Scott Pilgrim Creator Confirms Anime Series Isn’t “Word-for-Word Remake” of Original Books

The first teaser for the upcoming anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off featured a number of iconic scenes and sequences from both the original books and live-action adaptation reimagined in a signature anime style, but creator of both the comic and TV series Bryan Lee O’Malley confirmed that this new series isn’t just a “word-for-word remake” of the source material. Given that the 2010 live-action adaptation of the source material offered some tweaks to the narrative, it would seem like this new series would likely be expanding on the core storyline as opposed to making key changes to the conclusion of the journey. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is set to premiere on Netflix on November 17th.

Over on Instagram, O’Malley shared the message, “I don’t know who needs to hear this but… It’s not the books. I already wrote those and you can read them anytime. The show is its own new thing in many ways. Do NOT expect a word for word remake. Many fun surprises to come.”

While fans can expect narrative surprises, one of the most exciting elements about the new series is that the entire cast from the live-action adaptation have returned to voice their animated counterparts, even though many of them have gone on to become massive movie stars.

Returning for the series are Michael Cera as Scott, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona, Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, Anna Kendrick as Stacey Pilgrim, Brie Larson as Envy Adams, Alison Pill as Kim Pine, Aubrey Plaza as Julie Powers, Johnny Simmons as Young Neil, Mark Webber as Stephen Stills, Ellen Wong as Knives Chau and Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, and Mae Whitman as Ramona’s Evil Exes.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was written by O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski, with director of the live-action adaptation Edgar Wright serving as a producer. Wright previously recalled how seemingly effortless it was to get all the stars to join the project.

“Luckily, the Scott Pilgrim cast became a close-knit family and friendships were forged for life,” Wright told Netflix blog Tudum. “There — to this day — is still a group email with the entire cast on it, that’s been going since 2010. I was happy to be able to reach out to everyone with the news that we had finally come up with a way to continue the adventure. Seeing (and hearing) everyone come back to their roles has been a true pleasure.”

He continued, “Over the years fans had asked if there would be a sequel to the film or some other kind of continuation. 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.”

While 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World might not have been a massive financial success, but it was a hit with critics and has since earned a passionate following among fans. 

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will debut on Netflix on November 17th.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments!