The first trailer for the live action Detective Pikachu film has been unleashed onto the world, combining realistic CG Pokemon with real humans, in a film that absolutely shouldn’t work but looks like it just might.
If you haven’t seen the original trailer, I recommend watching that first for context regarding what’s to come.
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds is providing the voice of Pikachu in what looks to be a very kid-friendly romp in which human and Pokemon work together to solve a deadly mystery, but the internet had to ask: What if Danny Devito had been cast as the iconic yellow mouse?
The result is a breathtaking two minute tour de force that dares to imagine a world in which Frank Reynolds possesses one of the cutest video game mascots of all time.
The recut trailer from YouTuber Wesley Insley uses a number of out of context quotes from Always Sunny, which only makes the whole thing funnier. Others have come up with their own Frank/Detective Pikachu edits too, but this is my favourite so far.
As you might imagine, the end result is a slightly less PG take on Detective Pikachu, but one I’d very much like to see on the big screen someday. Check it out below.
Back when the Detective Pikachu video game was announced, there was actually a petition to cast Devito in the lead role, as many believed his gravelly tones would lend the critter the appropriate air of authority.
I’m certainly not suggesting Ryan Reynolds will do a bad job in the movie though, even if I do secretly wish our rum ham loving reprobate had been given a shot at the big times.
Warner BrosRegardless, I’ll absolutely be elbowing kids out of the way to get the front of the queue when the flick hits cinemas on May 10, 2019.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.