Another live-action Pokemon project, this time a TV series, is reportedly in the works at Netflix.
Variety is reporting that the new Pokemon series is still very early in the development process, but Lucifer executive producer and showrunner Joe Henderson has been attached to lead the project. Variety's sources say that the series is going to be similar to the Detective Pikachu movie, which starred Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith in 2019. Netflix has been betting big on the Pokemon franchise recently, as the company previously announced that it will be the exclusive streaming home for the next season of the long running Pokemon anime. No other details about the live-action Pokemon series have been revealed at this time.
Joe Henderson is currently working on the sixth and final season of Lucifer, which will also stream exclusively on Netflix. Prior to his work on the devilish drama, Henderson was best known for his work on the USA Network's White Collar, as well as Hulu's time traveling mini-series 11.22.63, which was based on a story by Stephen King.
The new Pokemon project will be the first live-action TV series in the franchise's history. The Pokemon series began in 1996 with the release of Pocket Monsters: Red Version and Green Version in Japan, and has basically been a license to print money for publisher Nintendo ever since. The games have since spawned multiple anime and manga series, a trading card game, and an entire cottage industry based around selling plushes, figures, and other merchandise featuring the series' cute yet violence-prone mascots. The Japanese government has even utilized the series' perpetual popularity to promote social causes and government programs in the country. The latest game in the main series, Pokemon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch, has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide since its release in 2019.
The next season of the Pokemon anime, entitled Pokemon Master Journeys: The Series, will premiere on Netflix on Sept. 10.
Source: Variety