San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC 2018) is coming up this week, and there’s some good news for Sonic the Hedgehog fans. Well, hopefully.

The event, which kicks off on the 19th July, will boast its very own Sonic panel, self-effacingly titled Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel. Which sets the bar pretty darn high in terms of expectations.

According to the official description, the event will include IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, alongside artist Evan Stanley, the head of Sonic Team Takashi Iizuka – amongst others – as they “discuss comics and upcoming games, make some surprise announcements, and more!”

Now, we know that Team Sonic Racing (a kart racing game) is scheduled to release later this year, so it’s possible that this ‘way past cool’ assembly might spill the beans on a potential launch date. Otherwise, the phrase “surprise announcements” strikes terror into my very soul, given that previous “surprise announcements” have tended to be quite painful (the announcement of Sonic’s three game exclusivity deal with Nintendo was a sad day.)

There are lots of reasons to be positive, though. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some kind of sequel to Sonic Mania in the pipeline, given its overwhelming success. Too early for an announcement on that? Probably, given that Sonic Mania Plus only launched this week.

However! Some detective work (namely Google) points to the possibility of something ‘augmented reality’-related for my favourite hedgehog. According to the SDCC 2018 website, there will be an “AR Sonic experience and a special concert with the awesome Shota Nakama on Thursday evening, and dome takeover on Friday!” This is all kicking off at the Futurism and Tech Pavilion at the Omni San Diego Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 4th Floor, with the first public preview taking place on Wednesday 19th July at 6pm. Now, as Wednesday 19th July doesn’t exist, I assume they mean Thursday as per the description, unless there’s something super secret happening on the Wednesday that only the savvy will turn up for. Such as an unveiling of Jim Carrey.

What do you think? I’m cautiously excited, and looking forward to seeing how this week plays out. Will you be at SDCC 2018? What would you most like to see next from Sonic the Hedgehog? Let me know in the comments below!