniversary. So far, a new TV show called Sonic Prime has been confirmed, but this followed the news of several voice actors leaving their roles, including Sonic's actor Roger Craig Smith, much to fans' disappointment.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will release April 8, 2022.