Detective Pikachu Writers Confirm Its Story Is Canon

Detective Pikachu is ready to hit up the big screen, and it plans to go all out with its debut. After earning rave reactions from press (like ComicBook.com!), the Pokemon venture promises to bring fans into a world full of pocket monster magic… but that is just the start.

After all, a recent interview with the film’s co-writers shed light on the film’s setting, and it is connected to the Pokemon canon presented in the anime like you wouldn’t believe.

ComicBook.com had the chance to speak with co-writers Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez about Detective Pikachu. It was there the pair were asked how they saw the film fitting in with the rest of the Pokemon Universe if at all, and Hernandez had the following to say:

“We definitely did do it that way as like, ‘This is like maybe connected to the rest of the Pokemon world.’ It’s not like we’re saying that this is an alternate universe where Pokemon and humans live side by side. This is just a different area in their known world where they decided to do things differently.”

Continuing, he said said the film’s writers wanted it to be clear that Detective Pikachu is one piece of the franchise’s preexisting puzzle.

“We wanted to be clear that this is the same Universe as all the other Pokemon stuff, it’s just a different side of it,” Hernandez explained.

Clearly, Detective Pikachu is not shy about its heritage, and the film’s writers were not afraid to embrace it. As fans go into the film, they know to keep their eyes wide open for references to things which went down in the anime. And, with more than 1,000 episodes to its name, there are lots of details to pull from the anime. This also means the video games are fair play moving forward, so fans can imagine what might happen if Ryme City showed up in an upcoming generation.

So, what do you make of this time line connection? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is out in theaters now. You can read out 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.

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