Why The Western Debut Of Detective Pikachu Is Such A Big Deal
This morning, Nintendo announced a new Pokémon game for the 3DS: Detective Pikachu. The game stars a young boy and a Pikachu wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat that can use human speech. The two are apparently embroiled in a town conspiracy, and embark on a journey to solve the connecting mysteries together. Its the first game weve gotten featuring a talking Pikachu even though it isnt the first time weve seen Pikachu say something other than pika pika .
If this seems weird to you, thats because it is. But the story behind its long road to localization and why Pikachu sounds kind of like Frank Reynolds is even weirder.
Whos In The Cast Of Detective Pikachu
As mentioned, Ryan Reynolds lends his vocal chords to the titular talking Pokémon, and in a recent video its suggested that he went pretty method for the character
Joining him in his investigation are Justice Smith as Tim Goodman. Kathryn Newton as a reporter called Lucy Stevens, Ken Watanabe as Detective Yoshida, Omar Chaparro as a trainer called Sebastian, Karan Soni as Jack and DJ Diplo as himself.
Meanwhile, Rob Delaney, Rita Ora, Bill Nighty, Suki Waterhouse, Chris Geere and Khary Payton have been cast in as-yet undisclosed roles, with veteran Pokémon voice actor Ikue tani playing Pikachus normal voice as heard by other humans.
In Anime And Related Media
Mewtwo is featured in the film Pokémon: The First Movie as the main antagonist. Unlike in the games, it is shown to be the creation of the criminal organization Team Rocket, and is referred to as a clone instead of a genetically modified mammal. After Mewtwo destroys the laboratory where it was born, Team Rocket’s leader, Giovanni, convinces Mewtwo he can help it control its powers, instead using Mewtwo as a weapon. After escaping Giovanni, Mewtwo questions the reason for its existence and declares revenge on its creators. To this end, it lures several Pokémon trainers, among them protagonistAsh Ketchum, to its island in order to clone their Pokémon. Once it does so, Mewtwo forces the originals to battle their clones in an effort to determine which set is superior, while Mewtwo faces its own genetic relative, Mew. Ash sacrifices himself to stop the fighting, though he is later revived from tears shed by both the originals and clones because of his sacrifice.
A Mewtwo, which was created by Mr. Fuji, appears in the anime miniseries Pokémon Origins, which is generally based on the plot of the video games Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. As such, Red goes to Cerulean Cave, and uses the Mega Evolution mechanic introduced in Pokémon X and Y to Mega Evolve his Charizard for the fight with Mewtwo, whom Red captures.
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Detective Pikachu Movie Stars Ryan Reynolds As Pikachu
When it comes to a movie starring a talking Pikachu, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is who could bring such a character to life. The game the film is based upon featured a deep-voiced, surly crime-solver in the guise of the electric mouse Pokémon and there’s no shortage of big names who could have been cast. In the end, Ryan Reynolds was tapped to voice Detective Pikachu, a role that may just prove more absurd than Deadpool. Of course, Reynolds’ latest character will also be less foul-mouthed than the Regeneratin’ Degenerate.
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Who Among The Cast Members Are Returning For Detective Pikachu 2
The cast members from the first film include Justice Smith as Tim Goodman and Ryan Reynolds as his father, Harry Goodman.
Other cast members include Ken Watanabe as Harry’s friend, Detective Yoshida, and Kathryn Newton as Lucy Stevens, the journalist who helped them on the case.
We would’ve expected these key cast members to return for the sequel. Sadly, it seems like the sequel is now off the table.
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Detective Pikachu 2 Cast: Who’s Coming Back
Well, at the moment we can assume that Justice Smith will be back as Tim Goodman and Ryan Reynolds will be back too, only not voicing Detective Pikachu, but playing Tim’s father, Harry Goodman.
The end of the first movie revealed that the reason Tim could hear Detective Pikachu was because Mewtwo had transferred Harry’s consciousness into the Pokemon to save him. With the danger gone, Mewtwo restored Harry to his human form and Pikachu is back on the adorable “pika, pika” dialogue.
Other potential returnees include Kathryn Newton as Lucy Stevens, a journalist who helps out on the case, and Ken Watanabe as Harry Goodman’s friend Detective Yoshida.
And What Did The Bad Guy Want
Though his son appears to be behind the production of R gas, Howard Clifford is not the Elon Musk utopia-builder he claims to be. Or maybe hes extremely Elon Musk? And a little too narcissistic for his own good? To litigate later: the point is, Cliffords big plan is to transfer his brain into Mewtwo so hes both mobile and wielding the psychic powers that can meld human and Pokémon. He gets his flesh vehicle, but a fight with Detective Pikachu cuts the catastrophic plan short.
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Mr. Mime was almost considered too creepy for Detective Pikachu
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When Can We See Detective Pikachu’s Official Trailer
The sequel is no longer in development, so we might never see its official trailer anymore. Let’s just hope that the studio will renew its interest in the project. For now, enjoy the first film’s official trailer while waiting.
