Summary
Scott Pilgrim Takes Offis the latest adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim comic book, but more than adapting, it does its own thing. It’s a series that is very enjoyable on its own, but it gets even better when you’re familiar with the source material.
If you don’t have the time to go through the six comic volumes, don’t worry, there’s a live-action adaptation of the events called Scott Pilgrim vs The World, which gives you everything you need to know. The new series is aware of this, making several references to it throughout its runtime.
8The Twins' Musical Background
They Do More Than Building Robots
The Katayanagi Twins don’t have much of a focus in the animated series, and that in itself could be a reference to the movie. While the original comic book had them be evil geniuses of robotics, the movie makes them gifted musicians who don’t talk.
The Twins are one of the few characters not voiced by their live-action actors in the newest adaptation, mostly because those actors don’t speak English.
The Netflix show has them being both musicians and scientists, albeit less evil; they have their pet robot that follows them around, but in the glimpse we see of the future they form a new band with Scott. The fact that not only are they musicians, but that they use the same instrument as the movie, makes it a clear reference.
7What Scott Says To Ramona
From Pac-Man To Sonic
When Scott first meets Ramona at that fateful party, he starts by being a little annoying while talking about random facts about Pac-Man. This is true in both the comic and the movie, but the animated series changed it to have Scott talk about Sonic the Hedgehog.
The reason why this is a reference instead of a change is because of what Scott says about Sonic. His trivia note is that in two different adaptations of the same story, the same actor voiced the character, being a clear reference to the whole cast of the live-action movie returned for this new adaptation.
It’s Called Black Sheep
The band run by Envy Adams, The Clash At Demonhead, makes an appearance in all three adaptations, not only due to their fame but also because of their lead singer, Envy Adams, being Scott’s ex. When they were adapted into live-action, the band needed real songs to play, and so Black Sheep was born, a song made by the band Metric.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off has plenty of musical numbers, but they rarely use songs from the movie, particularly when we see Sex Bob-omb playing. But we do get a slight glimpse at a concert where The Clash At Demonhead performs Black Sheep, a clear reference not only to the movie but to how that song was used in its promotional material.
5The Ramona vs Roxie Fight
They Never Fight In The Comic
While the movie had to make a lot of changes to fit its runtime (like with the silent Katayanagi Twins), it also remixed a lot of iconic scenes and lines. One of them is the fight between Ramona and Envy, where Ramona uses a massive hammer drawn from her infinite handbag.
That fight was cut, but Ramona still fights with her hammer, her opponent this time being Roxie. The animated series has events that never happened in either adaptation, but Ramona still has a fight against Roxie, and she even uses her hammer, thus making it a clear reference.
4The Knives And Scott Relationship
Controversial Enough To Become A Meme
One of the major conflicts in the story is that of Scott dating a high schooler, Knives Chau, and how that affects the ending. Originally, the comic had Scott end up alone, while the movie had Scott end with Knives, but both were changed to have Scott end up with Ramona.
The Scott with Knives ending was a bit controversial, and even while it isn’t canon anymore, Scott dating someone her age still had him look worse than intended. The new animated series has a small nod to this whole thing, having Scott say to Knives how their relationship seems to be ‘frowned upon by society.’
3The Technological Theme
The Comic Was More Magical
When the movie had to adapt the six books of the comic into little more than an hour, a lot of changes had to be made, and there was less time for explanations. This made the Subspace Highway to be barely mentioned, and Gideon no longer controls Ramona with the Glow, instead using a brainwashing microchip.
While neither the Glow nor the microchip are present in the animated show, the plot devices are all more technological than magical. They still follow video game and cartoon logic, but they time travel with robots and Back to the Future references rather than with spells.
2The Extras Fight
It Never Happens In The Comic
While the movie had to cut many things from the comic books, it sometimes added new ideas. Among them, there’s the change to Lucas Lee’s fight: both versions end the same way, but in the movie, Scott fights Lucas’ action doubles, while the comic has nothing of the sort.
The animated series has a clear nod to this fight, but it has nothing to do with Lucas; it revolves around Wallace and Envy. Envy is mad at Wallace for stealing her boyfriend, and tries to fight him, but Wallace sends his action doubles to deal with her instead.
1The Director Of The Movie
As Subtle As It Is Obvious
During the plot of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the gang ends up making a movie depicting the events of the original comic books. While there are many gags about who’s cast for which role, the biggest nod to the live-action movie is the chosen director, Edgar Wrong.
Edgar Wrong is a clear reference to Edgar Wright, the director of the live-action adaptation and one of the producers of the new show. This isn’t the only nod to Edgar Wright, since the ones that voice the security guards in the movie studio are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, known for doing many projects alongside the director.
