It Only Took 8 Seconds for Me to Fall in Love With ‘Sonic Prime’ Voice Actor Deven Mack

Netflix has released an animated series trailer for several upcoming shows. Labeled as “Netflix After School,” we got brief glimpses of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, Battle Kitty, and for the purposes of my Sonic fangirl heart, Sonic Prime.

What we know about Sonic Prime so far

Sonic Prime was originally announced back in February 2021, which is when we found out it would be 3D animated by WildBrain (the studio behind Netflix’s Carmen Sandiego) with Man of Action Entertainment (the studio behind Ben 10) serving as showrunners/producers. Along with having 24 episodes, we also found out the series would have a “multiverse” concept.

What does that mean? Well, they didn’t say at the time, but with the Sonic games already dabbling in multiple universes (Sonic Generations) and with there being so much Sonic media to draw from (cartoons, games, comics, and films), it’s not impossible for Sonic to have some kind of multiverse storyline. According to IGN, “[It’s] said that Sonic Prime is more than just ‘a race to save the universe,’ with Netflix explaining that Sonic will find himself on ‘a journey of self-discovery and redemption.'”

That’s still not a whole lot to go on, though the “self-discovery and redemption” bit has me even more curious than I already was. The brief spot in that Netflix trailer didn’t do much to delve into the plot, either. It did, however, show us what the series would look like. It also revealed a new voice actor for Sonic.

Like Tails, Deven Mack gravitated toward Sonic at a young age

Sonic’s new voice actor for Sonic Prime is Deven Mack, who has voiced characters like Bakugan: Battle Planet’s Wynton Styles, Beyblade: Metal Fusion’s Zeo Abyss, and even Thanos … um, the LEGO one in LEGO Marvel Avengers: Time Twisted. Mack is joining an ongoing list of amazing actors who have snacked on chili dogs before running really fast.

In Mack’s tweet about his take on the Blue Blur, he shares his own personal history with the character: “Ironically, I’m actually much more of a Tails personality.” This is why, as a kid, he gravitated so much toward Sonic, as that kind of character was someone he looked up to. “He’s somebody that I turned to for inspiration.”

While he didn’t have the video games while he was growing up, he watched all the cartoons. “He’s got that confidence, the quick wit. He’s got that swagger. He’s got it all.” And now? Mack gets to be the character he looked up to as a kid. I hope he knows that he’s definitely captured that swagger he loved so much growing up.

Sonic having a Black voice actor is so nostalgic for me

I’m used to Sonic having different voice actors all across his multiple forms of media. Sonic from the cartoons I grew up with would have a different voice from his games, and even the live-action movies have a new voice actor playing him.

That being said, the very first time I heard Sonic’s voice was after school with The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, then on Saturday mornings with Sonic the Hedgehog (or SatAM). Voiced by Jaleel White (a.k.a. “yes, Sonic was voiced by Steve Urkel”), this was the first time I ever heard Sonic speak, as he wouldn’t have full-on voice acting in the games until Sonic Adventure (give or take some brief lines in Sonic CD and a Japanese arcade game that was never released here). Now, after all these years, Sonic’s got a Black voice actor again. Bless.

My ultimate fangirl dream is for Sonic Prime’s multiverse angle to lead to Sonic’s different voice actors meeting each other as different variations of the character. This would be quite the task, as it would mean six voice actors for Sonic joining Mack on the adventure.

Wait. Jaleel White, Martin Burke, Ryan Drummond, Jason Griffith, Roger Craig Smith, Ben Schwartz, and Deven Mack. Seven voice actors. Seven Chaos Emeralds. Am I reading too much into this, or is this my fangirl dreams coming true? That’s, of course, if we’re only including the U.S. voice actors in this upcoming story.

Sonic Prime is set to release in 2022.

(Image: Netflix/IMDB)

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Briana Lawrence

Briana (she/her - bisexual) is trying her best to cosplay as a responsible adult. Her writing tends to focus on the importance of representation, whether it’s through her multiple book series or the pieces she writes. After de-transforming from her magical girl state, she indulges in an ever-growing pile of manga, marathons too much anime, and dedicates an embarrassing amount of time to her Animal Crossing pumpkin patch (it's Halloween forever, deal with it Nook)

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