Fans of Sega's long-running Sonic The Hedgehog franchise have been concerned that its upcoming film adaptation would miss the mark ever since we got a brief glimpse of the blue hedgehog's new design in March. Those concerns were seemingly validated when the first trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie hit the web.

To say fans of the series were disappointed by the character's design after watching the trailer would be a tremendous understatement. "Horrified" is probably a more accurate way to describe the community's reaction.

To summarize a few of the complaints, fans were creeped out by Sonic's human teeth, shrunken nose, lack of gloves, overly-muscular body, and humanoid eyes. Fortunately for the naysayers, their prayers were answered by none other than the movie's director himself: Jeff Fowler. Fowler claimed on Twitter that changes would be coming based on the backlash.

However, many expressed skepticism with Fowler's ability to significantly tweak the character when the movie is set to launch just 6 months from now in November. That's not much time to overhaul a significant portion of a feature film's CGI.

Fortunately for the animators who will be responsible for these changes, they have a bit more breathing room now. On Twitter today, Fowler said the Sonic movie's launch will be pushed back to February 14, 2020; a three-month delay in total.

This announcement came by way of an image in which Sonic's hand is grasping a sign with the new release date. Astute fans will notice that Sonic clearly has gloves in the picture, backing up Fowler's claims that changes are coming. Alongside the announcement, Fowler included the hashtag "#novfxartistswereharmedinthemakingofthismovie," implying his team will not have to crunch to make the necessary tweaks to the film in time for its release.

It remains to be seen whether or not Fowler's decision to listen to fan feedback will lead to an increase in ticket sales.