The upcoming Detective Pikachu movie might be about a talking Pikachu, but the breakout star of the first trailer was not who anyone expected.
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Earlier today, WB and Legendary released the first trailer for Detective Pikachu, an upcoming live-action movie starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of a talking Pikachu who solves crimes and Justice Smith as his human partner Tim. The first trailer showed off dozens of Pokemon interacting with real humans, but the highlight was an interrogation scene between Tim, Detective Pikachu and a Mr. Mime.
Mr. Mime is an older Pokemon, having first appeared in the original Pokemon Red and Blue games. However, the Psychic/Fairy-type Pokemon has never been that popular, probably because of its bizarre looks. After all, not everyone loves clowns.
That might all change after next summer’s movie, though. The scene shows Mr. Mime miming answers to Detective Pikachu, telling the furry detective to “shove it.” When Pikachu attempts to attack Mr. Mime, the Pokemon throws up one of his famed invisible Barriers, for which he is best known.
What really sold Mr. Mime was his hilarious facial expressions, which ranged from enthusiastic to smug. In a single scene, the Pokemon showed more personality than it had in dozens of video games or appearances in Pokemon anime episodes.
Mr. Mime’s other notable appearance in the Pokemon mythos is as the unofficial step-dad to Ash Ketchum. Ash’s mom has a Mr. Mime named Mimey who helps around the house and acts as her constant companion. In one recent episode, Mimey took Ash and his mother on vacation and was seen with his hand on Delia’s upper thigh, making fans question the nature of their relationship. We can see why people would want Mr. Mime around after seeing just how hilarious the Pokemon is in the trailer.
Detective Pikachu also stars Kathryn Newton as junior reporter Lucy who is also investigating the mystery, and Ken Watanabe as Lt. Yoshida. Karan Soni, Bill Nighy, Suki Waterhouse, Chris Geere, Rita Ora, and Omar Chaparro will also appear in the film.
Directed by Rob Letterman, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu‘s script was co-written by Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu hits theaters on May 10th, 2019.
