Here's Why the Detective Pikachu Movie Almost Cut Mr. Mime

Detective Pikachuhas been turning heads because of its photo-realistic Pokemon designs that many feel successfully translate the creatures from the video game to the big screen. However, one such Pokemon, who is featured heavily inDetective Pikachu’s marketing, was almost cut from the film.

This is according toDetective Pikachufilm director Rob Letterman. Letterman first got the idea for a Mr. Mime interrogation scene like the one in theDetective Pikachutrailertwo years ago when he read the script for the 3DS game. “Full disclosure, I thought no way in a million years would [the Mr. Mime scene] work. Honestly. It was so weird. I wanted to cut it at one point, because I was like this can’t possibly work. It’s insane,” he told IGN.

At first, The Pokemon Company was reluctant to let Letterman use Mr. Mime in the movie because of his strange appearance. Mr. Mime is widely regarded as one of the weirdest-looking Pokemon, thanks to his human-like features, and it seemed as though he would look too creepy on the big screen. Ultimately, Letterman actually had to ask The Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara directly for permission to use Mr. Mime in theDetective Pikachumovie.

For the most part, it seems as though fans have responded well to Mr. Mime’sDetective Pikachuappearance. However, Mr. Mime is far from the only Pokemon that will be featured in the movie. ADetective Pikachumock casting call trailershowed off over 30 of the Pokemon that will be appearing in the film, which includes creatures from almost all of the different generations.

Detective Pikachuwill even feature at least one legendary Pokemon. It’s been confirmed by trailers thatMewtwo will be inDetective Pikachu, with his appearance rumored to be part of a set-up for a largerPokemoncinematic universe.

Before aPokemoncinematic universe is possible, though,Detective Pikachuhas to be a hit. Right now, it looks likeDetective Pikachucould very well be one of the biggest movies of the year and break the video game movie curse, but we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out for sure.