The Nerdist

⚡ Quick Take

• Kristen Bell is taking a break from the kingdom of Arendelle and joining the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as Amy Rose.

The fourth Sonic the Hedgehog movie is gearing up to enter production, and they’ve just added a very notable name to the voice cast. Princess Anna from Frozen herself, Kristen Bell, has joined the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as the voice of Amy Rose. Fans of the classic Sega game will remember Amy Rose as the pink hedgehog who is Sonic’s girlfriend. Well, she thinks of herself as his girlfriend, anyway. Sonic star Ben Schwartz posted a photo of himself and Kristen Bell holding toys of their respective characters on social media, formally announcing her arrival in the upcoming Sonic sequel.

WE HAVE OUR AMY ROSE!!! And I could not be more excited!!! Please welcome the incredible Kristen Bell to the @SonicMovie family!!! 💙 pic.twitter.com/jcFLLoplqC

— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) February 18, 2026

The mid-credits scene of the previous Sonic movie introduced Amy Rose as she saved Sonic from the bad guys in Sonic the Hedgehog 3‘s last moments. However, that little tease didn’t feature a voice actor. It was just to let the fans know she was coming. The mid-credits teases of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies have each set up a new character from the games that will play a big role in the next movie. Idris Elba, who voices Knuckles, joined the franchise in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. And Keanu Reeves joined the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as Shadow. With each sequel, the voice cast gets more and more stacked with iconic names. And now, Kristen Bell will be joining Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

Bell shared an Instagram photo of her in the booth, and she’s so incredibly joyful.

Sega created Amy Rose for the Sonic games when the company’s licensing division wanted a female counterpart to the Sonic character. A “Minnie to his Mickey,” essentially. Although it seems she’s more the Ms. Pac-Man to his Pac-Man if you ask us. Sega decided that having Sonic have a traditional girlfriend would go against his personality.

NBC Universal/Paramount Pictures

The company then made Amy Rose a hedgehog with a one-sided crush and oodles of bubbly energy. Yup, this Sonic the Hedgehog 4 role sounds ideal for Kristen Bell. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is once again directed by Jeff Fowler, who directed the previous three installments. Paramount will release Sonic 4 in theaters on December 22, 2027.

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The new Scary Movie is now in theaters and, while some critics are not digging its crude humor, fans will surely love to see characters like Shorty, Ray, Brenda, and Cindy return. The franchise is now back in the hands of Shawn and Marlon Wayans, with the latter recently starring in the Jordan Peele-produced horror film HIM. Scary Movie takes aim at Peele’s infamous Get Out film; however, when Marlon Wayans asked the director to be in this satire film, he declined taking a role. 

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Wayans told The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t ask for permission from directors like Peele and Ryan Coogler to parody their films. He just does it and hopes that they like what they see. It remains to be seen if Peele will appreciate the references to Get Out in Scary Movie, but he was apparently cool with the parody but didn’t want to be a part of it. Of course, Wayans wasn’t offended, jokingly saying the decline was “not cool.” 

Paramount Pictures

It is not clear why Peele didn’t want to be in Scary Movie. Honestly, it’s more than likely because he is plenty busy as a director, writer, and running Monkeypaw Productions. He does have an untitled horror thriller in the works, after all. Maybe he doesn’t want to act at all at this point in time, even if it were just a cameo as himself. Who knows. Either way, Scary Movie is in theaters and poking a lot of fun at some pretty famous films, to varying degrees of success.

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The very last post-credits scene (of three!) in Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe is actually a cheeky nod to the post-credits scene from the original MOTU film, nearly forty years ago. That tease at the end of the infamous Cannon Films movie from 1987 never received a follow-up, but maybe things will play out differently this time. But both scenes tease the return of arch-villain Skeletor in a future installment, ready to plague our hero, He-Man. Back then, that second cinematic adventure never came to be. Maybe now, things will work out for the better.

