Is Detective Pikachu 2 Happening? Here’s Everything We Know
By
Ronald Rajan
It’s been three years since we fell in love with the live-action Pokémon movie Detective Pikachu. What do we know so far about the sequel?
Warner Bros. Pictures
Back in 2019, we saw the super successful action-comedy Pokémon Detective Pikachu hit screens. The movie was sort of an adaptation of the popular Nintendo 3DS game of the same name. While we all are used to seeing many animated TV shows, movies, and games from the past becoming live-action media in the present day, doing the same to the Pokémon franchise was definitely a risky move. Thankfully, the risk paid off thanks to the phenomenal CGI work, Rob Letterman’s brilliant direction, and the oh-so-funny Ryan Reynolds, who did a fantastic job voicing Pikachu.
With all that success came a whole lot of money too. The film made a whopping $433 million in 2019, so it would only make sense to come out with a sequel. There have been reports floating around that Legendary Pictures, the studio behind the film, is considering different ideas for a whole range of live-action Pokémon movies. Most of them will revolve around the characters introduced in the first movie.
Here is everything we know about Detective Pikachu 2 so far.
Detective Pikachu 2: The Plot
Warner Bros. Pictures
The whole storyline of the first movie revolved around Tim Goodman returning to Ryme City to find his missing father and Ryme City detective Harry Goodman along with the help of Pikachu, Harry’s Pokémon. For some reason, while the world can only hear the Pikachu say «Pika Pika» adorably, Tim can understand every single word the Pokémon says. This reasoning becomes clear at the end of the movie.
We see Harry stumbling upon Howard Clifford’s attempt to change the world completely by fusing humans with their Pokémon.
Clifford fuses himself with Mewtwo in order to carry out this “evolution” plan. However, he is defeated by Pikachu in a battle. This later leads to the revelation that Harry was never missing at all. In fact, he was always in Pikachu, which is why Tim was the only one who could understand his father.
Related: Pokemon Live-Action TV Show Is Happening at Netflix with Lucifer Co-Showrunner
Considering the first installment did not exactly leave any doors open for a direct sequel, we’re not sure what the sequel’s storyline will be. Will we be seeing Pikachu and his trainer Tim Goodman return for the sequel? And now that Ryan Reynolds’ character’s soul is no longer in Pikachu, what role will he play in the film? Will he even be in the film? Also, will the movie revolve around Mewtwo and the Pokémon’s eerie powers again like the first movie? It’s clear that we are filled with endless questions though there aren’t any details so far.
Detective Pikachu 2: The Cast
Legendary Pictures
So far, there have been no updates about whether we will see the cast from the original film returning for a possible sequel.
If Ryan Reynolds does not return in the second installment, will there be a high risk of the movie tanking at the box office? So, for the film to do as well as the first one, Reynolds will most likely need to be one of the main leads in the movie again. However, this time, he will need to be in a different capacity for sure.
Warner Bros. Pictures
The first film was released on May 10, 2019, in the US. Surprisingly, the sequel was announced by Legendary Pictures even before the movie hit the screens. They announced a possible sequel on Jan. 25, 2019, and were in talks to hire Oren Uziel to create a script for it. However, in February 2020, Justice Smith, the movie’s lead, said that he did not receive any word about the sequel, as reported by ComingSoon. Then, of course, the world was hit by the pandemic, which crushed the hopes of several movies and TV shows.
A little over a year after that interview, we received a rather sad update about the sequel from Smith himself.
He went on to reveal that any plans for Detective Pikachu 2 had been scrapped. However, based on his quote, we still aren’t entirely certain about it. Smith said in an interview with Inverse:
“I don’t know if it’s going to happen. I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don’t think it’s going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I’m such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so.”
As of May 2022, there haven’t been any official updates regarding the sequel.
Related: Why Detective Pikachu 2 Should Take Place in a Familiar Pokémon Region
Ryan Reynolds was last seen on Netflix’s The Adam Project and is currently working on an upcoming American Christmas-themed musical film named Spirited. Justice Smith will soon be seen in Jurassic World Dominion alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. Jurassic World Dominion will hit theaters on June 10, 2022.
Detective Pikachu 2 Developer Says It May Be ‘Nearing Release’
By
John Walker
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Image: Nintendo
It’s been three years since The Pokémon Company announced Detective Pikachu 2 for the Nintendo Switch. And given the complete silence on the project since, you’d be forgiven for having completely forgotten it was ever a thing. However, due to a throwaway line on a developer’s LinkedIn profile, it seems it’s not only still extant, but coming out soon!
Detective Pikachu was somehow a 2018 (in the West) 3DS game in which the world’s most popular pocket monster steps away from his usual role of throwing deadly balls of electricity at absolutely anyone his tyrant master demands, gains the ability to talk, and starts to investigate crime. You probably are already picturing the Ryan Reynolds film instead of the game, and that’s fine, because it was absolutely marvellous. “Deadpool for kids,” I tell anyone foolish enough to get near me. The game itself was lovely, if not groundbreaking.
