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Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution ミュウツーの逆襲 EVOLUTION Mewtwo's Counterattack Evolution

Premiere Japan July 12, 2019 United States February 27, 2020

Home video Japan December 18, 2019 United States N/A

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme (Mewtwo Mix) Ending Keep Evolving

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター'98 Ending 風といっしょに

Ratings United States PG Great Britain ? Ireland ? Canada ? Quebec ? Japan G Germany ? Australia ? New Zealand ?

Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution (Japanese: ミュウツーの逆襲 EVOLUTION Mewtwo's Counterattack Evolution, officially known as Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution in Japan) is the twenty-second Pokémon movie overall. It is a CGI remake of the first movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back.

It premiered with Japanese voices and English subtitles at the Anime Expo on July 4, 2019. It was released in Japan on July 12, 2019 and was released worldwide outside of Japan and Korea on Pokémon Day on February 27, 2020 on Netflix.

It was first revealed in a teaser trailer following M21 in Japan, which featured Mewtwo. The first official trailer was released on December 31, 2018.

Other posters and logos

• 

  Japanese teaser poster

• 

  Key art

• 

  Japanese logo

• 

  English logo

Blurb

When researchers discover and exploit a fossil of the Mythical Pokémon Mew, they unleash a creation that goes against the very laws of nature: Mewtwo, a Legendary Pokémon intended for use as a tool of destruction. But as Mewtwo becomes aware of its own dubious origin, it begins to resent its human creators and seeks revenge—and Ash, Pikachu, and their friends find themselves at the center of its rampage! With the future of the Pokémon world at stake, will our heroes be able to overcome Mewtwo’s challenge…and will Mewtwo be able to find a new meaning for its life?

Plot

Scientist Dr. Fuji is hired by Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, to utilize his expertise in cloning in order to create a living weapon based on an eyelash from legendary Pokémon Mew. Soon after the weapon is created, it gains sentience and is named Mewtwo.

Several years later, Mewtwo has fully awakened from a long slumber in a laboratory on New Island, and learns of his origin as Mew's clone from Dr. Fuji. Infuriated that Fuji and his colleagues see him as nothing more than an experiment, he unleashes his psychic powers and destroys the laboratory, killing Fuji and the rest of the scientists. Giovanni, witnessing the carnage afar, approaches and convinces Mewtwo to work with him to hone his powers. However, after Mewtwo learns of his purpose to be a weapon for Giovanni's benefit, he escapes back to New Island where he plots his revenge against humanity.

After Mewtwo rebuilds the laboratory and establishes a base there, he invites several trainers with hologram messages to battle the world's greatest Pokémon trainer at New Island. Ash, Misty, and Brock receive a message and accept the invitation, but when they arrive at the port city, Old Shore Wharf, Mewtwo creates a storm, causing the boats on the wharf to be closed off for safety. As a result, Ash's group are picked up by Team Rocket disguised as captains on a Lapras-shaped sailboat. After the storm sinks their vessel in the middle of the ocean, Ash and his friends use their Pokémon instead to reach New Island.

Escorted into the island's palace by the woman who appeared on the hologram, Ash and the other trainers who were able to reach the island encounter Mewtwo. The woman is revealed to be a brainwashed Nurse Joy after she is released from Mewtwo's mind control. After describing his plot to use the storm to wipe out humanity and Pokémon loyal to humans, Mewtwo challenges the trainers using cloned Pokémon coincidentally modeled after the deceased friends from his childhood. Meanwhile, Team Rocket also reaches New Island and explores its inner sanctum with a Mew innocuously following them. After Mewtwo's clones effortlessly defeat the challengers' Pokémon, he confiscates them and expands his clone army. Ash chases after his captured Pikachu down the cloning lab, where Team Rocket's Meowth is also cloned. Ash destroys the cloning machine, frees the captured Pokémon, and leads them to confront Mewtwo and his clones. Mew then reveals itself and Mewtwo challenges it in order to prove his superiority.

All of the Pokémon originals battle their clones save for a defiant Pikachu and Meowth, who makes peace with his own clone after realizing the senselessness of their fighting. Horrified at the pain and anguish felt on both sides of the battle, Ash puts himself in between a psychic blast caused by Mewtwo and Mew's fighting, leading to Ash to become petrified. Pikachu tries to revive Ash with its electricity but fails. However, the tears of the Pokémon, as per a legend mentioned earlier in the movie, are able to heal and revive Ash. Moved by Ash's sacrifice, Mewtwo realizes that he should not have to be judged by his origins but rather his choices in life. Departing with Mew and the clones, Mewtwo turns back time to just before the trainers leave Old Shore Wharf, and erases everyone's memories of the event.