Amazon MGM Studios

In the new MOTU film, after He-Man (Nicholas Galatzine) defeats Skeletor (Jared Leto) and leaves nothing but a skull on the ground in Castle Grayskull, we cut to six months later. The final post-credits scene shows Alison Brie’s Evil-Lyn descending a staircase in the Castle, picking up Skeletor’s discarded skull head. (Hey, how did she get in there?) She smiles wickedly at him, and says to her boss “You’ve looked better,” and walks off as we hear Jared Leto’s cackle. Obviously, Evil-Lyn will use her dark sorcery to bring her master, the Lord of Snake Mountain, back to life. Maybe a trip to the afterlife of Subternia is in order in MOTU Part Two? The Kevin Smith animated series on Netflix did something similar when its Skeletor died.

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This is clearly all a nod to the way the original Masters of the Universe ended. Back in the ’80s, movies barely ever had a post-credits seen teasing a sequel. This was way before the MCU popularized them. Usually, they were joke scenes, like in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or The Muppet Movie, before that. But Masters of the Universe actually teased Skeletor’s return in a sequel. After He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) throws Skeletor (Frank Langella) down an abyss in his final battle, the post-credits scene sees Skeletor’s head pop up out of the water and declare, “I’ll be back!” Well, sadly, Skeletor was not back, and Cannon Films didn’t last much longer as a studio. Largely because of the box office failure of Masters of the Universe.

Both Skeletor post-credits teases are pretty campy, which is fitting for such a camptastic villain. Say what you want about Frank Langella as Skeletor, but he’s the best thing about that movie. And he actually, the actor has a tremendous fondness for that role, even to this day. If Masters of the Universe 2026 gets a second chapter, it would fulfill a forty-year-old promise. We hope that Skeletor’s old boss and mentor, Hordak, is the one who brings him back to life. And then, the two can team up to take down He-Man and She-Ra. That’s the sequel we’d love to see. And if someone else plays Skeletor besides Jared Leto this time? Well, then that’s perfectly ok too. We won’t get mad about it.

Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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One of the big questions Masters of the Universe fans have asked, based on all the trailers, is “Where the heck is He-Man’s loyal sidekick, Orko?” Would Amazon MGM Studios and director Travis Knight, an avowed MOTU fanboy, really leave the little floating wizard out of a live-action He-Man movie again? Well, despite not being in any advertising materials or movie merchandise, right before the credits roll, Orko does put in a brief appearance. It harkens back to his role in the original 1980s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, where he gives a “life lesson” to the kids at the end of most episodes.

Filmation

In the scene, we see Orko at a market in Eternia, speaking directly to the camera. (IMDb says Christopher Ragland provides the voice.) He looks much like he did in the old cartoon, floating with a wizard hat that obscures his face, with his only features being two bright eyes and two blue elfin ears that stick out of his hat. Here, he gives the audience a special “So what did we learn from today’s adventure, kids?” lesson. We won’t spoil exactly what he said, but it’s very in keeping with classic Orko. It’s a fun nod to the old Filmation cartoon, and sets up Orko as existing in this universe.

Netflix

Orko is an iconic piece of the MOTU franchise, but Mattel did not create him. He was one of the first elements of the franchise that Filmation created for their syndicated TV series. Back in the ’80s, pretty much every cartoon had to have a “cute sidekick” character. It was pretty much an unwritten rule. Filmation president Lou Schiemer not only created him, but also voiced the character. He was a wizard from the dimension of Trolla, who was the court magician for King Randor on Eternia. He grew up with Prince Adam, and was one of only three people who knew he was secretly He-Man. In a way, he became the show’s unofficial mascot. Not long after, Mattel introduced him into the toyline.

The Cannon Group

The first Masters of the Universe live-action movie from 1987 famously did not include Orko, which caused much confusion among many kids. Especially as he was absolutely synonymous with the cartoon at the time. So, every child in the theater was shocked not to see him. Instead, we got a little gnome-like wizard named Gwildor, played by Billy Barty, who required prosthetic makeup for the role. But he didn’t have to float, so it was probably easier on the budget. But for years, MOTU fandom has referred to Gwildor as “discount Orko.”

