OH BOY, FRIENDS. Oh. Boy.
So Variety is reporting that a live-action Pokémon series is being written and produced for Netflix by Joe Henderson, the dude who is the executive producer for a show called Lucifer. I’m not even gonna pretend like the last part of that sentence means anything to me, because it doesn’t. (Never seen Lucifer before nor heard of the man. No offense meant; I just don’t watch a lot of TV/Netflix/etc.)
Variety’s sources claim that “the project would be a live-action series akin to the Detective Pikachu Film…” aaand that’s it. So, that doesn’t tell us much, but it’s fun to speculate about this kind of shit, right? Let’s start with this: I fully buy that this is happening. So let’s skip the “is it a thing or is it not a thing?” convo. Because hey, lately video games and Netflix go together like microtransactions and FIFA so let’s just roll with it. IT’S MORE FUN THIS WAY.
The real (fun) question in this is: what would this series look like? What could it look like that would make sense for a series?
Perhaps it would follow a – now, stick with me on this wholly original idea – new and inexperienced trainer as they traverse the world and embark on a grand adventure in hopes of becoming the ultimate Pokémon Master. **GIVE THIS WOMAN AN “A” FOR ORIGINALITY** But seriously, going this route, though incredibly cliché, would be a super fun way to explore the premise of the base games in a much more detailed and intimate way. Pokémon’s basic formula really lends itself as a great setup for a series. Images flash in my head of intense gym battles, betrayals between friends, twists and turns within the narrative, beautiful, sprawling landscapes, nail-biting encounters with wild Pokémon…it kinda gives me the tingles just thinking about it.
There’s also the possibility of a much longer version of something along the lines of Detective Pikachu. An entirely different take which follows something we haven’t seen in Pokémon before. I imagine the idea will be something along the lines of “SAVE THE WORLD!!!” but that kind of plot can be fleshed out in infinite different ways. But PLEASE: no more Mewtwo being the “bad” guy.
ORRRR – and this is my inner Britt shining through – WE GO FOR A FULL-FLEDGED HORROR MOVIE. Picture it now, friends: A ship carrying several passengers crashes onto a long-abandoned island with nothing but limited food and supplies. Desperate for shelter and warmth, the survivors must venture into the unknown wilderness to scavenge and find a way to hail help. And then, while wandering the island, they run into these:
Literally the stuff of nightmares, but I’ve always been obsessed (and oddly fascinated???) with this Pokémon art by artist SoupAndButter. And you gotta admit, the designs would be *perfect* for a horror movie. Of course this will never ever ever ever ever happen but sometimes I gotta get these weird-ass ideas out of my system.
Anyway, there’s no doubt this thing is a hot minute away, so we have lots of time to noodle on even more obscure ideas in our heads. Let me know what route (see what I did there) you’d like to see this Pokémon series go!