By now, most would know that Mewtwo plays a very prominent role in Detective Pikachu. As it turns out, the Genetic Pokemon’s story is yet another way that the live-action film ties into the franchise’s overall universe.

Speaking to Comicbook.com, Detective Pikachu writer Benji Samit revealed that he and co-writer Dan Hernandez took care to ensure that Mewtwo’s backstory lined up with the canon of the Pokemon universe. Specifically, they took reference from the original Mewtwo Strikes Back anime film, such that the Mewtwo from Detective Pikachu could easily be the same Mewtwo that appeared in that film.

“Mewtwo has always been a part of this because he’s in the game, and we knew he was gonna play a big role. In writing it, it became this thing of: we have to be clear that there’s only one Mewtwo.

When we’re doing this movie that’s set in such a different world of Pokemon, we didn’t want it to feel like a disconnected universe that is just an alternate history that uses the same creatures. We wanted to be very clear that this movie is part of the greater Pokemon universe, and so if Mewtwo’s in it, he’s probably gonna be the same Mewtwo.”

As with all the other references to the games and anime Detective Pikachu has, this Mewtwo connection is an important part of why the live-action movie is so well-accepted by fans. Hopefully, future live-action Pokemon films will take similar stance moving forward, and continue to take cues from the wider Pokemon universe when it comes to their stories.

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