Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Release Date, Cast, Plot, Trailer And More Details

In a world dominated by superheroes, zombies, and sometimes a combination of the two, author and comic book artist Bryan Lee O'Malley sought to add something fresh to the print landscape. The result was "Scott Pilgrim," a series of graphic novels about the titular Canadian bassist and his efforts to win over his love interest, Ramona Flowers. Spread across six volumes, the story of Scott Pilgrim was colorful, funny, and unapologetically embraced its unique visual style, hence why it not only went mainstream shortly after its initial publication but remains a favorite among readers.

Considering its immense popularity and striking aesthetic, it should come as no surprise that "Scott Pilgrim" inevitably got its own live-action adaptation. Titled "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," the 2010 feature from director Edgar Wright showcased Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Scott and Ramona, and they were backed by a stellar supporting cast. While it wasn't exactly a box office smash, the film has become a cult favorite in the years since, proving there's still a market for Scott Pilgrim-centric media. Thankfully, for those yearning for more such content, a "Scott Pilgrim" anime adaptation is on its way to Netflix. Here's everything you need to know about "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off."

"Scott Pilgrim" fans, we've got some seriously great news. Netflix has announced their anime take on everybody's favorite lovestruck Canadian will hit the streamer on November 17, 2023. It comes out at a busy time, with three new films set to arrive on Netflix that same week: David Fincher's highly anticipated thriller "The Killer," the Civil Rights Movement drama "Rustin," and the holiday movie "Best. Christmas. Ever!"

Netflix has also confirmed that the first season of "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" will have eight episodes in total. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the whole season will be released at the same time, so fans will be able to watch it all in one go. "I am so excited to binge this eight-episodes series," Redditor u/Sisiwakanamaru said shortly after news of the release date and episode count broke. Fellow user u/Jackski chimed in to say "The whole story will easily fit in eight episodes" after others questioned whether this was long enough, and others agreed with them. "Eight episodes so also sounds like it'll definitely be a more complete adaptation," u/dagreenman18 said.

Fans of either the Edgar Wright movie or the Bryan Lee O'Malley source material won't be surprised by the plot of "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off." Per the official description from Netflix, "Scott Pilgrim meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, but learns he must defeat her seven evil exes in order to date her. Then things get even more complicated." 

However, while the quest will no doubt be the crux of the anime, the show will likely differ from the film's version of events significantly in places. According to a Variety report, "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is taking its cues from the source material rather than the 2010 live-action feature. The movie took some creative liberties, making a number of changes to the story laid out in the graphic novels.

The first volume is adapted pretty faithfully in Edgar Wright's flick, though things do diverge in places, with some scenes cut out altogether. Scott's crusade to take out Ramona's former flames becomes less true to the source material the longer the movie runs, though the fact that it didn't cover absolutely everything is hardly surprising given the runtime it had to work with. Also, the final volume of the graphic novel series came out just one month before the movie, so Wright and co. probably had to wing it to some extent.

With eight episodes, the anime series will have a lot more scope to get into the nitty-gritty of the graphic novels, and fans can expect to see a far more faithful adaptation this time around. However, don't expect it to be beat-for-beat: Wright has confirmed that the anime won't be "just a straight adaptation of the original books," telling Netflix's Tudum that the show is "way more adventurous" than that.

Fans of the film will be delighted to learn that all the cast members have agreed to reprise their roles in "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off." In a flashy announcement shared on its YouTube channel, Netflix confirmed that the star-studded cast will not only include Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, but that Satya Bhabha (Matthew Patel), Kieran Culkin (Wallace Wells), Chris Evans (Lucas Lee), Anna Kendrick (Stacey Pilgrim), Brie Larson (Envy Adams), Alison Pill (Kim Pine), Aubrey Plaza (Julie Powers), Brandon Routh (Todd Ingram), Jason Schwartzman (Gideon Graves), Johnny Simmons (Young Neil), Mark Webber (Stephen Stills), Mae Whitman (Roxie Richter), and Ellen Wong (Knives Chau) are all back, too.

"Scott Pilgrim" creator Bryan Lee O'Malley is clearly thrilled about the fact that the stars of the film have agreed to lend their voices to the anime. "We're getting the band back together!" he told Variety. "A stellar cast, perfectly assembled by Edgar Wright." It was actually Edgar Wright who reached out and convinced his former cast to reunite for the animated Netflix project. "I'm more than happy to announce that I have helped coax the entire original cast back to voice their characters on this epic new adventure," the filmmaker said. "You are in for a treat." More cast members will be announced in due course, Variety confirmed.

