Detective Pikachu Artist Teases Arcanine’s Original Role

Pokemon‘s year has been bigger than anyone could have guessed, and it is thanks to a few things. Of course, the release of Detective Pikachu did help out the series as fans got their first look at live-action Pokemon. And according to a recent report, it turns out Arcanine was meant to have a much larger role in the film.

Recently, fans were clued into Detective Pikachu‘s original plans for Arcanine when a tweet went live. An artist on the film named RJ Palmer shared the news with fans when they posted various designs they did for the fiery monster.

“Arcanine was originally going to be a much bigger part of Detective Pikachu,” Palmer explained.

“This stuff is from very early on my work for the film. It was going to be Tim’s Pokemon so I gave it the tongue sticky out thing my doofus cat does. What’s not to love, its a horse sized liger-dog.”

According to this tweet, it seems like Arcanine did have a major part in the original Detective Pikachu pitch. It turns out the dog-like monster became Tim’s Pokemon which makes sense. After all, Tim does become a detective in the movie; Growlithe and Arcanine are infamously attached to police in the anime, so there was already a clear tie established between the lead and this Pokemon. Now, fans can look at these designs and imagine what might have been if Arcanine had made Tim and Pikachu a trio.

So, do you wish Detective Pikachu had kept in Arcanine as much as it had planned? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is now out in theaters, and you can read our spoiler-free review of the film here. 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.”