AFTER being savaged online, the director of the new Sonic the Hedgehog film has promised "changes" to the character design.

The horrifyingly toothy hedgehog was slammed by fans when he was first revealed at the end of last year, and that only intensified when the first trailer for the movie was released earlier this week.

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In it, the speedy video game hero was shown with long bandy arms, muscular legs and an all-over covering of fuzz.

The film version, compared by some to a child in a fursuit, also had little beady eyes and disturbingly human teeth.

Fans were not happy.

"If we had not committed great sins, god would not have sent punishment like this upon us," one wag , "it is what we deserve. it is what we are owed. This disgusting Sonic the Hedgehog."

The movie's director has now come out and promised changes in light of the reaction.

"The message is loud and clear," Jeff Fowler

"You aren't happy with the design and you want changes," he continued, before promising such changes were "going to happen".

He didn't offer any specifics, other than that the studio and Sega (who created the titular spiny mammal) were "fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be."

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The movie is currently due for release on November 8, so the VFX teams can expect to be putting in some serious overtime hours over the coming weeks if serious changes are now planned.

Some artists have already had a crack at redesigning the character to bring him closer to his original video-game look, with some getting a lot of attention.

One from artist Edward Pun has been liked by over 300,000 people on Twitter.

Fans reacted to Fowler's announcement of changes with relief and praise.

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Others expressed worry for the workload of the creative team, who now face a very tight deadline to turn changes around and rework a fundamental aspect of the film, pushing what was no doubt already a very tight schedule into disarray.

"We wouldn't even mind a delay if it meant fixing our boy, I would happily wait if it meant making the product the best it could be," while another "It sounds like you hate your animation department almost as much as you hate Sonic."

Meanwhile, in cheerier gaming news it looks like Borderlands 3 might be coming to the Google Stadia streaming service.

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