Detective Pikachu 2 Reportedly Happening, Insider Claims
We've got a potentially electrifying update on Legendary Pictures' Detective Pikachu, as the long-awaited sequel is reportedly preparing its own Squirtle Squad of talent to help bring it back to life.
Released in 2019, Rob Letterman's live-action Pokemon movie was one of the first to really break the mold, and alongside the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog, proved that not all video game adaptations have to be as bad as Dwayne Johnson's DOOM.
While we're all used to animated Pokemon movies - having The First Movie etched into our minds - this mix of live-action and CGI was a winner among kids and adults alike. Despite promises of a sequel, the trail back to that daring detective has been marked as a cold case.
Where Is Detective Pikachu 2?
When Polygon grilled Legendary Pictures on the status of Detective Pikachu 2, a spokesperson confirmed the sequel is "in active development" but stopped short of explaining what that means.
The spokesperson wouldn't confirm who is working on the movie, while The Pokemon Company declined to comment on its involvement. Interestingly, The Pokemon Company also wouldn't discuss other projects that might be in the works since 2019's Detective Pikachu.
Detective Pikachu writers Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez hinted they might not be involved but would love to. "It's an ongoing conversation that is still not over to this day, said Samit." He added that it's "complicated" and involves "a lot of big studio, corporate Pokemon rights things that we're not privy to."
Before Detective Pikachu even came out, Legendary made the pre-release announcement of Detective Pikachu 2 with 22 Jump Street's Oren Uziel writing. Polygon reports that although Uziel wrote an outline, he's no longer attached.
Will We Ever See Detective Pikachu 2?
We had a similar story with the Detective Pikachu game sequel last February, but a year later and we're no closer to either iteration of Detective Pikachu 2. A developer claimed to be working on the game sequel, and despite a few breadcrumbs, it's also lost in the aether.
It's true that we're in something of a video game adaptation renaissance, with HBO's The Last of Us continuing to break records. Amazon also extends its reach with live-action series based on Tomb Raider, Fallout, and God of War.
It's probably not great news that lead actor Justice Smith said we should probably "bury" our hopes of a sequel. If Netflix wasn't in such a mess right now, we'd say Detective Pikachu would be perfect for a series, but for now, we'll need to recruit Detective Pikachu to find where his video game and movie sequels are.