6 Pokemon Movies We’d Like To See After Detective Pikachu

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6 Pokemon Movies We’d Like To See After Detective Pikachu

Warning: spoilers for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu are in play. If you don’t want to be spoiled, head over to another story and come back once you’re current.

Over this past weekend, the world was more than kind to the unveiling of what represents the first step into a greater world, with the release of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. As the world of the Pokemon craze has finally hit the big screen in live-action, the possibilities are now endless.

But in a world where any Pokemon movie could happen, which ones should? There’s already a wealth of films that could come out of this first installment, and it’s a topic worthy of discussion.

In honor of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu’s impressive opening weekend, and in tribute to all of the Pokemon fans out there who made it so big, here’s a list of the next films we’d love to see come out of this burgeoning cinematic universe.

Detective Pikachu 2

The first suggestion is an obvious one, as Pokemon: Detective Pikachu could always use a direct sequel, and one is already in the works. With Justice Smith’s Tim Goodman now staying in Ryme City with his father, and his intent to try and become a detective, there’s definitely room for at least one more adventure with the Goodman family.

While it’d obviously have to be different than the first film, as Harry’s Pikachu wouldn’t have his consciousness in it this time, the wisecracks between father and son would basically serve the purpose that “Detective Pikachu” did in this first film. Also, the bonus is that we’d get to discover the personality of the actual Pikachu that Harry’s partnered up with, which is bound to be cute and informative.

Pokemon Snap

One of the most fondly remembered games in the Pokemon canon, Pokemon Snap has a pretty simple story to it. A young man by the name of Todd Snap is hired to take pictures of various Pokemon, in a region that doesn’t see a lot of human action. This allows anyone who wants to visit it access to some hard data about various species and their lives in the wild.

If that’s not a fantastic idea for a Pokemon film, then good luck finding another one. Pokemon Snap could be an adventure on the same level as Jurassic Park, with a small group of photographers joining Todd along for the ride. We’ve seen the miracle of Pokemon living with humans already, so seeing them undisturbed in the wild, along with any exciting consequences that come from when they are disturbed, seems like it’d be a lot of fun.

Team Rocket’s Origin Story

Confession time: when the mysterious substance “R” was revealed in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, it felt like there was a setup in the works that would eventually reveal Team Rocket as a part of the cinematic universe. While that never panned out, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to help expand that corner of the universe.

We already know that the events of Pokemon: The First Movie are canon, thanks to Mewtwo’s backstory folding it into Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. So going back to where it all began, and bringing that story into a live-action context, would be another great step to building the Pokemon stable of films.

A Pokemon: The First Movie Live-Action Remake

Another good thing about folding Pokemon: The First Movie into the canon that exists in the live-action film universe of Pokemon is the fact that, if the studio really wanted to, they could remake that classic original film. And remaking it into a live-action version would serve more of a purpose than just reviving nostalgia.

For starters, the story of Pokemon: The First Movie could be enhanced and retrofitted to slot in with Pokemon: Detective Pikachu’s story a lot better. Also, bringing back the adventures of Ash Ketcham and his dear friends in a new remake would set up an entire series of his adventures being brought to film, filling in the years in-between. Of course, there’s another reason that bringing Pokemon: The First Movie into the recent canon would work perfectly, and it’s to set up another new opportunity to tell a Pokemon-centric story.

A Brand New Mewtwo Stand-Alone Story

With Mewtwo wondering around the wilderness of the Pokemon universe for almost two decades, there’s a lot of story that could be told in that very window of opportunity. Much like Planet of the Apes’ Caesar, Mewtwo has a hell of a story to be told when dealing with his checkered past involving humanity.

And much like Pokemon Snap, this Mewtwo stand-alone adventure could take the action to a far off location in the more wooded areas past Ryme City, allowing for more open and wild adventures to take place. Throw in the fact that we might even get to see what Mew has been up to in the time that Mewtwo has been running wild, and that’s just more story for the taking in a Mewtwo movie.

Super Smash Bros: The Movie

Perhaps the greatest potential for a Pokemon follow-up movie is one that would take some heavy lifting, and years of preparation. With a roster of characters from games far and wide, Super Smash Bros is something that would excite fans of not only Pokemon, but also the greater video game universe. But even if you're not a dyed in the wool fan of this particular fighting series, being a fan of at least one of the properties represented will give you a way into the story of this particular film.

The game's simple story of combatants from all over being drawn together to fight for victory under a specific set of circumstances is basically The Avengers of video games, and taking that to the big screen would be a feat that would be so daunting, and yet so rewarding. If the creative team behind a Super Smash Bros movie nailed that concept on film, the payoff would be so great that there might be hope for other video game movies to get it right themselves. Also, Pikachu and Mewtwo are just two of the Pokemon available in that game, so the ties to the franchise run deeper than most would expect.

Six movies, each of them amazing examples of how Pokemon has set itself up to tell a story so great, it could chance the face of video game movies forever. In Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Warner Bros and the creative team they've enlisted have proven that they truly understand the world of the franchise and what it needed to become a live-action crossover hit. Now it's time to push the envelope again, and choose to go places that this series, and video game films in general, haven't gone yet, if not for the studio's sake, then for the fans who are already enamored with Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is in theaters now, waiting for Pokemon fans to understand the power that’s inside this new cinematic universe. But before we leave, we have a question: which of these potential Pokemon films do you want to see the most?

Use the poll below to tell us which of these prospects is your particular favorite, and don’t forget to explain your answer in the comments below!