"Scott Pilgrim" creator Bryan Lee O'Malley is a showrunner on "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," and he's splitting the duties with BenDavid Grabinski. The pair co-wrote the series and are both executive producers on it. Speaking to Netflix's Tudum, O'Malley made it sound like a real passion project for everyone involved. "Everyone is putting their heart and soul into this thing and we're having the most fun making it," he said. "It's hilarious. It's emotional. It's visually stunning. The action scenes will blow your mind. And there might be a few surprises along the way."

This will be Bryan Lee O'Malley's debut as a producer on a big series, but BenDavid Grabinski has some experience. He's an executive producer on Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" revival, which he also helped develop, and a producer on the 2021 rom-com thriller "Happily," which he wrote and directed. Grabinski also wrote the Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville film "Skiptrace," the least-known of Chan's handful of American buddy comedies. "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is a big step forward in his career, and he's been talking the show up in the press.

Speaking to Empire magazine, Grabinski revealed that the creators have been making the most of the fact that the show is animated, taking the action to places that might not be possible with real people. "There's an extended fight sequence in Episodes 2 and 3 that, if this was a live-action movie, would cost more than 'Avatar,'" Grabinski teased. "It would be so unbelievably big. And you don't have to think that way. You're not limited."

"Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is being made by the anime studio Science SARU, founded by celebrated anime director and animator Masaaki Yuasa and Eunyoung Choi in 2013. The company has put out some critically acclaimed shows since then, including "Japan Sinks 2020" and the Crunchyroll Anime of the Year-winning "Devilman Crybaby," both of which were released on Netflix. The studio and the streamer have a fruitful relationship, and Science SARU has become "obsessed" with Scott Pilgrim's story. "This series has been a wild ride, full of fresh and thrilling experiences for everyone at Science SARU," Choi told Variety. "Our team is over the moon about bringing the 'Scott Pilgrim' world to life. We can hardly contain our excitement — this is going to be epic!" 

The anime couldn't be in safer hands according to "Scott Pilgrim" co-creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, who praised the "phenomenal animation" of Science SARU in the same Variety interview. "We couldn't ask for a better team for this adventure," he said. "We can't wait for fans and newcomers alike to see what we and our partners at Science SARU have been cooking up." O'Malley is a lifelong anime fan and was well aware of Science SARU's work before the chance to work with them came along, particularly "Devilman Crybaby." He told the Los Angeles Times that "the idea of working with that particular studio was very exciting" and that the whole experience has been like a dream come true, adding, "I grew up on anime and never thought I would ever get a chance to make or even be anywhere near the process of it."

"Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is directed by Abel Góngora, a relative newcomer to the position but definitely no stranger to anime. The Barcelona native studied animation and fine arts at the Polytechnic of Valencia, having grown up dreaming of running his own comic book store one day. He went into animation and worked with some studios around Europe before a new opportunity sent him to Japan. "Arriving here was basically by destiny," he told El Mundo. "I never wanted to work in Japan because I knew the harsh conditions they had, but my company in France sent me here with my partner Juan Manuel Laguna, we made contacts and we stayed."

One of those contacts was Masaaki Yuasa, someone Góngora idolized for his distinctive art style. Góngora's company eventually brought him back to France, but when Yuasa founded Science SARU and offered him a job, he relocated to Tokyo. "Now he is more my boss than my idol, but I still admire him because he has very good ideas," he told El Periodico. Góngora won praise for creating the memorable opening sequence of "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" after the dances he invented for the characters inspired a bunch of memes. He went on to helm an installment of the "Star Wars" anime anthology "Star Wars: Visions," but directing "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" for Science SARU is by far his biggest gig to date.

Showrunners Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski are far from the only producers on this huge project: Nira Park. Marc Platt, Jared LeBoff, and Adam Seigel of Marc Platt Productions are all executive producers on the anime, as is Science SARU's Eunyoung Choi. But perhaps the best news as far as fans of the 2010 feature film are concerned is that Edgar Wright is also a producer on the project.

Wright's name will forever be associated with the property thanks to his film, and the British filmmaker is clearly very excited about what the creative team has in store for fans of the franchise. "One of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements of my career was assembling and working with the dynamite cast of 'Scott Pilgrim,'" Wright told Variety. "Since the film's release in 2010 we've done Q&A's, remembrances and charity read throughs, but there was never the occasion to reunite the whole gang on an actual project. Until now."