Word of a sequel was given in 2019, the same year the film adaptation came out.
But since then, there’s not been a squeak nor a pika. However, unlike the film, the first game’s plot didn’t conclude, making its absence more of a bummer. In 2019, The Pokémon Company’s president, Tsunekazu Ishihara, explained in a Pokémon Business Strategy Announcement that the new sequel would have a different ending from the movie.
And then all was quiet.
Until today, when a cleverclogs on Famiboards spotted a throwaway comment from developer Jonathan Murphy’s LinkedIn page. Detailing work experience in his current role at Creatures Inc, where he’s worked for the last five years, Murphy says (and it’s still there at the time of writing), “Using Unity/C#, worked on one unannounced project and one nearing release, Detective Pikachu 2.”
Screenshot: LinkedIn
This is quite the surprise, given that the game’s not made an appearance during a single Direct, nor even seen an entry in Nintendo’s financial reports, the most recent of which (pdf) mentions elusive titles like Metroid Prime 4, but doesn’t feature the diminutive detective at all.
So if it’s really nearing completion, the company’s keeping it incredibly close to its chest. (Scarlet and Violet are on there, in case you’re wondering if it’s because they might not consider a Creatures Inc or Gamefreak game first-party for some reason.)
The previous Detective Pikachu came out in Japan two years before its Western release, the latter given impetus by the release of the movie. So it could be that a Japanese-only version might be nearly done? I don’t know! Stop asking.
We’ve reached out to Jonathan Murphy, who didn’t comment, and to Creatures itself, to see if we can get more confirmation.
Movie Pokémon. Detective Pikachu 2 (Detective Pikachu 2) (2024) — reviews, reviews, news, actors and roles, frames, posters, trailers Recommendations
movies: 0
Continuation of the story of a funny creature pokemon Pikachu, which has unique supernatural powers.
Added: CheChen
| Genre: | Comedy, Adventure, Family, Fantasy |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Scenario: | Oren Uzil |
| Producers: | Mary Prent, Tsungazzu Isihara |
| Country: | USA, Japan |
| Film Company: | Legendary Entertainment |
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Pokémon. Detective Pikachu 2 — the release date of the sequel is being discussed
The legendary Pokémon film «Detective Pikachu» is the first full-length feature film about pocket monsters. But what can fans expect from the upcoming Detective Pikachu 2. The pocket monster franchise was first launched in the middle of 90’s and took the world by storm with video games and animated television shows.
The popular TV show featured characters such as Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu and the catchphrase «Gotta catch ’em all!» But while the Pokémon IP franchise has spread across all forms of media, The Pokémon Company has so far been hesitant to enter the realm of feature films.
In 2016, the Pokémon brand experienced a renaissance with the release of the mobile game Pokémon GO, but that same year, Legendary acquired the rights to a full-length feature film based on the franchise.
With this deal completed, Legendary announced that their first Pokémon feature film will be based on the 2016 game Detective Pikachu.
This was an unusual move, as Detective Pikachu does not have the brand’s most famous Pokémon Trainer story at its core. Legendary chose Robert Letterman to direct to pair the feature film with computer animation, Ryan Reynolds to play Detective Pikachu, and Justice Smith to play the title role.
Now that Detective Pikachu is in theaters around the world, fans can get a glimpse into the future of the Pokémon universe. After all, with the rights to the Pokémon movies, Legendary has the ability to continue making pocket monster movies. So far, only one feature-length Pokémon movie has been confirmed. Below, we’ll break down everything we know about Detective Pikachu 2 and the upcoming Pokémon movies.
Detective Pikachu 2 is in the works
In January, Legendary hired Oren Uziel to write the script for the sequel to Detective Pikachu.
The story behind Detective Pikachu 2 is being kept under wraps and the studio has yet to set a release date for the sequel.
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With Legendary announcing Detective Pikachu in July 2016 and the movie coming out less than three years later, the sequel could hit theaters in 2022 or late 2021 . That’s unless Legendary cuts down on the time it takes for post-production, in which case the movie could come out earlier. Reviews for Detective Pikachu have been quite positive, so the sequel is likely to be a success too.
And this will guarantee the release of the sequel, although the main obstacle will be the budget of the film «Detective Pikachu». But if Legendary continues to work on Detective Pikachu 2, it could appear in the next three years.
Detective Pikachu is missing at the end of the movie
It’s not yet clear what the sequel to Detective Pikachu will be about. The ending of Detective Pikachu is completely different from the endings of Tim Goodman and Pikachu’s Talking Assistant. It was revealed that the reason why Pikachu was able to speak is because the creature contained within itself the spirit of Tim’s father, Harry, who would return to human form thanks to Mute.
Of course, Detective Pikachu 2 will feature Tim and Harry, played by Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds, always solving cases together with the help of Pikachu. Or perhaps Tim will recruit his Pokémon friends for other adventures.
Detective Pikachu is not present at the end of the movie. We see a talking Pikachu, but Harry is acting under his guise.
