Netflix Is Interested In A Live-Action Pokemon Series
For nearly as long as it has existed, Pokemon has thrived on television — the medium hasn’t been without a Pokemon TV show since 1997, though its home has bounced around as TV habits have changed. First it was in syndication, then on Saturday Morning, then on Cartoon Network, and now the latest Pokemon TV show is on Netflix. Pokemon Journeys must be doing well for them, because they’d like more.
Specifically Netflix would like to finance a live-action take on the franchise, and they’ve tapped Joe Henderson, currently working on the final season of Lucifer, as head writer and executive producer. The move is just the latest in the streamer’s weird obsession with remaking anime with flesh-and-blood actors, from Death Note to Cowboy Bebop (coming soon).
Pokemon stepped into live-action already in 2019’s Detective Pikachu, starring Ryan Reynolds. Without the existence of that film, we doubt we’d be talking about this show right now, as it proved the concept could work. Budget matters, though. Since none of these creatures exist in real life the series will need a large amount of CG, and some of these guys are so exaggerated in design that making convincing “real” versions could prove challenging for a TV show.
There is no estimate for when we could be seeing this proposed show. For now Pokemon Journeys, the Mewtwo Strikes Back remake and the classic Indigo League are available on Netflix.