Thirteen years after the cult classic live-action movie hit theaters, and nearly two decades after author Bryan Lee O’Malley wrote the first graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim is getting an anime. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is the first anime adaptation of O’Malley’s graphic novels, coming to Netflix on November 17, and you can watch the first trailer for the series below.
Fans of the original graphic novels and Edgar Wright’s movie each have plenty of reasons to be excited. Virtually everyone from the movie is reprising their role for the series, including Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, Anna Kendrick as Stacey Pilgrim, and Brie Larson as Envy Adams.
Plus, O’Malley is writing and co-showrunning the series alongside BenDavid Grabinski (Are You Afraid of the Dark?), Edgar Wright is an executive producer, and chiptune band Anamanaguchi (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game) is making the music.
It’s unclear exactly how closely the anime series will follow the story of the graphic novels, but in a recent interview with Netflix’s Tudum blog (conducted before the strikes), director Edgar Wright suggested that it won’t be one-to-one:
I knew that a live action sequel was unlikely, but I would usually defer by suggesting that perhaps an anime adaptation was an interesting way to go. And then, lo and behold, one day Netflix got in touch to ask about this exact idea. But even better, our brilliant creator Bryan Lee O’Malley had an idea that was way more adventurous than just a straight adaptation of the original books.
This is what has me so excited about the series.
There were six graphic novels in all, so a single live-action movie was never going to be able to adapt the entire story in just two hours. But the movie did alter several key plot points, including a somewhat controversial change to the story’s ending. Animation studio Science SARU would undoubtedly do a bang-up job directly adapting everything from the page to the screen, but I’m more interested to see how O’Malley’s relationship with these characters has evolved over the last 20 years and how that will impact the story.
In the meantime, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is currently streaming on Peacock.
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