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Nicole Pearlman And Rob Letterman Are Writing The Detective Pikachu Movie
Before Letterman came aboard, last summer brought the news that Nicole Pearlman and Alex Hirsch would write Detective Pikachu. With Pearlman best known for co-writing Guardians of the Galaxy with James Gunn and Hirsch responsible for Gravity Falls, the combo seemed a winning one for the first live-action Pokémon. When the press release for the start of filming emerged recently, however, Hirsch’s name was nowhere to be found. Instead, Pearlman will share final script credit with Letterman. Script rewrites are all too common with blockbusters, so this isn’t a shock. Still Gravity Falls fans may be disappointed.
- Detective Pikachu Release date: May 10, 2019
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Why Is The Pokmon Battle Arena Like That
The trailers gave glimpses of a very hardcore looking Pokémon arena. Instead of the glamorous gyms we see in the games or the fancy stadiums of the anime, the battle stages in Detective Pikachu look like they take place in an underground warehouse. The reason for this lies in Ryme Citys attitude toward Pokémon, where battling and fighting is banned. Therefore, those wishing for the adrenaline rush of a Pokemon battle must turn to illegal options.
What Did The R Gas Do
The introduction of R gas makes perfect sense in the beginning: Pokémon dont fight in the idyllic Ryme town, but if they sniff a whiff of the purple cloudy stuff, they turn rabid. Later on, when Howard Cliffords master plan is revealed, the conceit of the gas becomes slightly more convoluted. The gas enables a classic battle moment in the underground arena. But what could have been a third act straight out of 1989s Batman, turning all the Pokémon in Ryme City evil and ready to rumble using R gas, hinders on an even stranger twist. Apparently Clifford needs to use the gas to rile up the Pokémon and make them more vulnerable to Mewtwos melding powers.
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How Pokmon Look In Detective Pikachu Movie
One of the biggest mysteries about Detective Pikachu was how Pokémon would look in live-action. Set photos teased the new look, which is a rather realistic spin on the traditional look, which was further confirmed by the trailer. Although the Pokémon are certainly unique, the designs are very much in-keeping with how fans imagined them from the game sprites .
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Detective Pikachu Movie Release Date: When Is Film Coming Out
Detective Pikachu is a brand new movie, following the beloved character of Pikachu from the Pokemon family, on an adventure as a detective. The film is currently expected to be released on May 10, 2019.
The movie is about a boy, who can understand what Pikachu says. Others can only hear Pika, Pika but he can hear the intelligent creature talk. Pikachu wants to help the boy find his father and the pair end up going on an exciting adventure together. Ryan Reynolds from Deadpool lends his voice to Pikachu, promising to give him lots of character and personality.
The movie is directed by Rob Letterman, from a script he wrote with Nicole Perlman.
Other than Ryan Reynolds, fans of the Pokemon phenomenon can look forward to a list of cast members that includes Suki Waterhouse, Bill Nighy, Kathryn Newton, Rita Ora, Ken Watanabe, Justice Smith, and Karan Soni, who has previously worked with Reynolds in the Deadpool movies.
Even though the trailer has just been released, fans are already predicting that the movie will be a major success. One person even predicted that the Pokemon movies could soon mirror the path of the Marvel movies with new movies coming out every year.
In 10 years there will be as many Pokémon movies as Marvel movies
Patrick Willems
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In 2016, Pokemon GO was released for smartphones, where people had to collect Pokemon. It turned out to be a massive success and the game continues to break records to this day.
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Detective Pikachu 2 Plot: How Does The First Movie Set It Up
At this moment in time, we don’t really know what form the sequel will take, but we reckon it’ll be very different to the first.
Harry has been restored, so the sequel could see Tim and Harry solve crimes together, while Pikachu and the other Pokemon remain voiceless. But that would rob the sequel of what makes the first movie such a joy.
Could it be a spin-off set in the wider world of Ryme City? We just don’t know at this point.
What Is Detective Pikachu 2’s Release Date
No formal release date has been announced for Detective Pikachu 2, but as of September 2019, the flick is in the early stages of development.
According to a report by ComicBook.com, the Pokémon Company which granted Legendary permission for all of the characters used in Detective Pikachu wasn’t always so keen on the studio fielding a live-action Pokémon universe. As the production of Detective Pikachu progressed, however, the company’s brass liked what they saw. And after the flick scored over $430 million dollars at the worldwide box office, Legendary essentially got the green light to move full speed ahead on the “Pokéverse,” as we’re going to call it until someone tells us to stop.
It’s been rumored that Legendary is developing a spin-off focused on Mewtwo, and that the studio is also kicking around the idea of adapting the story lines of the iconic video games Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue for the big screen. But Detective Pikachu 2 is the priority, so at the very least, we know that we’ll be seeing the sequel before any spin-offs come to fruition. When might that be? Well, between announcement and release, it took Detective Pikachu about three years to reach screens. However, with writer Oren Uziel already hard at work on the sequel, we’re going to optimistically guess that we could see Detective Pikachu 2 in late 2021 or early 2022.
