Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is set to hit Netflix on November 17 exclusively on Netflix, with the entire main cast of the 2010 live-action adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs The World set to return and provide the voices to their respective characters. Luckily, I had the opportunity to participate in round table interviews at this year’s New York Comic Con and was able to speak with the creator himself, Bryan Lee O’Malley and get a little more insight on what fans can expect when the animated series hits Netflix.
One thing I noticed about ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ is it seems to be very self-aware. Like it’s kind of engaged in the conversation that’s been happening around the property for years now. Can you speak anything to that?
“I mean, when I started the books, I didn’t have fans, have anything, no one was reading it. So even that element of just knowing that people are going to watch the show, kind of colors it and then obviously, knowing that the actors exist, Edgar’s movie exists, all that stuff. I go on the internet. I know people out there talk about stuff. So it just felt like people engage with media in a whole different way. Now 20 years ago, some of you guys probably can’t even imagine how people engage with media. It was just different. So I wanted to make a version of the story that could layer a lot of things in at once that way people understand the story is now much more sophisticated. So I think we can kind of like play with memes and play with the people’s expectations, and have fun with all that stuff and then make it part of the world of Scott Pilgrim now.”
What characters were you most excited about being able to explore more in this animated series?
“At the top, like, probably Ramona, like, I always like Ramona, and in the movie, because it’s so much of Scott’s story, we don’t get to explore quite as much about Ramona and Ramona’s backstory, and Ramona’s motivations. But even in the books like we did, I didn’t go as far as I could, I think. So that really appealed to me to get to write more of Ramona and to get to see more of her relationships with everyone else, outside of Scott. So I think that would be my top answer. Yeah.”
Were there any Exes you were excited to explore more of?
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, all the exes I want to do more with all the exes, but I’m really excited with how we got to do more with Matthew in particular in this series. He gets a little more time in the sun, which is which is really fun.”
You obviously have a love for video games, what video games inspired the original Scott Pilgrim?
“I’ve talked about the original inspirations, like obviously, the NES game River City Ransom was like a big influence. That’s what our game is kind of based on a little bit, and the band, The Clash at Demonhead is named after my first NES game Clash of Demon Head. And then yeah, coin ops. It’s the same thing like those beat-em-ups, I always loved the X-Men game, and the TMNT game back in the 90s. Like, those were my shit. All the street fighters, Marvel vs Capcom, all through the 90s I would go to the arcade? Like, because like, I was just talking about this the other day like to see something cool, You’d have to go to the arcade. Like there’s no internet, like I wouldn’t be able to see like a cool animated type thing like pixel art and all that, unless I went to the arcade and like, my parents were like, you’re gonna get killed! You know, I would go there all the time as a teen, it was an awesome place to be.
Was there anything you could accomplish in the anime that you couldn’t accomplish in live-action?
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Not anything in particular leaps out like you know, the movies so good and so, so densely packed with fun stuff. The thing is, like Edgar and Michael Bacall, who wrote it with him they made every joke funnier from the books. They made every action scene way, way punchier. So it’s like, how do you talk that you can’t really talk? Everyone can go watch the movie after they watch the show, and some things in the movie are untouchable I think, So, for the most part, we just wanted to kind of find our own new little things to do new things to play with.”
Is there anything that you can accomplish in the anime that you couldn’t accomplish in live-action?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s that weightless, right? Like the way they can draw anything they want. Anything can transform into anything, anyone can fly instantly. Like, you don’t have to have wires. You don’t have to have stunt people. All you have to do is know how to draw. So those guys know how to draw. So yeah, for the most part, it’s like, get out of their way – like, tell them, like, get a good idea for a fight scene and then just let them cook.”
What are you most excited for fans to see?
“Pretty much everything. I mean, for me, the whole image as we were writing and producing the show is like, I want to see, I’m visualizing fans, getting to the end of the first episode and just kind of like, they stand up off their couch. And they’re just like, what! and then they’re like that for the rest of the show. That’s my goal. You know, I just want to blow some minds, and I just want people to have fun with it.”
Are there any elements or characters from the books that never made it into the movie that you’re hoping to try to work into the show?
“We tried to do some nods and stuff like that. Because, you know, it’s like, the show kind of goes in its own direction. So some of those characters might not make as big an appearance as fans want. But you know, we know what they want. And we try to give them some of it at least, but yeah, it’s like, it’s not exactly going to transliterate everything from the books. So it’s so it’s not going to hit all of those exact beats. But there are a few characters that that people probably wanted to see that are in there and that are that are just like, you know, it’s awesome to see them come to life. It’s It was awesome to cast them even if it’s like just for a short scene, like it’s really fun to bring that stuff. And hopefully, if we get to do more, we can do more of that stuff.”
