Voice actor Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who has provided the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog's dependable companion Miles "Tails" Prower in TV series Sonic Boom, recently confirmed on Twitter that she would not reprise the role for the upcoming Netflix series Sonic Prime. Coming soon after the announcement of the departure of Sonic voice actor Roger Craig Smith, speculation is rife over who will fill these roles in the future.
Responding to queries on Twitter, O'Shaughnessey is one of the latest to confirm that she will not be involved with the newest Sonic the Hedgehog project, joining Smith and Amy Rose voice actor Cindy Robinson. When asked if she would be voicing Tails in Sonic Prime, she responded, "No. I'm sorry to say I am not." Further follow-ups pressing for clarity over whether she would continue to voice the role in future games and the sequel movie were met with an enigmatic 'fingers crossed' emoji.
Whether this means that O'Shaughnessey is moving on from voicing Tails altogether like Smith or will continue to be involved with other projects remains to be seen. Fans enjoyed her cameo appearance as the character in last year's Sonic the Hedgehog movie and are likely hoping to see her return to the role in its sequel, set to start filming later this year, but as yet nothing is confirmed.
O'Shaughnessey's tenure in the role began with Sonic Boom in 2014, and since then she has voiced Tails in a variety of Sonic iterations, including the 2020 movie and the various Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games titles. A prolific voice actor since the 1990s, her past work has included such big-name properties as Digimon, Naruto and Danny Phantom, as well as in some recent hit video games like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
The announcement, coming in the wake of Roger Craig Smith's departure as the iconic voice of Sonic and swiftly followed by Amy Rose voice actor Cindy Robinson's confirmation that she too would not be returning for Sonic Prime, certainly has some fans wavering between anxiety and curiosity over next year's Netflix series. With so many recognizable actors stepping away from the project, many eyes turned to the voice of Dr Eggman, Mike Pollock, to see if he would be jumping ship too. In recent days, though, Pollock has been keeping his cards close to his chest, taunting followers on social media with vague non-answers and tongue-in-cheek trolling, so questions still swirl about his possible departure.
Others have been taking a different tack, though, taking the opportunity of these announcements to put forward their suggestions and desires for a new cast. Ben Schwartz, who voiced Sonic in last year's movie, seems to be top of many people's lists to take over the role after his endearing and heartfelt performance, but no successor has yet been officially announced. Suffice it to say, though, that the casting for Sonic Prime will likely be an interesting story to watch.