Keanu Reeves gets seal of approval of his 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' co-stars

Idris Elba is thrilled Keanu Reeves has joined him in 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3'.

The 59-year-old star is a new member of the voice cast in the upcoming flick in the hit franchise based on Sega's successful video games series, having replaced Jason Griffith in the role of Shadow, and he has been given the seal of approval from both Idris, who voices Knuckles, and his predecessor.

Idris, 51, told IGN: “I’m a big fan of his.

“I’ve heard that he’s a fan of mine, and we are destined to make something together. So, here we go.”

Jason told TMZ of the 'John Wick' star's casting: "It’s a great choice.

"Shadow is now being voiced by Ted Theodore Logan, John Wick, and Neo, so I think that’s a pretty good company to keep.

"I think it’s an excellent casting choice, myself."

The 43-year-old voice actor - who voiced the anthropomorphic black hedgehog for three years - was keen for Keanu to land the part before it was made official.

Jason added: "In fact, when there were rumours about Keanu and several other actors, and people would ask me who did I think it would be if it weren’t me, I said, 'I hope it’s Keanu.'"

The character was first introduced in the 2001 video game 'Sonic Adventure 2' and has extraordinary speed and Chaos Control powers that allow him to manipulate both space and time.

He is initially seen as anti-Sonic but later becomes an ally to the blue protagonist in the games.

The 'Sonic the Hedgehog' franchise launched with a successful flick in 2020 - which was then surpassed by the 2022 sequel - and producer Toby Ascher recently revealed that he wants new releases of the movies to become "Avengers-level events".

The third film also stars Ben Schwartz (Sonic), James Marsden (Tom Wachowski) and Jim Carrey (Dr. Robotnik).