Back in Old Shore Wharf, the now-restored Nurse Joy has returned to reopen the Pokémon Center to shelter the trainers. The storm outside clears up, Ash spots Mew flying through the clouds and tells his friends of how he saw another legendary Pokémon the day he left Pallet Town. Meanwhile, Team Rocket find themselves stranded on New Island but enjoy their time there.

After the credits, a brief scene shows Mewtwo and the clones had flown towards Mount Quena.

Featured Pokémon

• Mewtwo
• Mew

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Gary Oak (cameo)
• Giovanni
• Nurse Joy
• Officer Jenny
• Dr. Fuji
• Neesha
• Fergus
• Corey
• Miranda
• Raymond
• Team Rocket Grunts
• Trainers
• Scientists
• Mother and daughter (ending credits)

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Arcanine (Gary's)
• Nidoking (Gary's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Donphan (Raymond's)
• Machamp (Raymond's)
• Drowzee (Raymond's)
• Venomoth (Raymond's)
• Pinsir (Raymond's)
• Gyarados (Fergus's)
• Seadra (Fergus's)
• Nidoqueen (Fergus's)
• Golduck (Fergus's)
• Tentacruel (Fergus's)
• Vaporeon (Fergus's)
• Pidgeot (Corey's)
• Scyther (Corey's)
• Hitmonlee (Corey's)
• Venusaur (Corey's; Bruteroot)
• Sandslash (Corey's)
• Rhyhorn (Corey's)
• Dewgong (Neesha's)
• Wigglytuff (Neesha's)
• Blastoise (Neesha's; Shellshocker)
• Vileplume (Neesha's)
• Ninetales (Neesha's)
• Rapidash (Neesha's)
• Eevee (Mother and daughter's)
• Tauros (Team Rocket Grunts'; new; multiple)
• Mewtwo (original series)
• Fearow (Mewtwo's)
• Dragonite (Mewtwo's)
• Mew (M01)
• Pikachu (Pikachutwo)
• Venusaur (cloned)
• Charizard (cloned)
• Blastoise (cloned)
• Bulbasaur (cloned)
• Squirtle (cloned)
• Psyduck (cloned)
• Vulpix (cloned)
• Meowth (cloned)
• Gyarados (cloned)
• Seadra (cloned)
• Nidoqueen (cloned)
• Golduck (cloned)
• Tentacruel (cloned)
• Vaporeon (cloned)
• Pidgeot (cloned)
• Scyther (cloned)
• Hitmonlee (cloned)
• Sandslash (cloned)
• Rhyhorn (cloned)
• Dewgong (cloned)
• Wigglytuff (cloned)
• Vileplume (cloned)
• Ninetales (cloned)
• Rapidash (cloned)
• Onix (Trainer's)
• Kingler (Trainer's)
• Electabuzz (Trainer's)
• Nidorino (Trainer's)
• Weedle (Trainer's)
• Ekans (Trainer's)
• Charmander (Trainer's)
• Oddish (Trainer's)
• Bellsprout (Trainer's)
• Slowpoke (Trainer's)
• Scyther (Trainer's)
• Fearow (Trainer's)
• Wingull (ending credits)

Cast

Cast
Ash	Sarah Natochenny	Satoshi	Rica Matsumoto	サトシ	松本梨香
Pikachu	Ikue Ohtani	Pikachu	Ikue Ohtani	ピカチュウ	大谷育江
Misty	Michele Knotz	Kasumi	Mayumi Iizuka	カスミ	飯塚雅弓
Togepi		Togepi	Satomi Koorogi	トゲピー	こおろぎさとみ
Brock	Bill Rogers	Takeshi	Yūji Ueda	タケシ	うえだゆうじ
Jessie	Michele Knotz	Musashi	Megumi Hayashibara	ムサシ	林原めぐみ
James	Carter Cathcart	Kojirō	Shin'ichirō Miki	コジロウ	三木眞一郎
Meowth	Carter Cathcart	Nyarth	Inuko Inuyama	ニャース	犬山イヌコ
Nurse Joy	Alyson Rosenfeld	Joy	Chika Fujimura	ジョーイ	藤村知可
Officer Jenny		Junsar	Chinami Nishimura	ジュンサー	西村ちなみ
Giovanni	Ted Lewis	Sakaki	Kenta Miyake	サカキ	三宅健太
Narration	Rodger Parsons	Narration	Unshō Ishizuka	ナレーション	石塚運昇
Special appearances by
Mewtwo	Dan Green	Mewtwo	Masachika Ichimura	ミュウツー	市村正親
Mew	Kōichi Yamadera	Mew	Kōichi Yamadera	ミュウ	山寺宏一
Corey		Sorao	Hiroshi Kamiya	ソラオ	神谷浩史
Neesha		Sweet	Ayane Sakura	スイート	佐倉綾音
Fergus		Umio	Hiroyuki Yoshino	ウミオ	吉野裕行
Miranda		Voyager	Sachiko Kobayashi	ボイジャー	小林幸子
Raymond		Raymond	Raymond Johnson	レイモンド	レイモンド・ジョンソン
Dr. Fuji	Billy Bob Thompson	Dr. Fuji	Minoru Inaba	フジ博士	稲葉実

