Jackal Squad (TV series)

Jackal Squad (also called Sega's Jackal Squad and Jackal Squad: A Sonic the Hedgehog Tale) is an American adult computer animated TV miniseries set in James Cameron's Sonic Cinematic Universe, airing exclusively on HBO Max. The series is the first and only R-Rated product within the franchise due to its darker, more mature content.

Premise
Set 10 years before the events of Silver and Blaze, the show follows the origins of Infinite's former mercenary group the Jackal Squad, and centers around a group of the Squad's renegade members as they seek to claim their own bounties against their former leader's orders and approval.

Characters
The characters and environment in the miniseries share the same animation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and its spin-off/sequel Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Rogue Jackal Squad
A crew of anthropomorphic jackals and renegade former members of the Jackal Squad who seek to collect bounties by their own terms, and against Zero's orders and approval.
 * Talon (voiced by Jerry O'Connell), the leader of the Rogues who objects to Zero's leadership, and the Squad's code. A skilled fighter, Talon wields the "Phantom Claw", a commando knife made of Phantom Ruby shards which can (depending on Talon's will) infect the victims' minds and cause them to hallucinate unreal vision. The character is heavily influenced by Sylvester Stallone's portrayal of John Rambo in the Rambo franchise, and Hunter in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and its spin-off Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
 * Ada (voiced by Karen Gillan), the Rogues' only female member. She is the tech expert, and the most intellectual of the crew. She holds a grudge with Zero's Jackal Squad group after Neon "mercy-killed" Ada's partner Flora without hesitation and remorse, and left Ada to grieve alone. She is shown to have romantic feelings for Echo. Ada is also a skilled acrobat, and is accompanied by a Jackal Squad drone which can help her hack systems, or shoot at her desired targets. The character is heavily influenced by her voice actress Gillan's portrayal of Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its sequel The Next Level, and Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
 * Echo (voiced by Sebastian Stan), a member of the Rogues, and the crew's firearms expert, he is an excellent sniper who regularly boasts of never missing a shot. He holds a grudge with Zero's group after he was banished for failing to assassinate the current G.U.N. Commander; although it is shown that he actually hesitated on killing the commander in front of his granddaughter. He is shown to have romantic feelings for Ada. The character is heavily influenced by DC Comics' supervillain/antihero Deadshot, and Stan's portrayal of Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
 * Screwball (voiced by Ken Joeng), a hyperactive, insane member of the Rogues, and the explosive expert. He is in Talon's crew due to Zero banishing him from the Squad because of his unstable nature, which almost once jeopardized the Squad's mission. His insanity and paranoid attitude, on the other hand, proves quite useful for Talon's crew, especially when it comes to desperate hours. Despite being insane and psychotic, Screwball is also loyal to his crewmates, and has his serious, sane side, such as when he shares his story with the crew in "Chapter 5: Identity".
 * Dynamo (voiced by Stephen Amell), a member of the crew with cybernetic implants. He is in Talon's crew after being freed from Captain Whisker's crew, who roboticized him and enslaved him for their own purposes. The character is heavily influenced by DC Comics' Cyborg.
 * Butch (voiced by Christopher Judge), a member of the Rogues, and a hulking, muscular jackal with superhuman strength, and a tattooed body. He is the crew's muscle, and is in Talon's crew due to Zero treating Butch like nothing more than a living weapon and expendable tool, and for disposing of him to the G.U.N. Units who arrested him and experimented on him to learn of the super-soldier jackals' weaknesses. Butch is heavily influenced by Sonic the Hedgehog's Werehog form due to size and body structure, and on Judge's portrayal of Kratos in the 2018 God of War video game.

Jackal Squad (Main Group)

 * Zero (voiced by Tom Hiddleston), the leader and captain of the Jackal Squad mercenary group.
 * Crystal (voiced by Aubrey Plaza), the second-in-command of the Squad.
 * Neon (voiced by Jude Law), a high-ranking member and sergeant of the Squad. He is a constant target for Ada since Neon "mercy-killed" her partner Flora without hesitation and remorse, and left Ada to grieve alone.

Individual

 * Rosemary Gold (voiced by Rebecca Romijn), a female red fox, and Talon's secret wife and lover, with whom he has an infant daughter named Sophie.
 * Sophie Gold, Talon and Rosemary's daughter, and a Jackal/Fox hybrid. She appears primarily as a toddler in the miniseries, whereas she is grown up in Silver and Blaze.
 * Agent Nick Lombard (voiced by Darren Criss), a G.U.N. agent who is assigned to spy on the Squad's activities, and is allied to Talon's crew.
 * Flora (voiced by Caitlyn Taylor Love), Ada's deceased lesbian lover and partner-in-crime, who was badly injured during a failed assault against the Iron Queen's armada, and "mercy-killed" by Neon, causing Ada to leave the Squad and vow revenge.
 * Thaddeus Talbot (voiced by ), a corrupt general of G.U.N. Units from Professor Gerald Robotnik's era. He was indirectly responsible for the creation of the first Jackal Squad.
 * Captain Whisker (voiced by Clancy Brown), a villainous robotic pirate who is somewhat hard to detest due to his clownish nature, and is the captain of a robot pirate crew which has been rivals and sworn enemies of the Jackal Squad for generations.
 * Horus (voiced by Sam Witwer) - A Babylonian assassin hawk who is roboticized and brainwashed by Zero as a cyborg and servant for the Jackal Squad.
 * Slade the Dingo (voiced by Karl Urban) - A Mobian dingo, and a ruthless assassin under the Jackal Squad's employ.
 * Abraham Tower - The commander of G.U.N. units. He appears in a flashback of "Identity", which reveals that Echo was once hired to assassinate him. However, Echo hesitated when Tower was defenseless, but with his granddaughter by his side, causing Echo to be banished from the Jackal Squad.
 * Professor Gerald Robotnik - Doctor Eggman's grandfather, and a disgraced scientist at G.U.N. who reluctantly (and unwillingly) created the first member of the Jackal Squad.
 * Regina Ferrum the Iron Queen - An Overlander who worked alongside the Iron King in the Dragon Kingdom, and was trained by a cult of magitek users at a young age, becoming capable of using magic spells against her enemies. She makes a silent appearance in "Chapter 5: Identity", during the flashbacks of Ada's origin story.

Licensed Songs Featured in the Film
Like most feature films, the miniseries also includes some licensed songs which follow some sequences of the story.

Taglines

 * "James Cameron's Universe of Sonic the Hedgehog... Has Its Dark Side"