The Sonic movies should mature with their audience.

Since Shadow got confirmed for the third movie, this is something I wanted to bring up.
So, as we all know, the Harry Potter movies got somewhat darker as they went on. This was because their audience was maturing along with the movies, so it was a logical choice. I kind of want Paramount to do something similar with Sonic. Obviously, don't go full on grim dark, since that obviously hasn't gone well for Sonic before. But as the films continue on, maybe go in a slightly more serious direction. Jokes are obviously still allowed, but I would prefer them not to throw in so many pop culture and trendy references.
That is basically what I want out of this franchise.

Eh. We've seen a lot of franchises try to do this, to grow up and be "grittier" and darker so that the people who liked them as kids can still like them as serious entertainment. It rarely works. I think they'd mostly be better-served just trying to appeal to new kids, really. Franchises aren't really supposed to grow up with their fans, I don't think.

The only example I can think of where this really unequivocally worked is Batman.