While Shadow the Hedgehog won't be appearing in the upcoming Sonic Superstars, the executive producer of Sonic Team expressed that he wishes to bring the character back in a future game. Sonic Superstars is a brand-new game that brings the series closer to its origins on the Sega Genesis, where it will be a 2D platformer focused on blasting through obstacles and clearing stages as quickly as possible. Sonic Superstars however will feature 4-player co-op multiplayer action, with fans having at least four playable characters to choose from at launch: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose.
With this focus on the classic iterations of the Sonic timeline, it notably features the early character designs of these four characters. It's even looking to bring back Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble antagonist Fang the Sniper, alongside a brand-new character known as Trip. Some fans might wonder if characters like Shadow the Hedgehog or other favorites would be making an appearance, to which Sonic Team Executive Producer Takashi Iizuka commented on.
In an interview with ShackNews, Iizuka was asked about Shadow's apparent absence from both Sonic Frontiers and now this game, where he simply replied that won't be appearing in Sonic Superstars. However, Iizuka stated that he and Sonic Team do want to create a game that involves Sonic's rival for all of their fans in the future. This is not an official confirmation of whether plans for a new game involving Shadow the Hedgehog are in the works, however.
Despite Shadow's character and personality changes in some of the series' recent media not being a huge hit with fans, the character is still one of the most popular of Sonic's extensive list of allies. The second movie in the Sonic film universe set up Shadow's appearance via a stinger after the credits, to which Iizuka also alluded to in this interview. The last game that featured the Shadow as a playable character was Sonic Forces with its Episode Shadow DLC.
Iizuka states the main reason why Shadow isn't in Sonic Superstars is due to the game being focused on the classic series, and Shadow was introduced far later in Sonic Adventure 2. On a related note, when he was asked if there were plans for a Sonic Adventure 2 remake, Iizuka states while he'd love to return to the title one day, he feels that Sonic Team's focus should be on creating new experiences like Sonic Frontiers and the aforementioned Superstars.
Sonic Superstars launches in Fall 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.