Ryan Reynolds has been cast to play Pikachu in the eagerly-anticipated live-action Pokémon film.
It seems the Merc with the Mouth is gonna catch ’em all, alongside Ash, as the shockingly cute electric yellow rodent, that had every kid born in the nineties begging their parents for Pokémon Yellow, even though Red and Blue were far superior.
Now, two decades on from the game’s 1998 Japanese release date, the beloved Ryan Reynolds will be joining Team Rocket – but not to take on Eevee this time.
Legendary’s live-action Pokémon movie, which has had the rumour mill churning for sometime now, is based on the gaming franchise that spawned a generation of people who can’t make eye contact.
But with a difference.
Titled Detective Pikachu, Reynold’s titular role will see him take on the character from the Pikachu set, a self-styled investigator who is good at finding things.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds will star alongside Justice Smith, of the upcoming Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Big Little Lies actress Kathryn Newton.
Rob Letterman, the director credited with bringing Goosebumps to the silver screen, is directing the project, which is due to start shooting mid-January in London. Alex Hirsch and Nicole Perlman are on board, having written the latest draft of the script.
The company has high hopes for the film, as the Pokemon franchise has sold 300 million video games worldwide, shipped 23.6 billion TCG cards to 74 countries and has produced an animated series spanning 20 seasons.
The narrative apparently kicks off not with Professor Oak and an impending journey across Kanto from Pallet Town, but with Smith’s character’s father being kidnapped.
The kidnap, presumably garnering a mild threat rating, forces the teen to team up with Pikachu in order to find him. Newton, playing a ‘sassy journalist’, comes along for the ride to help the pair on their quest.
Besides those tiny titbits of juicy details, Legendary is remaining predictably tight-lipped on the film.
But thankfully Ryan’s upcoming year in film is not all as enigmatic as the precise location of Ditto on PokeGo…
With the release of Deadpool 2 billed for June 1, fans won’t have too long to wait until we witness the man, the myth, the legend back on the big screen.
And if you can’t wait that long, there have been a few utterly bizarre and brilliant teaser trailers:
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Ever since Reynolds joined the Marvel universe as everyone’s favourite R-rated anti-hero with a face like an avocado, he’s become the darling of comedy comic fans.
No one else can skewer a bad guy like him, so we can’t wait to see what he does with all those handy electric powers as Pikachu.
It sort of feels like Ryan Reynolds was born to play this Pikachu, but his subsequent career choices have basically been building up to this ever-so coveted role in geekdom.
As Mewtwo prophetically put it, ‘I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.’
…And Ryan is Pikachu. And we cannot wait.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.