'Detective Pikachu' Releases First Trailer

Warner Bros. and Legendary have released the first trailer for the upcoming live-action film Detective Pikachu.

The new trailer gives Pokemon fans their first look at what Pokemon would look like in the real world, as well as introduce the title character, who is voiced by Detective Pikachu.

The trailer opens by introducing Tim (Justice Smith), a young man whose father has gone missing. He soon finds Detective Pikachu rummaging in his father's old office and discovers that he can actually understand the Electric-type Pokemon.

Detective Pikachu is based on a video game of the same name, released in 2016 by The Pokemon Company. The game also stars Tim and Detective Pikachu, and is set in Ryme City, a bustling city filled with both people and Pokemon. In the game, Detective Pikachu trades his ability to use Pokemon attacks with the ability to speak with his partner, which makes him and Tim an unorthodox but effective team.

While the trailer doesn't reveal much about the movie, we know that Detective Pikachu will try to find Tim's missing father and discover a plot that threatens the peaceful co-existence between Pokemon and humans. We also see an amazing scene where Pikachu and Tim attempt to interrogate a Mr Mime...who unsurprisingly communicates via miming.

In addition to Pikachu, we also see beloved Pokemon like Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Jigglypuff along with new fan-favorites like Greninja. There's also plenty of references to the main series Pokemon games, with posters mentioning the Johto and Sinnoh regions. The opening moments of the trailer also has a few notes from the opening music of Pokemon Red and Blue.

The new movie 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.