Soundtrack

Main article: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution Music Collection

Manga adaptations

Main article: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution (manga)

Trivia

• This movie was released between SM129 and SM130 in Japan.
• This is the first-ever fully CGI animated Pokémon movie.
• This movie is co-directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonori Sakakibara, the former returning after the previous movie was directed by Tetsuo Yajima. This subsequently makes this the first movie to be directed by two people as opposed to one.
• Takeshi Shudō receives a posthumous credit for this movie's screenplay.
• The first poster for the movie is similar to the original teaser poster for Mewtwo Strikes Back.
• This is one of two Pokémon-related movies to be released in 2019, with the other being the live-action Detective Pikachu movie. Coincidentally, both of them feature Mewtwo in a prominent role and heavily use CGI.
• Unshō Ishizuka's narration is posthumously featured in this movie. It was recorded in March 2018.
• This is the first Pokémon movie:
  • To be released in the Reiwa period.
  • To be a remake of a prior movie.
  • To feature Misty and Brock in main roles since Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias and Zoroark: Master of Illusions, seventeen and nine years earlier, respectively.
  • To not be broadcast on television in the United States in the same year as in Japan since Zoroark: Master of Illusions.
  • To not feature any Pokémon from the concurrent generation.
  • To not debut any new Pokémon in the anime since Genesect and the Legend Awakened, nearly six years earlier. Coincidentally, both movies feature a Mewtwo.
  • To not have an introductory title in its Japanese name, like 劇場版ポケットモンスター (Pokémon The Movie) or Pokémon The Movie.
  • To internationally premiere on a streaming platform rather than premiere in theaters or on TV.
  • To have an Arabic dub. It is also the first form of animated Pokémon media to be dubbed into Arabic since the cancellation of the main series' Arabic dub after AG092.

