Rumor: Netflix's Live-Action 'Pokémon' Still In Development, Red To Serve As Series Protagonist (2024)

Despite absolutely no word on the project being raised outside of its initial announcement, a new whisper suggests that Netflix’s live-action Pokémon adaptation is still in development – and with a rather surprising choice of protagonist.

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Previously, the project’s existence was first confirmed to the public in July 2021, courtesy of an exclusive report from Variety‘s Joe Otterson, who learned of the live-action Pokémon series’ green-lighting by way of his purported insider sources.

However, at the time of the report, Otterson had not been made privy to any actual details – either story, casting, or otherwise – regarding the project’s production.

And for the next three years, this would be the last anyone would hear of Netflix’s desired attempt to catch ’em all.

That was until noted scooper Daniel ‘DanielRPK’ Richtman made mention of the project in an August 12th post made to his personal Patreon account.

Therein, as recapped by Dexerto’s ScreenTime branch, Richtman alleged that per his own sources the series was still alive, well, and actively being worked on.

Not only that, but in a bit of new information, the scooper also claimed that the series’ protagonist would be neither Ash Ketchum nor an original character, but rather the ‘original trainer’ himself, Red.

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For those unfamiliar with the trainer by name, you may better recognize him as the baseball-capped protagonist of the original Generation I Red, Blue (for US players), Green (for JP players), and Yellow Pokémon games.

But far from just a one-off character, after his debut outing, Red – no doubt helped by his status as the franchise’s first ever playable character – would go on to be enshrined in both the minds of Pokémon fans and official series canon as one of its most iconic heroes, with some of his further appearances including roles as the secret final boss of Gen II’s Gold, Silver, and Crystal entries, the boss of the Gen VII Battle Tower in Sun, Moon, UltraSun, and Ultramoon, and as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series ever since Brawl.

Notably, Red – or at least a version of him – also serves as the main character of the Hidenori Kusaka written, Mato and Satoshi Yamamoto illustrated Pokémon Adventures (JP:Pokémon Special) manga series.

A take on the franchise that’s just as much more grounded as it is fantastical, the manga sees Red not only lead the charge in its Red, Green, & Blue arc, but also from thereon out – much like his video game counterpart – serve as a side-protagonist throughout the rest of the series.

And yes, for those who have noticed the similarities between the two, Red did in fact serve as the direct inspiration for Pokémon anime protagonist Satoshi/Ash Ketchum.

To this end, it’s interesting to note that Netflix is choosing to go with Red as their lead rather than his anime counterpart, particularly as popular belief suggests that given the massive viewership the series has seen from across the world, they would hope to bank on the popularity of its main and widely recognizable main character to help get eyes on their new endeavor.

However, in an attempt to explain this contradiction in casting choices, one might look no further than the fact that while Red has been allowed to develop somewhat of an actual character, Ash’s existence as the anime’s ‘viewer insert’ has left him little more than an ‘everyman’ shell which the series uses to facilitate its next Pokémon cameo.

And while Red doesn’t have that deep of a characterization – after all, his most iconic quote is literally just a long series of ellipses – the fact that he’s been allowed to have any and all may have swayed the production crew in their decision to bring him to live-action.

As of writing, outside of its existence, Netflix has yet to confirm any further official information regarding their live-action Pokémon series.

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