Keanu Reeves will headline an upcoming Sonic x Shadow Generations DLC – as things stand

We already knew that Keanu Reeves would voice Shadow in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but he's also bringing his voice to Sega's video games.

Announced during today's Sony State of Play (in a moment of pure “Wait, was that Keanu?”)Reeves will voice Shadow as part of an upcoming Sonic x Shadow Generations DLC, the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Pack. Interestingly, the update will arrive on December 12th, a week before Sonic the Hedgehog 3's release on December 20th, and will be inspired by scenes in the film. It's certainly the latest big development in what Sega has dubbed “The Year of the Shadow” – and it's really hard to find a bigger headliner for it than Reeves.

Back in April, we learned that Reeves would be playing the famous hedgehog, and the first trailer for Sonic 3 gave us just a taste of what the actor's portrayal will be like. This will also be Reeves' second role in a video game, famously playing the role of Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 (funnily enough, another Cyberpunk actor, Idris Elba, voices Knuckles in the Sonic Cinematic Universe).

Meanwhile, Sonic x Shadow Generations, an expanded version of 2011's Sonic Generations with new standalone content featuring Shadow the Hedgehog, will launch on October 25th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC be available. Sega highlighted several upcoming Sonic projects during a Sonic Central presentation today, but left Reeves' big announcement to State of Play.

For more information on the current situation, see our summary of all announced events.

Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN and leads entertainment coverage. When she's not writing or editing, she reads fantasy novels or plays Dungeons & Dragons.