Not a Drill: Ryan Reynolds Will Star as a Talking Pikachu in a Live-Action Pokémon Movie

(It was made by 3D artist Ramtraz.)

Regardless of how anyone felt about Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool, it’s now hard to imagine the role without him—not just because he had a big hand in making sure the movie happened at all, but because he was excellent in it. He’s now set to do the same thing with the upcoming live-action Pokémon movie, Detective Pikachu, in the titular role.

Those of us who really had Danny DeVito in mind after watching the Japanese trailer for the Great Detective Pikachu game may be a bit disappointed, but since DeVito never had any intention of taking up the role anyway, Reynolds is a nice consolation prize. (It’s also just a little gift to read The Hollywood Reporter bluntly explain what a Pokémon is.) If you’ve seen or played the Detective Pikachu game, you know that this Pikachu says much more than just its own name, taking things even further than Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You’s unsettling Pikachu dialogue.

With Reynolds’ casting and Goosebumps’ Rob Letterman directing, it looks like they’re going to lean into the ridiculousness of the premise and not take things too seriously, which could wind up being a lot of fun. On the other hand, it’s supposedly motion capture, so things aren’t going quite as surreal as, say, Reynolds walking around in an obviously fake Pikachu costume, as some kind of imaginary friend to the Justice Smith’s main character. (Although now I kind of want that movie, too.)

Reynolds joins Smith (The Get Down), who gets some help from Reynolds’ Pikachu to find his kidnapped father, as well as Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies), a journalist who teams up with them along the way.

And now, the only fitting eulogy for the possibility of Danny DeVito voicing a cantankerous talking Pikachu:

(via THR, featured image: The Pokémon Company, Fox)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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