It's official, there's going to be a new Pokémon film released - but the 2019 film is going to be unlike any Pokémon adventure you've ever seen before. For one thing, it's going to be live action - and for another, it stars Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu.
Yes, you read that correctly. Ryan Reynolds is taking on the role of everyone's favourite pocket monster, taking a lead role in next year's Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.
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Ryan Reynolds announced his involvement in the movie by tweeting the film trailer, adding the comment: "I think we all knew I'd wind up as a miniature detective repeatedly saying the same two words. Just didn't think it'd be this soon."
The film is set in the Pokémon universe, where the fighting monsters and humans live together in harmony - basically everything we ever wanted from the moment we first laid our hands on a Game Boy - and follows the story of a talking Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) and his human partner Tim (Justice Smith).
In the trailer, we see the pair's confusing first meeting - Tim is the only one who can hear Pikachu's voice as Reynolds, everyone else can only hear the creature's famously repeated phrase 'pika pika'.
They then set off on a mission to get to the bottom of a mystery - that'll be the 'detective' part of the title explained, then.
The villains in the film take the shape of a trio of Greninja - a dark/water type frog-like Pokémon - and at one point in the trailer we see them confront Pikachu and Tim. Seems pretty sinister, eh?
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For a newer generation of gamers, this is pretty much guaranteed to fuel the excitement stoked by recent additions to the franchise, like Pokémon Go and Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee.
For older fans, however - those of us who dreamed of becoming a Pokémon master in the Kanto league and taking on the elite four, for instance - it'll bring back a sense of joy and nostalgia from the days of seeing our old hero Ash adjusting his cap for battle.
The Pokémon franchise is over 20 years old now, and from the original 150 creatures (arguably 151 including MewTwo), it now has over 800 in its catalogue and dozens of games - but this film is definitely going to let fans see their childhood favourites in a whole new light.
Featured Image Credit: Warner BrosTopics: TV and Film, Ryan Reynolds