In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 director Jeff Fowler talks about the film and the origin story of Shadow.
…the filmmaker points to Shadow’s motorcycle and guns in the gaming space. “We certainly are very respectful about what fans expect to see and what they love about the character. We’re also very aware of the times and the right way to handle that kind of imagery in a family film,” he continues. “I think we really ended in a great place. I think fans will watch this film and really appreciate Shadow and Maria. A lot of care and a lot of love has gone into telling Shadow’s story and giving fans the best movie version of the character imaginable.”