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Detective Pikachu Is Celebrating Its One Year Anniversary But What About The Sequel
Video game movies still have something of a stigma but in recent years it feels like films based on popular games have started to find their footing. One of the big reasons was the success of Detective Pikachu which became the highest grossing domestic box office film based on a video game at the time. While it recently lost that record to Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s still the number two video game movie by box office worldwide and that sort of success almost always does, and in this case did, set off talk of a sequel.
However, Detective Pikachu just celebrated its first anniversary, and the film only celebrated the existence of the original movie, without any mention of any projects that might be too come. So what’s going on with Detective Pikachu 2?
Setting aside the fact that it doesn’t seem right that Detective Pikachu only came out a year ago, at this point it feels like that movie must have been released the better part of a decade ago, considering how hyped everybody was for the idea of a sequel 12 months ago, you’d think we would have heard something by now.
The first rumblings of a potential sequel came so fast they actually hit moths before the first Detective Pikachu hit theaters. After the movie opened, however, and was a clear box office hit, the sequel was all but confirmed. If the project is an active concern you’d expect to hear more about it, even if what we were hearing was news of behind-the-scenes issues causing delays.
Whats The Detective Pikachu Game Like
The movie is loosely based on the Detective Pikachu game for Nintendo 3DS. The game also follows a boy named Tim, who is looking for his missing father Harry, and a talking Pikachu, who is a detective. They team up to solve the mystery of rampaging Pokémon, which they learn has been caused by a mysterious drug known as R. The bad guy in the game turns out to be Roger Clifford, owner of GNN, instead of Howard Clifford, his father in the movie. There are some other similarities: the Pokemon research lab where the formula is produced the involvement of a reporters assistant named Emilia Detective Pikachus love of coffee and Mewtwo being used to generate the formula, for instance, but a key difference is that they never find Harry Goodman in the game.
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Other Pokmon In Detective Pikachu
Detective Pikachu has a whole world filled with Pokémon, appearing in the bustling streets of Ryme City and running wild in the countryside. Here is a list of Pokémon who don’t play a significant role in the movie’s story, but can nonetheless be spotted and added to your Pokédex while watching.
- Arcanine
What The Heck Were Those Giant Turtle Pokmon
The forest that Tim, Lucy, Detective Pikachu, and Psyduck run into ends up being the back of giant, genetically altered Torterra, whos roughly the size of a mountain.
Torterra is the final evolution of the fourth-generation grass starter Turtwig. In the games, they grow to about seven feet tall and 600 pounds. Torterra, however, is one of the starters that has not received a mega evolution or a Z move, so maybe we will see giant island-size Torterra in an upcoming game title.
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Why End It That Way
Letterman, who has kids of his own, says that the surprise finale was the main reason he decided to make Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.
The father hes been working for has been with him all along was my pitch line, he says. Its a script about Tim finding his dad.
To Letterman, the movie is reminiscent of Field of Dreams, when Kevin Costner gets to play catch with his deceased father, who has reappeared as a young man.
Field of Dreams, the ending, I shed man tears to this day, Letterman says. The whole thing is designed to hit that ending from the moment it started.
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Detective Pikachu 2 Trailer: When Will It Arrive
There was no post-credits scene on the first movie to tease the sequel, so we’ll be waiting for the first footage for some time yet. Sorry guys.
Detective Pikachu is released in cinemas on May 10.
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Which Pokmon Appear In The Film
Here are all the Pokémon that have been spotted in the trailers so far:
BulbasaurMorelullComfey
The film presents its Pokémon as hyper-realistic creatures, a far cry from the cartoonish representations fans are used to seeing in the games and anime series.
In some cases, thats adorable, in others, the prospect of a life-size Lickitung a creature with a tongue more than twice the length of its body is a little bit creepy.
But either way, its led fans to speculate on just which Pokémon well see in the final movie.
Its likely therell be a lot more to spot come the final film, and if its as packed with references and Easter eggs as the trailers, fans will have a field day delving in to each and every scene.
When Does Detective Pikachu 2 Take Place
At this time, we have no way of knowing for sure when Detective Pikachu 2 takes place, but there’s no reason to think that the upcoming film will be a prequel of any kind. It’ll almost certainly take place after the events of the first film although the Switch game may give us reason to think otherwise.
There’s only one real reason to believe that Detective Pikachu 2 would be set in the past, even partially: the fully-formed world of Ryme City, as depicted in the first film, is ripe with possible backstory to be told. Perhaps, in order to solve a mystery in the present, Tim, Harry, and Pikachu will have to dive into the city’s origins and explore the actual nature of the relationship between humans and Pokémon. Or, it could be that one of Harry’s past cases will inform his approach to one that the trio are currently tackling.
This is all heavy speculation for the time being, and all signs still point to Detective Pikachu 2 being a straightforward continuation of the original flick’s story. We’ll simply have to wait until more details come down the pike before we can begin to pin down the film’s time setting.
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