Pokemon: Detective Pikachu Sequel Lands Director With Portlandia Co-Creator

It's happening, guys. We were promised news was on the horizon for Pokemon's live-action future, and the teams at Warner Bros. Discovery and Legendary Entertainment have delivered. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu just confirmed it will be releasing its sequel as planned, and the movie has locked in director Jonathan Krisel to oversee the project. According to Deadline, the filmmaker is in talks to direct the sequel while Chris Galleta writes the script.

Of course, this information comes weeks after Legendary Entertainment offered up an update on the Pokemon franchise. It wasn't long ago the company said the sequel was still in the works, and this announcement comes years after the project was announced. Back in May 2019, ComicBook.com learned the live-action series was expanding with a sequel. Now, it seems work is moving ahead on Detective Pikachu 2, and the question remains how its story will shape up.

In the first movie, Detective Pikachu was overseen by director Rob Letterman with stars Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, and Kathryn Newton leading the charge. Following its release, the movie earned more than $430 million at the global box office, and it did receive positive reviews all around. However, many fans questioned how the movie paved way for more content. After all, the film's schtick centered around Reynold's take on Pikachu, but that version of the character was resolved by the end of Detective Pikachu. But of course, Rhyme City is a sprawling place, and there must be more mysteries for our heroes to solve. 

This special Pokemon update comes shortly after a slew of franchise updates went live last month. After all, Pokemon Day happened last week, and it was there fans were given a slew of major announcements. For one, the video game world confirmed Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is getting DLC expansions as expected starting this fall. As for television, Netflix and The Pokemon Company have teamed up to create a stop-motion animated series titled Pokemon Concierge. And of course, the anime dropped a surprise on fans today about its new series without Ash Ketchum. 

Clearly, fans can look forward to future updates on this Pokemon live-action sequel as the year continues. No word has been given on a possible release window for the movie, and its cast is still up in the air. Krisel and Galleta are the only two confirmed crew members on the project, so here's to hoping Legendary Entertainment will announce more before too much longer. 

What do you make of this big new update? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.