The upcoming movie Pokemon: Detective Pikachu could be the start of a live-action Pokemon Cinematic Universe, according to Legendary Entertainment producer Ali Mendes.

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While on a visit to the Detective Pikachu movie set outside London last year, IGN and a small group of press talked to Mendes about the possibility of expanding the live-action Pokemon world beyond Detective Pikachu.“[Pokemon is] such a rich universe. There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities,” Mendes said.While Mendes gave a reserved answer, it shows Legendary has clearly thought about how far they can go from here. After all, the big studios are all chasing the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even though superheroes seem like a natural fit for this concept, Pokemon is an expansive franchise with a rich, interconnected world with lots of popular characters, not unlike Marvel.Mendes seems to give credence to the rumor back in January that Legendary is developing a live-action Pokemon movie called Pokemon: Red and Blue, based off the first games in the series, that would take place in the same world as Detective Pikachu.It’s worth pointing out that back in 2013 we got a four-part animated retelling of Red and Blue called Pokemon Origins. Combined, the episodes tell the complete Red and Blue story in compelling fashion in about 90 minutes, which goes to show adapting the games into a feature can be done.Mendes also added, “Even the Pokemon themselves, there are eight hundred of them. We're going to have a lot of them in [Pokemon: Detective Pikachu], but we want to play with all of them at some point.”There are currently over 800 Pokemon, with a batch of new ones on the way in Pokemon Sword and Shield , out later this year. Since 1997, there have been 22 animated Pokemon movies, 22 seasons of the Pokemon anime across six different series, and numerous animated spin-offs and specials, most featuring Pokemon Trainer Ash and his pal Pikachu. In a way, Pokemon in animated form is already a highly successful cinematic universe, making it ripe for adaptation into a live-action franchise.Want to hear about everything IGN learned on set? Check out our full Pokemon: Detective Pikachu set visit report! Be sure to check out our ranking of the 10 best Legendary Pokemon by watching the video below.

Joshua is Senior Editor of IGN Comics. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN