Detective Pikachu: Ryan Reynolds voices iconic Pokémon in first trailer for live-action movie

The family film is scheduled to be released in 2019

The first trailer has been released for the upcoming film that sees Ryan Reynolds stepping into Pikachu's shoes.

Reynolds voices the iconic Pokémon in Detective Pikachu, a family movie scheduled to be released in the summer of 2019.

In the two-minute trailer released on Monday, a Pokémon connoisseur named Tim Goodman (played by Justice Smith) meets Pikachu, who is now wearing a Sherlock-Holmes-style deerstalker.

Pikachu, meanwhile, is thrilled to finally meet someone who can understand him when he speaks.

When Tim gets spooked during his first encounter with Pikachu, the Pokémon threatens: "Put down the stapler, or I will electrocute you!"

It is also revealed that Tim's father, who is missing, was a highly regarded police officer in his precinct – but Tim doesn't appear to feel like he can measure up to his dad's legacy.

We also learn that Tim dreamed of being a Pokémon trainer when he was younger, but, according to the young man himself, "that didn't really work out".

When Tim and Pikachu set out for their adventures together, it turns out that Tim is the only what who can make out the words Pikachu is saying. Everyone else simply hears "Pika Pika", the only words the Pokémon was able to say in the original anime.

The duo eventually partners in an attempt to track down Tim's father, with the Pokémon (and self-described world-class detective) telling the young man: "If you want to find your Pops, I'm your best bet."

The ever self-deprecating Reynolds posted the trailer on his own Twitter account on Monday following the clip's release.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

"I think we all knew I'd wind up as a miniature detective repeatedly saying the same two words," he wrote. "Just didn't think it'd be this soon."

It was revealed last year that the Deadpool star would voice the Pokémon that stole teenagers' hearts in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The movie, which is largely live-action-based with the addition of the animated Pokémons, is a joint American and Japanese project.