Jim Carrey used to shun sequels to "move on and do something new" but changed his mind when playing Robotnik in the Sonic movies: "I'd like to have a character that I could sit with for a bit"

Prior to appearing in three Sonic movies, Jim Carrey famously made a point to sidestep sequels in favor of trying something new.

While some exceptions exist – Dumb and Dumber To and the 1995 Ace Ventura sequel When Nature Calls are Carrey's only major follow-ups – Carrey says that his hardline stance on franchises only melted away when playing evil genius Doctor Robotnik.

"For me, at this time of my life – for some reason – I've never really wanted to do sequels. I've never really wanted to do franchise stuff. It didn't occur to me. I just thought, 'I want to move on and do something new'," Carrey says in an interview with 12DOVE ahead of the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

"Maybe six months before the first Sonic movie, I thought to myself I'd like to have a character that I could sit with for a bit for a few films. Especially if it could evolve, if it could change from film to film."

For Carrey, the character's transformation – and less-than-gradual mental decline – ticked all his boxes: "Robotnik has been able to evolve in his look and his manner from film to film. Every time he gets defeated, he becomes more bitter and hostile. His megalomania gets ratched up and these inventions, the technological wonders that he keeps coming up with, keep topping themselves."

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 races into cinemas on December 20 in the US and December 21 in the UK.

For more, check out our ranking of the best Sonic movies and movie release dates calendar. Then dive into our Sonic 3 interviews as we talk to director Jeff Fowler about how the threequel was inspired by his work on 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog.