Knuckles is ready to box in new trailer for his Paramount Plus spinoff series

Paramount Pictures’ most recent Sonic movie really reinforced how its titular hedgehog is nothing without his friends, but the studio’s new Knuckles spinoff series starring Idris Elba looks like it’ll be a lesson in how echidnas handle business (mostly) by themselves.

Set between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the upcoming third movie, Knuckles zooms in on Knuckles’ (Idris Elba) new life in Green Hills, Montana, where he, Sonic (Ben Schwartz), and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) have become a kind of alien family. After years of trying to be a good parental figure to Sonic, Maddie Wachowski (Tika Sumpter) couldn’t be happier to have people like Knuckles around, if only because he can actually keep up with the hedgehog. But as good as Knuckles may be at wearing his friends out, he’s also a vengeance-hungry warrior who isn’t exactly cut out for small-town living.

That, it seems from the trailer, is what pushes him and small-town cop Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) to go into the world in search of worthy opponents. But as Wade and Knuckles embark on their own adventure, they soon realize that post-Sonic 2, there are quite a few former Robotnik employees keen on weaponizing Knuckles’ powers. And the trailer makes it seem like the show’s villains (Scott Mescudi, Ellie Taylor, and Rory McCann) might have the talent and experimental tech necessary to take their target out.

At just six episodes, Knuckles feels less like a full-on spinoff show and more like a solid chunk of storytelling meant to hold fans over until the echidna is back on the big screen meeting a certain shadowy hedgehog for the first time. But that brevity, and Knuckles’ flashy action set pieces, feels like the sort of things that could make the show a success when it hits Paramount Plus on April 26th.