Who’s excited for the new live-action Pokemon series on Netflix?

A live-action Pokemon series is being developed at Netflix. Variety broke the news, revealing  that their exclusive sources confirmed the series is in its early development and no details surrounding the plot have been released.

It has been reported that Joe Henderson is expected to write and produce the live-action series. Henderson is currently the executive producer and co-showrunner of the popular Netflix series “Lucifer,” which will premiere its sixth and final season on the streaming platform on Sept. 10.

Live-action Pokemon series in development at Netflix

Henderson is known for his work in shows like Hulu’s “11.22.63” and USA Network’s “White Collar” and “Graceland.” Apart from the upcoming final season of “Lucifer” and this reported live-action Pokemon series, Henderson is working on a comic book series adaptation of “Shadecraft,” which was announced by Netflix earlier this March.

Henderson wrote the original comic alongside artist Lee Garbett, and is co-writing the pilot with Georgia Lee. Henderson, Garbett and Lee are expected to be producers for the upcoming comic book adaptation, with Henderson and Lee serving as executive producers.

The new Pokemon project is expected to be similar to the 2019 live-action movie, “Detective Pikachu,” which starred Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith. However, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

The decision by Netflix to create a live-action Pokemon series seems to come following the immense success of “Detective Pikachu,” which grossed more than US$430 million worldwide on a reported budget of US$150 million. Apart from the success, with Netflix also entering the video game industry – an industry with many Pokemon fans – the live-action series will allow the platform to garner significant attention as they make moves into this new arena.

Netflix already has several Pokemon-related shows on their site such as “Pokemon: Indigo League,” and “Pokemon Journeys.” The streaming platform has also been promoting a lot of animé content recently, as they have previously announced original series based on “Splinter Cell,” “Far Cry” and “Terminator.”

They even seem to be pushing more toward live-action adaptations of famous animé, as they have also announced live action adaptations of “Cowboy Bebop” and “One Piece,” both of which are expected to release soon. This is relatively new territory for Netflix, as they have only released one live-action animé adaptation in 2017 of the famous animé “Death Note.”

The Pokemon franchise, which was launched in 1995 in Japan, has gained significant popularity again in recent years. The franchise encompasses a large catalog of films, television shows, video games, trading card games, manga comics, books and more. It is the highest grossing media franchise ever, with an estimated revenue of US$105 billion, beating the likes of Hello Kitty, Winnie the Pooh, Mario, Star Wars and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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