Ryan Reynolds starred in a video game adaptation that raked in over $400 million at the box office, but there hasn’t been much talk of a sequel since then. Reynolds has obviously been busy with other projects, such as ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool, Free Guy, Red Notice and owning a Welsh soccer team, but this doesn’t explain why there hasn’t been a sequel.

Hollywood seems to have broken its video game adaptation curse in recent years, with hits like the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and The Super Mario Bros. Movie proving that it’s possible to please fans of the games while entertaining newcomers. Reynolds has his own potential franchise ready and waiting.

Detective Pikachu Has A Ton Of Sequel Potential

The First Live-Action Pokémon Movie Should Have Started A Franchise

Back in 2019, Detective Pikachu was a huge commercial success, and it seemed as though it could kick-start a new live-action Pokémon franchise. A sequel was announced before the first movie was even released, and a $433 million box office haul should only have provided more encouragement to continue building the franchise.

Detective Pikachu features plenty of fan-favorite Pokémon as fans had never seen them before. The live-action aesthetic means that the creatures have a more realistic appearance in some cases, but Detective Pikachu also offers fans a chance to see how Pokémon might interact with people in the real world.

Choosing to adapt Detective Pikachu rather than any of the main series of Pokémon games gave the movie a better chance of connecting with audiences who weren’t too familiar with the franchise. Instead of getting bogged down in the details about the Pokédex, gym badges and evolution, Detective Pikachu plays out like a more accessible mystery movie.

The potential for a sequel is clear, especially since the ending of Detective Pikachu seems to hint at a bright future for the main characters. The sequel could follow another threat to the city, forcing Tim Goodman to work with a new cast of Pokémon sidekicks to solve a fresh mystery.

Detective Pikachu 2 Seems To Be Stuck In Limbo

Six Years Have Pᴀssed Without Much Concrete News

Although Detective Pikachu 2 seemed like the obvious next step after the first movie, news about the sequel has been hard to come by. The first movie was met with mixed reviews, and a 68% Rotten Tomatoes score, which might offer some explanation as to why a sequel wasn’t immediately put into production.

Although some Pokémon fans might have felt a little disappointed with Detective Pikachu, there are plenty of reasons to believe that a sequel could learn from the mistakes of the original and make a big improvement. If a sequel does come to fruition, it will certainly have a global fan base waiting for it.