According to Wright, getting the gang back together was relatively simple, because they're all still in a group email that has essentially become a private chat for the director and his actors. "Luckily, the 'Scott Pilgrim' cast became a close-knit family and friendships were forged for life," Wright told Tudum, adding that "seeing (and hearing) everyone come back to their roles has been a true pleasure."

Netflix dropped a teaser trailer for its "Scott Pilgrim" anime in August 2023, confirming the release date and the official title of the show. The teaser doesn't give a lot away about the plot, but those who know their "Scott Pilgrim" no doubt recognized some of the main story beats. The teaser is a mixture of live music and Ramona's exes, with everyone from the emo haircut-sporting Matthew Patel and the skateboarding hunk Lucas Lee (the first two exes that Scott battles) to the music mogul Gideon Graves (leader and founder of the League of Ramona's Evil Exes) showing up.

When the first official trailer for the show came out in October 2023, it confirmed that "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" is going to stay close to the original story, which will no doubt be music to the ears of fans. It opens with the narrator announcing the setting — "Toronto, Canada, not too long ago" — and the premise of the series is explained shortly after. "Ramona Flowers has seven evil exes, all of whom you must defeat in order to date her," comes another voice over.

At this point, the "Mortal Kombat" theme tune kicks in and the narrator shouts "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" as the titular character dives into action. Scott is shown in battle with Matthew Patel, Lucas Lee, and Gideon Graves, and Ramona's others exes also make appearances in the trailer, which has gone down very well with fans. YouTube user @gabrielproulx6316 said: "Best trailer ever! The Mortal Kombat song, the presentation, the vibes, the nostalgia... I can't wait for this show!"

Some anime shows are suitable for all ages, while others are way too mature for kids. Where will "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" land on the scale? According to Bryan Lee O'Malley, the Netflix show will be rated TV-MA, which comes as something of a surprise. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is rated PG-13, so fans no doubt assumed that "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" would end up with a TV-14 rating, which is essentially the equivalent of the MPA's PG-13 rating for movies. TV-MA (which stands for Mature Audiences) is the next level up and the strictest rating under the TV Parental Guidelines system.

Using Instagram stories, the creator of the "Scott Pilgrim" comics revealed that the anime had been rated TV-MA due to the bad language of one character in particular. "Note to young people (and their parents)," O'Malley wrote. "'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off' is rated TV-MA. We were informed this rating was due to Julie's swearing (we tried to bleep her, but sometimes she's just too powerful). If you (or your kid) has seen the movie or read the books, this isn't any more 'mature' than those." 

There's been a mixed reaction to the news among fans, with some bemoaning the fact that the reach of the series will be lessened by the more restrictive rating — TV-MA means nobody under 17 should watch it. "And the worst thing is that the classification is literally because of some censored rudeness," Redditor u/ThisMovieisRatedPG13 said. "The rating that the anime should have is TV-14." Others, however, have argued that the rating is accurate. "If it's an adaptation of the comic, it should be ma," replied u/Background_Value9869.

Music is a big thing in the "Scott Pilgrim" world, so you might be wondering who has been asked to provide the music for the anime series. That would be Anamanaguchi, a tongue-twister of a name that is probably familiar to fans of the franchise. This chiptune (otherwise known as 8-bit music) band did the music for the "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" video game, which is still popular to this day — they toured the soundtrack as recently as 2022, doing shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

On the anime series, Anamanaguchi will work alongside composer Joseph Trapanese, a veteran of over a hundred projects. He's famous in the score world for combining classical and electronic elements, and will no doubt be an ideal addition to "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off." Trapanese worked with Daft Punk to create the "Tron Legacy" score and he has plied his trade on a number of big Hollywood movies, including "Oblivion" and "The Greatest Showman." He's also no stranger to Netflix projects, having composed the music for "Shadow and Bone" and "The Witcher."

Michael Cera has been experiencing something of a renaissance in recent years, popping up in the smash hit "Barbie" and turning in acclaimed performances in the likes of "The Adults" and "Black Mirror." The Canadian actor got his big break playing George-Michael Bluth in the beloved sitcom "Arrested Development," but he didn't become a star until the end of the '00s with a string of performances in comedies and indie favorites. "Superbad," "Juno," "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," "Paper Heart," and "Youth in Revolt" made him the go-to guy for charmingly geeky roles, though the part that sums up this era of his career the best is Scott Pilgrim.

