‘Detective Pikachu’ Director Compares Live-Action Look to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

Bringing anime into live-action seems to be a rather herculean task. Despite its several tries, Hollywood has yet to master the form, but that may change soon. After all, Detective Pikachu is underway with Legendary, and it seems the film is taking notes from the MCU.

Recently, the director of Detective Pikachu attended the 2018 Pokemon World Championships, and it was there Rob Letterman opened up about the project. While few details are known about its story, the director did confess its live-action look will be similar to the one used in Guardians of the Galaxy.

So, fans can expect the Pokemon to look extra lifelike on the big screen.

"They're incredibly real, you should think of it as the way [Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy character] Rocket Raccoon sits in the movie as if he's really there," Letterman said of the Pokemon during a chat with IGN.

"It's that technology. The same group of people that worked on that, or worked on Jungle Book. We've got the people on it that worked on Fantastic Beasts. They're technically, some of the most high-end visual effects in the world. It's completely photorealistic, like they are alive and in the movie."

Of course, there is some debate on whether this look is the best choice for the feature. Anime and gaming fanatics are used to seeing a more caricature-version of their favorite pocket monsters. This lifelike vision is maybe more similar to the designs seen in Pokken Tournament or through viral fan-artists online. As there is no precedent for live-action Pokemon, Letterman and his team are looking towards examples they know work, and Rocket is definitely a box office success. The critter's role in Guardians of the Galaxy was a breakout role, and Pikachu deserves nothing but that sort of success.

So far, few details about Detective Pikachu are out for fans to enjoy, but audiences learned a little about the film during the World Championships. Letterman shared the feature's first poster at the event, sharing its neon-noir vibe with the world's best Pokemon Trainers. The director also confirmed Ash Ketchum will not be featured in Detective Pikachu as The Pokemon Company wanted to share an alternate POV from the franchise for the live-action debut.

Do you think this photorealistic vision will work for Pokemon? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!