When I was a kid, Ancient Mew was the Pokemon card to have. It wasn’t the most powerful by any stretch, but for kids around the world it was the holy grail of Pokemon merch.
The card, which is a sexy, shiny thing adorned with ancient runic language and a “stone carving” of Mew was a limited edition print originally given away in the first week of screenings for Pokemon The Movie 2000 (or The Power of One), nearly 20 years ago.
I actually had an Ancient Mew back in the day, and for some reason traded it for five random shiny cards with a friend at school. I immediately realised I’d made a mistake, but the kid said no swap backs, so it was a done deal. I stay up some nights thinking about how badly I screwed up.
Thankfully, it’s looking like I might have a chance to rectify past sins, as reprints of the Ancient Mew card will be given out at screenings of Pokemon the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution. While this is currently only confirmed for Japanese screenings of the movie, I’m convinced/hopeful that the promotion will be made available around the world, as it was originally.
Promotional cards are often handed out at Pokemon premieres. Most recently, those who saw Detective Pikachu received special cards based on the “realistic” Pokemon that appeared in the live-action flick.
Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution is a remake of the very first Pokemon movie, in which the man-made psychic creature Mewtwo taught a generation of kids more about equality and acceptance than any school ever could. Looking back it was all a little bit silly, but Pokemon fans of a certain age – myself included – will always keep the original film close to their hearts.
Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution doesn’t have a release date in the West yet, but it’ll be hitting Japan on July 12, which actually coincides with the original film’s 20th anniversary in the West.
Given that every animated Pokemon film tends to come out over here a few months after it launches in Japan, we can probably expect to see Mewtwo strike back in UK cinemas around September 2019.
I just hope they keep the Ancient Mew promotion going by the time the film gets here, because I can’t afford a plane ticket to go and see the film in Japan. That doesn’t mean I won’t if I have to, of course.
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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.