2010's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is the quintessential Michael Cera movie, and Netflix's anime version just wouldn't have been the same if he wasn't voicing the title character. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the animated project, Cera revealed that he jumped at the chance to get involved. "It's very cool that we get to make more of it," he told the music mag. "It's nice that people still care enough to bring it up, watch it, and enjoy it. That seems like a great success. I think it's gonna be so funny. I've had so much fun recording it and hearing what other people are doing. [...] I kind of don't fully know what to expect other than it's going to be really funny."

Remaking a past project as an animation will be a first for Cera, but this isn't his first voice gig. One of his first roles was Benjamin in "Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series," and more recently he's played Robin in "The Lego Batman Movie," Great Wide Wonder in "The Boys Presents: Diabolical," and Hank in "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank."

If you've never seen Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," or you just feel like a refresher before the anime drops on Netflix, then that's where you should go — the 2010 movie is available via the streaming giant at the time of this writing in 2023. It isn't your only option, however. If you don't have a Netflix account and you just want to watch "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," you can always rent it via Amazon Prime Video for $3.99.

If you would rather get your hands on the original graphic novels and expand your knowledge of "Scott Pilgrim" lore before sitting down to watch the anime series, they're available to buy on the website of publisher Oni Press. Paperback versions start at $11.99 per volume. This is where it all began for Scott, and the books read as well today as they did back then. "Witty, self-aware dialogue and acute observational humor wink from the pages, and the result is an appealing, lighthearted account of a transitional period of life," The New York Times said in its review.

One thing that's become abundantly clear since "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" was announced is that co-creator BenDavid Grabinski is a genuine "Scott Pilgrim" superfan. He loves the property so much that he's attended midnight graphic novel releases in the past. He even "crashed a test-screening" of Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" because he was "so impatient to see it," he told the Los Angeles Times. He later attended the official premiere at Comic-Con and went on to see the film "more than 10 times" in theaters.

After hearing all this, it probably won't surprise you to learn that Grabinski wants the anime to coexist with the film rather than compete with it. In an interview with Empire magazine, the co-showrunner explained his vision for the expanding franchise. "In the same way that Edgar was so respectful of the books, I want these all to be in conversation with each other," he said. "You can watch the movie and then go read the books, you can read the books and watch the movie, you can watch our show, then play the game, then read the books, then watch the movie. The order doesn't really matter — they all kind of feed off each other."

In anticipation of the show's first season dropping later in November, Netflix has shared a sneak peek of the series in the form of its opening credits sequence. The animated credits are accompanied by a song that's not composed by Anamanaguchi. Instead, Japanese rock group Necry Talkie takes the reins for this high-intensity opening. Their track "Bloom" perfectly fits the rock and roll world of Scott Pilgrim while still feeling like the kind of lyric-driven rock song anime fans are used to at the start of their favorite shows.

The animation set to the track shows Scott, Ramona, and all the other characters set to appear in the series amid the top credits. In motion, this further demonstrates the contrasts between the art style of "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" and the original style of the comics. The opening promises to take Bryan Lee O'Malley's images to a whole new level — one drenched in stunning contrasting colors and Impact Font credits. 

While the credit can't single-handedly go to the actor who played Pilgrim in the 2010 movie, Michael Cera did kick off a reunion that might have led to this very moment. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bryan Lee O'Malley revealed that Cera recently revived an old email thread with the cast and crew of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

The email thread was set up for communication around the promotion and release of the movie back in 2010. It contained plenty of jokes and memes, but it then went quiet for nine years. Then, before the conception of the anime, Cera randomly replied to the last email sent as if no time had passed at all. Chris Evans responded promptly, and the whole cast began speaking with one another again after careers that had all gone off in their own successful directions.

A few years later, when asked to participate in "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," every single principal member of the cast responded with resounding excitement. Maybe that's just the power of email.

In the original plot of O'Malley's comic, when Scott first meets Ramona, she's a delivery worker for a company that's shown to be Amazon.ca, or Amazon Canada. This is illustrated in a joke that made it into "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" when Scott asks Wallace what the web address for Amazon.ca is. That's how Scott manipulates Ramona into entering his life, but this origin story is getting a big change in "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off."

For the upcoming Netflix anime adaptation, Ramona is no longer a delivery worker for Amazon. Instead, she works as a DVD courier for Netflix. Oh, the things our corporate overlords decree. Since the show, like the film, is still set ambiguously in the early 2000s, this change actually makes some sense, though. At the very least, it makes Ramona a Netflix DVD delivery driver in an era where that was the company's primary business model. Really reeling them in with nostalgia, huh Netflix?