Who Voices Pikachu in the Detective Pikachu 2 Game? – Answered

Detective Pikachu Returns (or just Detective Pikachu 2) was just announced by Nintendo in their latest Direct stream, much to fans’ surprise. The original title had quite an interesting view of the usual Pokemon universe elements, and its movie adaptation was successful enough among fans to greenlit sequels for both versions.

In the reveal trailer for the Nintendo Switch game, we heard Pikachu speaking with a voice that might be rather unusual to some. Is this Pikachu’s usual voice actor or have they changed it in Detective Pikachu 2?

Who Is the VA for Pikachu in the Detective Pikachu Returns?

Detective Pikachu’s VA is rumored to be Kaiji Tang in the second game, the same as the first 3DS title. It’s quite hilarious but still unsettling to hear such a rough voice coming out of the franchise’s mascot, but that’s how it has been since the original iteration of the mystery-solving electric mouse.

However, an Economic Times article claims that Will Arnett will be voicing him in the sequel instead. We have no confirmation yet, but that’s definitely not the voice some people were expecting to hear.

Since Pikachu was voiced by Ryan Reynolds in the live-action movie, it’s totally reasonable to be confused by not seeing him being cast here. Both the game and the movie had different VAs for Pikachu from the beginning. The movie definitely reached a much bigger audience than the original game, so it’s normal for anyone to expect Reynolds as the “main” voice for Pikachu. I myself learned about the game only because of the movie, and many of my friends were the same.

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And while both versions revolve around a talking Pikachu who’s actually a Pokemon sleuth, the stories are quite different between themselves. Casting Reynolds in the movie was definitely a good call, but Tang’s take on Pikachu is also incredible and deserves to be praised. 

Tang might be back for the sequel, as he’s most likely the first choice for Detective Pikachu’s voice in the games. As for the movie, a sequel was confirmed earlier this year, and they’ll probably find a way to make Reynolds return as Pikachu too. Losing Deadpool’s voice coming out of Pikachu would be too much for the world to handle. But I’m definitely down to hear Arnett’s debut as the best detective in the Pokemon world if it comes to that.