Netflix and Science Saru Producing 'Scott Pilgrim' Animated Series

Scott Pilgrim is best known via the 2010 cult movie adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs The World from Edgar Wright. But it started life as a six volume graphic novel series from Canadian artist/writer Bryan Lee O'Malley and published by Oni Press. Published between 2004 and 2010, the series was atypical of North American comics of the time, as they were in black and white and heavily influenced by manga. They were later reissued in a full-colour edition.

Although growing in popularity as a cult movie in the years after its release. the movie was a Bob-omb at the box office at the time. There was also a 5 minute animated tie-in Scott Pilgrim Vs The Animation that was produced by Titmouse Cartoons and screened on Adult Swim. Rumour has it that an animated series was being planned but was scrapped due to the film's poor box-office. The series was also adapted as a retro-styled video game that was re-released last year.

Now, it turns out that Scott is going to get another chance, this time as a full animated series for Netflix. The series will be animated by Science Saru, the Japanese studio responsible for Devilman Crybaby, Ride You Wave and a contributor to Star Wars Visions.

Scott Pilgrim is a twenty-something slacker who falls head-over-heels in love with the enigmatic Ramona Flowers. In order to date her he must defeat her "seven Evil Exes" in combat. Over the series, Scott come up against Ramona's six ex-boyfriends (and one ex-girlfriend), all while navigating the usual struggles of young adult life.

As well as manga and anime, the series is heavily influenced by American independent comics, video games, and music- many of the names including Scott Pilgrim are taken from song lyrics or band names.

Variety reports that O'Malley is writing and show-running alongside BenDavid Grabinski.  Abel Gongora, who directed the T0-B1 segment of Star Wars Visions, is on board as director, with Science Saru co-founder Eunyoung Choi as producer. Edgar Wright, alongside his regular partner Nira Park are also among the Executive producers.

There is no release date announced yet, but the adaptation was first hinted at by Wright in an interview some some time ago so it may have been in production for a while.

Animation feels like the perfect medium for Scott Pilgrim, where the crazyness of its world can truly be let loose. It's also perfectly suited for the streaming series format. Each volume could be neatly adapted into an episode (or perhaps two, if they wanted to make it as 12 episode series). It would also potentially be a great candidate for one of Netflix's 'event series', perhaps allowing for longer episodes. It also tells a complete series, so we wouldn't need worry about it being cancelled before the story is finished.

The new format could also be used to expand Scott's world, and perhaps feature material not seen in the books. It would be interesting to be able to explore more of the side characters for example. Perhaps, if the series is successful, we might even see Scott's further adventures and see what happens after the conclusion of the series.

The series is produced by UCP.