Differences from the original movie

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

• The laboratory where Mewtwo is born has a completely different design, with predominantly white colors.
• Mewtwo's armor has a different design. It frequently moves along with Mewtwo in combat and can also act as a restraint should it rebel. Giovanni activates this feature before Mewtwo escapes the Team Rocket HQ, but it fails to stop Mewtwo.
• Giovanni wears a darker suit in this movie, instead of the bright orange suit he wore until the Best Wishes series.
• A new scene is added in which Giovanni presents Mewtwo to an army of Team Rocket members in a vast hall after its armor is equipped.
• Giovanni is not on the ground with the Team Rocket Grunts as they capture the herd of Tauros. Instead, he is observing overhead from his helicopter.
• Mewtwo isn't shown battling an Alakazam or a Magneton in the Viridian Gym.
• Raymond's Golem is replaced by a Drowzee, in the process eliminating the error present in Mewtwo Strikes Back, where Pikachu manages to knock out the part Ground-type with a Thunderbolt.
• Ash's Charizard, Misty's Psyduck, and Brock's Vulpix all appear earlier in the movie, during the lunch scene.
• The then-current subplot in the anime about Ash's Charizard being disloyal in "Mewtwo Strikes Back" has been largely omitted, with only the comment by Mewtwo to Charizard being poorly tamed remaining. Charizard is added into most of the scenes alongside Squirtle and Bulbasaur and responds positively to Ash in all of them.
• Ash's Charizard attacks using Flamethrower on Dragonite when it lands.
• In addition to the unknown Trainer attempting to reach New Island on a Fearow, two more Trainers attempt the journey surfing on a Kingler and flying on a Scyther.
• Misty reacts with excitement to Fergus' Vaporeon and other Water Pokémon, and she rushes to greet them until Gyarados emerges. An exchange between Ash and Fergus about Gyarados is also added.
• Both Bruteroot and Shellshocker last longer in battle against the clone Venusaur and Blastoise. Bruteroot survives the initial Vine Whip attack and is knocked out by Leaf Storm, whereas Shellshocker is knocked out by the same Rapid Spin but after exchanging a head-on Skull Bash.
• Nurse Joy gives information about Ash, Misty, and Brock before she asks if they need to be invited. Mewtwo is also clearly depicted in this scene, whereas in the original he is obscured.
• Team Rocket attempts to take Ash and his friends to New Island in a Lapras-shaped sailboat, with the Viking motif being eliminated entirely. Team Rocket also sing a song during this scene.
• Brock tries to flirt with Neesha and also notes his attraction to Miranda.
• A number of moves that were introduced in later generations, such as Energy Ball and Leaf Storm, are used in this movie.
• When Ash is petrified during the movie's climax, he turns to black stone instead of gray rock.
• The ending credits now feature paintings of Ash and his friends in different areas.
• A Generation III Pokémon, Wingull, appears in the movie's ending credits.
  • Miranda also mentions Wingull earlier in the movie. This is an alteration of an existing line in the Japanese version of Mewtwo Strikes Back, where she refers to regular seagulls instead.
• The post-credits scene, which was previously a shot of Mew flying off into the mountains, now shows Mewtwo and the clones flying toward Mount Quena, foreshadowing Mewtwo Returns.
• Some of the music featured in the movie is remixed from preceding movies, including Black—Victini and Reshiram, Genesect and the Legend Awakened (which also starred a Mewtwo), Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, and Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel.
• While the dialogue if largely unchanged between the Japanese versions of both movies, the dialogue in this movie’s dub is mostly not based on the original movie’s dub script, save for a few select lines, and is instead retranslated to be closer to the Japanese versions’.
• Most of the 1990s era songs that play during the English dub film itself, such as Brother, My Brother (which played as Ash first saw the clones and originals fighting en masse), is omitted and replaced with the movie's score. The exception to this is the cover of the Pokémon Theme that plays during the battle with Raymond, which is a fresh cover.

Dub edits

• Keep Evolving replaces Together With the Wind as the ending theme.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		بوكيمون: ميوتو يضرب مجددًا - التطور
Chinese	Cantonese	寶可夢：超夢的逆襲：進化
	Mandarin	寶可夢：超夢的逆襲：進化 宝可梦：超梦的逆袭：进化
Czech		Pokémon: Mewtwo vrací úder – Vývoj
Danish		Pokémon: Mewtwo slår igen – Udvikling
Dutch		Pokémon: Mewtwo slaat terug - Evolutie
Finnish		Pokémon: Mewtwo iskee takaisin – Kehitys
French		Pokémon : Mewtwo contre-attaque – Évolution
German		Pokémon: Mewtu schlägt zurück – Evolution
Greek		Pokémon: Ο Μιούτου Αντεπιτίθεται: Η Εξέλιξη
Hebrew		פוקמון: מיוטו מכה שנית – התפתחות
Hindi		Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution
Hungarian		Pokémon: Mewtwo visszavág – Evolúció
Indonesian		Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution
Italian		Il film Pokémon Mewtwo colpisce ancora - L'evoluzione
Korean		극장판 포켓몬스터 「뮤츠의 역습 EVOLUTION」 포켓몬스터: 뮤츠의 복수
Norwegian		Pokémon: Mewtwo slår tilbake—Evolution
Polish		Pokémon: Zemsta Mewtwo – Ewolucja
Portuguese	Brazil	Pokémon, o filme: Mewtwo contra-ataca — Evolução
	Portugal	Pokémon: Mewtwo Contra-Ataca - Evolução
Romanian		Pokémon: Mew 2 contraatacă – Evoluție
Russian		Покемон: Мьюту наносит ответный удар – Эволюция
Spanish	Latin America	Pokémon: Mewtwo contraataca — Evolución
	Spain	Pokémon: Mewtwo contraataca — Evolución
Swedish		Pokémon: Mewtwo slår tillbaka – Evolution
Thai		โปเกมอน: ความแค้นของมิวทู EVOLUTION
Turkish		Pokémon: Mewtwo İntikam Peşinde - Evrim
Vietnamese		Pokémon: Mewtwo phản công – Tiến hóa

External links

• Japanese movie website
• Pokemon.co.jp movie website

References

← M21 : The Power of Us

Pokémon movies

M23 →

This movie article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.