BenDavid said you guys were present for every voice recording and bringing back the entire cast, sometimes it’s tough to bring a screen actor into voice action, is there anything that you guys did to help them ease into having it?
“Yeah, a couple of them had never done voice at all, which is surprising because some of them were like, really good, Ellen Huang was like, she’s like a cartoon in real life, and I was like, “You’ve never done this before?” One of the huge things is we had a great voice director, maybe Ben mentioned, Tony Oliver, who he’s been in the anime world for so long, he was in Robo Tech. He’s the main character in Robo Tech, like 40 years ago, he used to direct Power Rangers, like he just has a lot of experience there. So that helps a lot. He kinda speaks to the actors in their language and brings them into this kind of anime world. You know, people’s mileage may vary as far as what they want from voice acting. But for us, we love these actors. We know they’re bringing their A-game. They’re doing everything they can and maybe we’re aiming for subtlety in a different way than some other animations might be so. Then if you’re not into that, you can watch the Japanese track, which sounds fucking awesome.”
How long did it take to get this show made?
“We pitched it in early 2020 – just the beginning of the pandemic and they were like, “Yeah, sure.” And then it took like, two years to get going. But, in January 2022, we started officially writing. I think in June, we met with Science SARU for the first time, and they started showing us some sketches and stuff. And we got into like, real production, like around the end of last year. Still, we finished episode eight, like two weeks ago. So really, you know, it’s been like, it was really fast. That was one of the things that appealed to me, when when they first kind of pitched Science SARU to me, they’re like, Yeah, they’ll do with the season in a year, which is like really fast. Because I remember going out for anime, or animation pitches before and they were like, “It’s gonna be like, three years before you see the first episode” and I was like, “Fuck, no”. So yeah, that really appealed to me. they’re so fast. They’re so talented, and they make it look like a million bucks. I guess technically, it is a million bucks – way less than the movie. But you know, we still got a little bit of a budget.”
What was the journey like working with Netflix?
“They’re cool. I mean, they were pretty hands-off for the most part. I don’t think I said this at this table, but, we didn’t know the actors were gonna be on board at first. So once we were like, “Oh, we have the show is coming together”, then all of a sudden, Chris Evans is in it. Netflix is like, “Wait, what?” I think that really started to like, kind of get them really happy as it came together. Like, “oh, this is actually really cool.”
How do you find the balance to deliver something that feels like people are gonna say “I know this”.
“It’s hard to answer that because, how did we do it? I don’t know. It’s like I didn’t want to be too beholden to myself, I think having me in the room helps because I’m maybe if someone else trying to adapt my work, they would be too, too slavish to it or too devoted to it. I’m happy to throw out my own shit if I don’t like it, or if I’m tired of it, but I also know what the characters feel like in my head. I know what the world should feel like. So I think I was like, I could function as like the kind of bumpers on the edge, and if we’re fucking up if we’re doing too much or too little, I know when we need more or less. But that’s like, it’s a nebulous thing. I’m really happy with how it all worked out and I hope the fans are happy”
How did you make such a good Scott Pilgrim Beat-em-up and how involved were you in the process of making the game?
“I was pretty involved. Yeah, it’s great studio. They’re called Tribute Games. They weren’t called that initially. But, we all just love the same games we grew up on, like, we were talking over City Ransom, and the coin-ops, like the Konami beat-em-ups from back in the day, and then they’re just so good at capturing that stuff. But I think what we ended up with is pretty, pretty awesome. I love playing with multiplayer. Yeah, and like lowkey, We’re trying to do a new one, hopefully, might take a couple years. But I’ve been trying to work with Tribute again for a long time. So it’d be great to do something new with him.”
If you were to get a second season, do you have any dream voice actors you’d like to get?
“I mean, honestly, I haven’t really thought about what would happen in second season at all. But you know, it’s been, it was so much fun to make this like, I would never say no, if it all kind of came together. It’s just there’s so many moving parts. It’s not just up to me. Part of it’s up to the fan. So I really want to see how it’s received. See if people reject it and burn my house down before I decided to. But yeah, I haven’t really gone into detail and then into casting on this, like, you know, outside of our main cast, like we were able to get a lot of really, really fun people. And at first, I was really timid and I was like, we shouldn’t ask someone to do like one line if they’re like a superstar, but everyone said, yes. So that gave me more and more confidence. Like, damn, I can ask anyone in the world to do this and they might say yes. Might as well ask. So, you know, feels like the sky’s the limit if we ever get to do more.”
Is there any particular character that was your favorite to write in this series?
“I was gonna say Lucas Lee because it was just so much fun to like, do more with Lucas Lee, it’s such a ripe world of action movie and stupidity, but also bringing in kind of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater element and just letting it go nuts with that stuff was so much fun.”
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off arrives on Netflix on November 17. Check out the trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off below