Netlfix

Orko and Gwildor finally shared a screen in Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution on Netflix. Although Travis Knight’s MOTU film contains several nods to the 1987 movie, Gwildor was not one of them. Maybe next time, Gwildor. If the new Masters of the Universe gets a sequel, we imagine Orko will play a bigger role. He’s just too much of a crucial piece of He-Man lore not to. But, if the live-action MOTU franchise ends here, at least the little guy made it for a fun cameo.

Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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There are technically three stingers at the end of Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe film. The first is a one featuring fan-favorite character Orko. But the second is the mid-credits one, and that one will really have longtime fans in a tizzy. That’s because the mid-credits scene features the live-action debut of She-Ra, the Princess of Power, He-Man’s twin sister. For a long time, the media rights for He-Ma and She-Ra were seemingly split up, casting doubt that she could appear in Masters of the Universe. But appear she does, even if we only get her side profile. We suppose that’s so they can leave it open to cast a name for her in a potential MOTU sequel.

Amazon MGM Studios/Filmation

As the MOTU movie comes to a close, Prince Adam’s mother, Queen Marlena, looks over her kingdom of Eternos, now free from the tyranny of Skeletor. She mentions to Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) how lucky they were to have found Prince Adam, after he was lost on Earth for fifteen years. And then she says, in a very cryptic manner, that maybe there is still a chance to find “her” too. Longtime MOTU fans probably guessed right away that the “her” in question was Adam’s twin sister Adora, better known as She-Ra. But the movie actually shows the character after the main credits rolled. And she was completely accurate to the classic cartoon and Mattel toys.

In the scene, we see She-Ra standing over a ridge, on what we assume is her home planet, Etheria. She has her signature red cape, golden headpiece, and flowing blonde hair. We only see her face briefly, when she turns to the camera, and we get a side profile. In the distance, we see the Fright Zone, the home base of the Evil Horde, She-Ra’s sworn enemies. A soldier comes up behind her, and refers to her by her birth name and rank, calling her Force Captain Adora. We see her Sword of Protection, with the powerful jewel right in the middle. We even hear the theme song playing from her 1985 cartoon series, She-Ra: Princess of Power.

Filmation

In the MOTU lore, Princess Adora was Adam’s twin sister, daughter of King Randor and Queen Marlena of Eternia. As an infant, the forces of Hordak and his Horde attacked Eternia, along with Hordak’s apprentice, Skeletor. The forces of Eternos defeated Hordak and sent him packing to his home dimension. But as a last act of revenge, he kidnapped the infant Adora from her cradle. He disappeared into Etheria, a place where the Eternians could not reach. Adora was adopted by Hordak, brainwashed into thinking the Horde were benevolent. She became Hordak’s Force Captain, leading his armies into battle against Etheria’s Great Rebellion.

Filmation

Eventually, on Eternia, the Sorceress of Grayskull had a vision, and discovered where Adora was. She informed Adam about his secret sister, and that he had to go and find her. She also told him that there was a second magic sword of Grayskull like his. While his was the Sword of Power, the other was the Sword of Protection, destined for Adora. When Adora could wield the sword and say the words “For the honor of Grayskull!” she would gain superpowers just like her brother. He-Man journeyed to Etheria, and he not only met his sister, but helped break her of her programming from the Horde. She wielded the sword and became She-Ra, the most powerful woman in the universe. She joined the Great Rebellion against her foster father Hordak, who she now knew to be evil.

Filmation

Will a potential sequel to MOTU be a live-action version of 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword? That was the theatrical animated film (really, an extended pilot episode) that introduced the She-Ra spinoff to kids. Later in the fall of 1985, She-Ra: Princess of Power would get her own successful cartoon series, which ran for two seasons. It seems that’s the route they are going, should MOTU be successful. If that’s the case, they will likely recast She-Ra, much as the MCU recast Thanos after his Avengers end credits teaser. We hope that MOTU does well at the box office so we can see He-Man and She-Ra fight the forces of evil together in live-action. Who doesn’t want to see that? We know MOTU director Travis Knight does. So we hope we all get our wish.

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