‘Scott Pilgrim’ showrunners feared original cast wouldn’t return
The team behind Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the new animated Netflix show based on Edgar Wright‘s Scott Pilgrim vs the World, have revealed that they worked on the show for a year before daring to ask the cast of the 2010 film if they wanted to participate – because they were scared they would say no.
Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of the original graphic novel that inspired the film, said that he and co-showrunner/co-executive producer BenDavid Grabinski were delighted when Netflix gave Scott Pilgrim Takes Off the green light, but had serious reservations about whether they’d be able to reunite the same team from Wright’s movie adaptation.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World featured Michael Cera in the titular role, along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as his love interest, harbouring seven “evil exes” he must defeat to date her. It also boasted a rich roster of A-listers, including Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick and Jason Schwartzman.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Grabinski explained, “We started the show before we had reached out to them. I can’t explain to you the process of Bryan and I sitting in rooms for a year or so saying, ’Well, I hope they’re going to say yes!'”
He continued, “I remember sitting in Bryan’s office when we started to see the emails of people saying that they were interested. I literally screamed. That was the first point where we felt like, okay, this could be a cool show.”
According to the creators of the show, which also sees Wright serve as producer, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will not be an animated re-telling of the original story. Whilst the seven evil exes will return, fans can expect a brand new story brought to them in an anime style.
The show has Japanese studio Science Saru working on the animation, which is reassuring for those worried that the series might look like a copycat ‘Western anime’. Science Saru previously worked on the critically-acclaimed Star Wars animated anthology spin-off series, Visions, for Disney+. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off will premiere on November 17th.
Watch the trailer below.
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