Like a lot of Latin Americans, Cristo Fernández grew up with Sonic. Created in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog was a videogame created for Sega. It told the adventures of Sonic the blue hedgehog, his friends, and their continued battles with villains like Eggman. Now in 2025, Sonic is a worldwide franchise with over 100 games under its belt, multiple TV shows and comics, and three much beloved live-action movies. And for many of us, including Fernández, our loved for Sonic started when we were kids.
“Sonic is one of my favorite video games that I grew up with,” Fernández shared with Remezcla during an exclusive interview in Spanish. “My first Christmas present that I always remember, my dad and my mom, without me knowing they were Santa Claus, gave my sister Paloma and I the Super Nintendo. And with it came one of the old Sonic games. I was fascinated because apparently I used to roll around like him as a kid accroding to my mother.”
Now he’s in a Sonic movie.
Fernández plays Juan and Pablo, a pair of twins in the telenovela La Última Pasión in Sonic 3. In the movie telenovela, the brothers are caught in a love triangle with the lead Gabriella. And everyone in Sonic 3 is obsessed with this show. This wasn’t something Fernández expected when he got the call to join the movie. He shared, “It’s a project that fills me with great joy and a movie that has given a lot to talk about. Also, despite the fact that my cameo is very short, the fact that the fans talk a lot about me, it fills me with great pride that they talk about Juan, about Pablo, about La Última Pasión.”
One of the characters obsessed with La Última Pasión is Ivo Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey. His character is Sonic’s archnemisis. And by the time that we get to Sonic 3 he’s had a little bit of a falling out when it comes to his villain days. He’s not taking care of himself, vegging out for hours on end, and he spends his time watching La Última Pasión. For Fernández, his cameo is made even better because he’s been a long-time fan of Carrey.
When it came to the first two Sonic movies, “I watched the first Sonic movies because my favorite comedian is Jim Carrey. Like when people ask me who my favorite comedian is, I always think of Jim Carrey’s work. So it was a dream come true, even though I haven’t met him in person, for him to see me on screen and part of the Sonic story.” And one day, just maybe, he hopes to meet Carrey sometime in the future. Hopefully in another project together.
Another character obsessed with La Última Pasión in Sonic 3 is Shadow. Played by Keanu Reeves, he acts as the big antagonist in the movie alongside Gerald Robotnik. He’s an iconic character who many have been excited to see on screen since his introduction in the 2001 game Sonic Adventure 2. And apparently he’s obsessed with Latinas. Or the people who love the meme seem to think he does. Let’s backtrack.
On TikTok, a meme was born where Shadow the Hedgehog apparently declared his love for Latinas. According to Know Your Meme, the meme started after user @tyller._ posted a fan animation of Shadow giving a shoutout to “all the Latinas.” The meme spread even further when voice actor Jehtt posted a scene from the Sonic Prime animated series with Sonic asking Shadow why he’s going to Mexico. He answers with “I just love Latinas, Sonic.”
When Sonic 3 came out, it showed Shadow watching La Última Pasión and him being enamored with Gabriella. While Juan and Pablo are about to have a duel to the death for Gabriella’s heart, Shadow watches on in disgust with his arms crossed. He says, “Gabriella should kill them both. She’s not a prize to be won.” For fans, that’s the Shadow Loves Latinas meme being acknowledged.
For Fernández, despite being an avid Sonic fan, he’s never seen the meme. So I explained it to him, his face clearly giving away that he was going to look this up later. He did say though, that he’s not surprised at the popularity of a meme like Shadow Loves Latinas and attributes the popularity to how much people love telenovelas. “They’re part of our culture […] and one of my first short films, I remember being in Albania and Macedonia and countries that I never imagined visiting. And the people spoke Spanish and everyone told me that they learned to speak Spanish through telenovelas.”
As for Cristo Fernández and his favorite telenovelas growing up, that was an easy answer for him; Corazón salvaje, Rebelde, and Amigos x Siempre. Maybe one of these will make a cameo in Sonic 4. Or one of the actors. You never know when it comes to Sonic.
Sonic 3 is now available on demand and will be available on DVD on April 15, 2025.
