Pokemon: Detective Pikachu Trailer — ‘What a Wonderful World’

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds has released a new ‘trailer' for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu — in which he voices the adorable yellow titular Pokemon mascot — which is set to be the first-ever Pokemon live-action movie. We put trailer in quotes because the new one-minute clip is meant to be more of a natural-history documentary-style exploration — in time for Earth Day on Monday — of the film's fictional setting, Ryme City, where humans and all sorts of Pokemon live together in harmony.

Set to Louis Armstrong's rendition of “What A Wonderful World”, the Detective Pikachu trailer shows the film's human lead, Tim Goodman (Justice Smith, from Jurassic World), taking a stroll through forests while we see the likes of Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle in addition to glowing mushrooms. An eagle-like Pokemon, likely Braviary, carries a package in its beak as it flies before perching atop a tower crane. The panda-like Pokemon, Pancham and its evolved version Pangoro, are seen in another scene.

It's followed by shots of the bulldog-like Snubbull, a singing Jigglypuff, a Psyduck saying his name, and a bunch of Aipom, monkey-like Pokemon, enjoying themselves. Psyduck forcibly lifts Pikachu into a hug in another shot, before we get the only dialogue in the new Detective Pikachu trailer from its Pokemon protagonist, as he consoles a grieving Tim: “Listen, kid, I know this much. If your dad was here, he would hug you so hard your bones would pop.”

In addition to Reynolds and Smith, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu also stars Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) as Lucy, a junior reporter following her first big story, Ken Watanabe (Inception) as Lt. Yoshida, a veteran detective in the Ryme City police and a friend of Harry's, Tim's dad, Omar Chaparro (No Manches Frida) as a Pokemon trainer who runs a battle arena, and Suki Waterhouse (The Bad Batch), Chris Geere (You're the Worst), and Bill Nighy (Love Actually) in undisclosed live-action roles.

Directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps) off a script by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Derek Connolly (Jurassic World), and Letterman himself, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is based on the 2016 video game of the same name. The film is a production of Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and The Pokemon Company. Toho Company will handle distribution in Japan, Legendary East in China, and Warner Bros. elsewhere around the world.

Here's the official synopsis for Detective Pikachu, from Warner Bros.:

“The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry's former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.”

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is out May 10 in India, the US, and elsewhere. It releases May 3 in Japan.