Despite a shaky start, the video game adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog has been both well-received by critics and done incredibly well at the box office. With a sequel looking highly likely, fans of the video game on which the movie is based are still wondering why the longtime supporting character, Knuckles, does not make an appearance. Luckily for them, director Jeff Fowler does have a reason why the red echidna was left out of proceedings.

"For this first film, we really were just looking at the 1991 game and just see where it all started and just keep it simple. Just really try to nail Sonic and Robotnik and just set up their rivalry because you don't... I mean, I love... There's a lot of great characters in the Sonic universe, but it's the most important thing is just to get Sonic set up and just tell a little bit of an origin story with him, and just do it in a way that really makes everyone fall in love with him as a character and just be rooting for more.

And then, if all that goes well, then we can kind of open it up and bring in some of these other characters that fans know and love. And yeah, I mean, no one's more excited than me to have that opportunity."

So, it sounds like Sonic the Hedgehog was a set-up of sorts in the eyes of Fowler, and he seems to have high hopes that he will be able to expand on the groundwork they have now laid, which includes introducing more characters from Sonic lore. The movie did even give us a glimpse at some echidnas during the first few minutes, which was surely a hint at things to come should the first adventure do well.

As previously mentioned, the movie doing so well financially certainly suggests that focusing on the relationship between Sonic and the villainous Dr. Robotnik, as well as Sonic's backstory, was indeed the right call. The movie has even broken several box office records since its release earlier this month.

The movie finds the superfast, blue-colored hedgehog, Sonic, as he tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend -- a human named Tom Wachowski. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr. Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination. The ending of Sonic the Hedgehog does hint at a potential sequel and the direction it may go in, as well as giving audiences a look at another beloved Sonic sidekick, Tails, in a post-credits scene.

Jeff Fowler's Sonic the Hedgehog stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, with James Marsden, Neal McDonald, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, and Natasha Rothwell. This comes to us courtesy of ComicBook.com. The Knuckles are comes from Rafagrassetti on Instagram.