Pokémon: Wild Card announced as first theatrical movie in seven years, focusing on the TCG
Pokémon is returning to cinemas after a seven-year hiatus with a new animated feature that takes the franchise in an unprecedented direction. Announced during Pokémon XP, Pokémon: Wild Card marks the 25th movie in the series and the first to centre on the Pokémon Trading Card Game rather than the anime’s long-running storyline.
The film’s trailer introduces a young boy described as a “Pokémon TCG player” alongside a Mimikyu, and briefly shows a table set up for a game of Pokémon. The protagonist is yet to be named, but the footage suggests a strong connection between the boy and the Ghost-type Pokémon — a card featuring Mimikyu appears in the deck he is seen playing, which is a Psychic-type deck. This raises questions about the creature’s role in the story: whether it is simply the boy’s partner, or whether it can somehow participate in the card game itself.
Pokémon: Wild Card is being animated by CloverWorks, the studio behind Spy x Family and The Elusive Samurai. The film is directed by Katsuhiko Kitada, known for his work on Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, with character design by Akemi Hayashi, who worked on Banana Fish. The movie is scheduled for release “in 2027 and beyond,” though no specific date has been confirmed.
A break from tradition
This will be the first animated Pokémon movie not to feature Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in Japan), the franchise’s longtime protagonist whose journey concluded in 2023. Until now, every Pokémon theatrical release has been treated as a spin-off of the anime series, but with the original series ending, the franchise appears to be shifting its focus. Pokémon: Wild Card is the first movie since 2020’s Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, and the first animated film in seven years.
The decision to build a movie around the TCG is notable because the card game has never been explicitly acknowledged as existing within the world of the anime. There have been occasional references and Easter eggs — for instance, in episode 73 of Pokémon The Series, “Bad to the Bone,” a few TCG cards are briefly visible among Team Rocket member Jessie’s belongings, though these were edited out of the English version. Additionally, the villain of Pokémon The Movie 2000 owned an Ancient Mew card, which was also distributed in cinemas at the time of that film’s release. Yet no character has ever been shown playing the Pokémon TCG in-universe, leaving open the possibility that Pokémon: Wild Card takes place in a different continuity from the anime — or that the franchise is simply not concerned with strict consistency.
A growing market for anime movies
The announcement comes at a time when several major franchises are turning to anime films, spurred by the box-office success of titles such as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Pokémon was an early pioneer in this space, but its movies have historically relied on the popularity of the anime, which has waned in recent years. The Pokémon TCG, by contrast, continues to grow in popularity, making it a logical foundation for a completely original story tied to one of the franchise’s most profitable properties.
The trailer also hints at the potential for a new kind of antagonist. While the film’s villain has not been revealed, the focus on the TCG has led to speculation that scalpers — who have plagued the card game’s market — could serve as the movie’s antagonists, a notion that has amused fans who compare them unfavourably to Team Rocket.
Pokémon: Wild Card is the first theatrical Pokémon movie since 2019’s live-action Detective Pikachu, which was not numbered among the animated series. The film represents a notable departure for the franchise, one that may redefine how Pokémon stories are told on the big screen.