Oscar-winning writer and director Jordan Peele has officially acknowledged the video of Detective Pikachu's titular character recreating the classic Key & Peele sketch. Featuring the voice of Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Detective Pikachu is due for general release later this week. It will mark the first attempt at bringing the world of Pokemon to the screen in live-action. With potentially a whole franchise riding on the film's success, marketing has ramped up in recent weeks, with Reynolds once again throwing himself into promoting the film in unconventional ways.
Directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps), Detective Pikachu follows Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) as he is forced to team up with a talking Pikachu (Reynolds) in order to investigate his father's disappearance. The film will largely be set in the fictional Ryme City, where humans and pokemon peacefully co-exist. The film will also star Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, and Ken Watanabe. Thus far, however, the focus has almost solely been centered on Pikachu. As well as posting numerous behind-the-scenes skits on his personal YouTube channel, Reynolds also recently shared a Twitter post that claimed to be leaking the entire film. Those who took the bait, however, were treated to a video of Detective Pikachu busting a familiar set of moves.
As posted by Twitter user Luulubuu, it was soon clear that Detective Pikachu's dancing was a recreation of a popular Key & Peele sketch. Offering a dark and twisted take on televised 80's dance contests, the sketch features Keegan Michael Key dancing alongside Peele. As the sketch goes on, Key's character is confronted by news of a tragedy. He's forced to keep dancing, though, due to the show being live, even as it dawns on him who may have been responsible. Although the Detective Pikachu video remains on the light-hearted side, there's no mistaking the connection. Peele himself has now responded to the video in his typically dry and good-humored fashion. Both the side-by-side comparison and Peele's response can be seen below:
Though it remains to be seen how Detective Pikachu fares at the box office, reactions have been largely positive, meaning further Pokemon adventures could be on the way. In the meantime, Reynolds is currently filming The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, with fans hoping future Deadpool installments aren't far behind. Peele, meanwhile, will be lending his own voice to Toy Story 4. Though it remains unclear what big-screen tale he will conjure to follow Get Out and Us, his reboot of The Twilight Zone was recently renewed.
Although both Peele and Reynolds are all but synonymous now with darker humor, they are both clearly always open to more less edgy silliness. Such humor is no doubt the best fit for the world of Pokemon. Despite Reynolds' hilariously R-Rated tendencies, the film is clearly aimed at more of a family audience. In that regard, the faux-leak was a brilliant tactic by Warner Bros. Unless Peele is surprisingly revealed to have not been joking about his "cease and desist" comments, fans who watch the video are not likely to get that music or the adorable sight of Pikachu busting a move out of their heads leading up to Detective Pikachu's release.
Source: Jordan Peele
