Fans may have seen different iterations of Scott Pilgrim in the past, but creators and executive producers Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski reveal their upcoming anime series for Netflix is something fans haven’t seen before. Officially titled Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the new show will see the reunion of its 2010 film’s cast and the return of Scott, Ramona, and their former lovers.
Scott Pilgrim is originally a series of graphic novels by O’Malley that ran from 2004 to 2010. It was then adapted into a movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, with Michael Cera in the lead in 2010. From there, it had a tie-in animated short, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, and a video game, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. Now, after almost 20 years since it started, an anime series is about to come.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, O’Malley and Grabinski stressed that Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn’t a movie or a book adaptation. “If you think you know what you’re going to see, you don’t,” Grabinski says.
It has been 13 years since its movie adaptation was released, so for O’Malley, it’s just the right time to revisit the series onscreen that won’t “feel scary or awkward.” However, he couldn’t deny that he still hesitates to accidentally tell a story he has already told or go to another familiar territory. Despite that, they both promise that the new series will still feel like Scott Pilgrim but will be “intriguing, new, and fun.”
What will happen in Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim anime?
According to O’Malley and Grabinski, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will still feature the elements crucial to its story all these years. It will be set in Toronto during the 2000s, as the series has told so much of that time. The producers also find it unappealing to feature the characters using modern words of today or being obsessed with technology and social media.
“I think the characters would just start to feel forced and false if we tried to do that,” Grabinski explained. Hence, their new take on the franchise will still be the Scott Pilgrim that fans have known of.
Scott will still be an unemployed indie musician, while Ramona remains the new girl in town who makes deliveries. Fans will still see the original Sex Bob-Omb band. But although it’s set in the past, O’Malley and Grabinski assure that today's audiences can relate to it.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will be released on November 17 on Netflix. With this new take but familiar setting, fans are hoping to see something new in this anime series.
