We Have Our New Sonic Voice Actor, and It’s… Roger Craig Smith?

In a tweet, Smith confirms he has returned to the role of Sonic after [checks watch] four months from his public departure.

Smith played numerous game and animation voices throughout his career, including Captain America and Chris Redfield. He made his debut as the voice of Sonic in Sonic Free Riders for Xbox 360 and Sonic Colors for Wii. Smith went on to represent the series in both games and animation, appearing in Disney’s Wreck It Ralph series, Cartoon Network’s OK K.O., and the Sonic Boom cartoon series. In January, he announced he was leaving the role via Twitter.

The nature of Smith’s original departure was a bit unclear, though in a previous interview, he explained that he chose to walk away from the role. After doing so, multiple other voice actors confirmed that they were remaining with the series in some capacity, including Colleen O’Shaughnessey and Mike Pollock. Equally unclear is Smith’s decision to return, especially after such a short departure.

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Published by

GX

A podcaster since 2008, GX originally founded The Spindash podcast, until joining Sonic Stadium's monthly Sonic Talk. He currently co-hosts the show and runs weekly streams on Stadium's Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/sonicstadium

18 Comments

  1. Now thats one piece of Sonic related news I did not expect to hear at all. Really, REALLY curious on what happened that caused him to come back and if Sega had any involvement on it or if it was his own choice.

    Either way, I’m happy for all the ‘Roger as Sonic’s English voice actor’ fans I guess.

  2. It’s great that he is back for the fans who like his take on Sonic but personally, I was hoping for a new voice actor mainly because he is my least favorite voice for Sonic…but ultimately if the script is good I’ll try to get past it. 😀

    P.S If they one day do SA1-2 remakes I HOPE they bring back Ryan Drummond (or hire a new voice actor). I sadly can’t see myself buying them with Roger’s voice.

    1. For the Sonic adventure 1 & 2 remake, there should be a Ryan english dubbed, Jason and the original japanese dubbed with english subtitles. What I’m saying is for SA1, Ryan, Jason english dubbed and added the original japanese dubbed with english subtitles.

  3. Looks like he wants to do some encore voice work for the fans. Good thinking since it is the franchise’s 30th.

  4. The key part of his announcement is that he is back… “in games”.

    So, obviously we knew he wouldn’t be voicing Sonic in the new movie, but it sounds like he might not be part of Sonic Prime either, so keep that in mind.

    1. None of the current voice cast is involved with Prime. They can’t be because they aren’t Canadian citizens.

    1. I don’t wanna come off as mean but tbf its not like Roger is the one writing the scripts. I doubt Ryan or Jason would have sound any better saying lines like ‘Baldy McNosehair’.

      1. No worries. I wrote it because in the entirety of the last decade RCS never did any lines that I liked, or was memorable beyond memes. So, keeping the same voice actor sounds like more of the same is in the works. It doesn’t HAVE to be like this but is very likely.

  5. In the end, could Roger’s supposed departure be considered a publisity stunt? – Really pointless one in that?

  6. First off. This man is a multi talented voice actor. If anyone knows any of his other work (Dying light and Apex legends(Mirage) video games) This man brings to life the character he voices. I love this man’s voice acting, it’s funny, intriguing and entertaining. I do not know how work behind sonic but I do know his other work. I’m glad the man’s out there working and Sega or the sonic franchise probably begged the man to come back. He is remarkable.

  7. Really sad to hear. I was hoping for things to finally improve. Bringing back Roger just doesn’t help anything. I know the poor quality since Colors is a writer problem, but even without that: Rogers acting just doesn’t fit sonic at all. Jason or Ryan are so much more fitting. It’s a really sad way to start of the 30th anniversary celebration.

  8. I don’t like this at all. I want Drummond and Griffith to return as Sonic, not this.

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