Detective Pikachu Staff Reveal Why Ryan Reynolds Was Chosen To Play Pikachu

Ever wondered why they picked Deadpool to voice Detective Pikachu?

Although Ryan Reynolds’ performance as Detective Pikachu is now adored by fans everywhere, it came across as an odd choice to many when his casting was first announced. After all, Reynolds’ most famous role at the time was a raunchy, foul-mouthed superhero mercenary that seemed completely at odds with Pokemon’s family-friendly image.

We know from other interviews that many actors’ voices were tested for the role of Detective Pikachu, including fan-favorite Danny Devito. However, according to visual effects producer Greg Baxter, “something magical” happened when Reynolds’ voice used on Pikachu:

“We knew what the character was gonna be—you know, what it looked like, the size, the shape, even some of the basic movements, but then as we were looking at different actors, we would put voice from what that actor had done in the past through Pikachu just to see how that was gonna play. And something really magical happened when we put Ryan Reynolds’ voice into Pikachu.

It’s just not at all what you’d expect and it’s just funny, because … the way he speaks and the way he acts is almost like one giant run-on sentence. He keeps talking until jokes just fly out. And for this little, cute, little thing to have that kind of crass and sarcastic sense of humor and then just kind of keep going … that actually affects the animation.”

When asked about how Danny Devito’s test went, Baxter confirmed that while they did experiment with Devito’s voice for the character, Reynolds ultimately turned out to be the better fit.

“Yeah, we threw some of his [Danny Devito] … Always Sunny in Philadelphia … in as well, I mean, we really tried a range of actors. Different pitches, different sounds of voice, different … big, small, everywhere in between. And really, once you put a voice to an animated character, something just amazing happens, not what you expect. But once Ryan went in, it was kind of game over. That was amazing.”

What do you think? Do you agree with their decision to pick Reynolds over Devito? Let us know in the comments below.