Does Team Rocket Make An Appearance In Detective Pikachu?

Detective Pikachu is out in the world with the film now in theaters but if you haven't seen it, you may have some pressing questions about the most popular villains of the Pokemon universe and whether or not they have a role to play in it. Jesse, James, and Meowth have tormented Ash Ketchum and friends for as long as we can remember so surely they must have a role in Detective Pikachu at some point right? Well....

Team Rocket may very well blast off at the speed of light but they won't be blasting into a theater near you this weekend. Jesse, James, Meowth, and Giovanni are nowhere to be found in Detective Pikachu as Team Rocket doesn't manage to make any sort of appearance in the film. To be fair, there is a very specific reason for Team Rocket not appearing as director of the film, Rob Letterman, told ET:

"The Pokémon Company were pretty specific about wanting to invest in building out Rhyme City as its new region and not undercut Tim Goodwin and Detective Pikachu's storyline."

Though the terrible trio won't be found in this film specifically, its clear that the film itself is setting up what looks to be a franchise for the pocket monsters that fans have grown so fond of over the years. It does make sense that the filmmakers would want to steer clear of Ash's gang of foes as Rhyme City needed to be established as having its own character and be an entirely new, albeit familiar, world for fans both old and new. The story of Detective Pikachu and Tim Goodman needed to have its own new characters and villains, so while fans may miss out on Team Rocket this time around, there's always room for them to premiere in a sequel or spin-off. Something tells me that this isn't the last we'll see of live-action Pokemon installments in the years to come.

Directed by Rob Letterman, and co-written by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perlman, and Derek Connolly, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is in theaters now. The official synopsis for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu reads as such, "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.

-----

Exciting news, Pokemon fans -- A Wild Podcast Has Appeared, the official Pokemon podcast of ComicBook.com, is here! Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

On today's episode, we talk about how playing too much Pokemon changes our brains as kids, the new Pokemon Unbroken Bonds Trading Card Game set, Detective Pikachu coming to Pokemon GO!, and more! Make sure to subscribe now to never miss an episode!