On August 18, 20 years ago in the faraway land of Toronto, Canada, the story of the 23-year-old who dated a high schooler was officially released to the public. Created by Bryan O’Malley and published by Oni Press, the Scott Pilgrim novels were a smash hit. Gaining enough traction to support a feature-length film adaptation under Universal Pictures, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, directed by Edgar Wright. Despite having bombed at the box office, the movie gained a cult following, becoming a gem in the eyes of movie fans and fans of the comic. The movie currently sits at a resounding 82% on Rotten Tomatoes,
“Full of fresh, sharp touches and nonchalantly brash performances, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World consistently hits the sweet spot.” ~ Tom Charity, Top Critic
Universal went all out to ensure that Scott Pilgrim would be a box office success, including a video game developed by Ubisoft that was originally an Xbox Live Arcade original. But it is now available on most platforms. An animated short was also released on Adult Swim to promote the movie. The art style was incredibly faithful to the comic, reflecting a project that’d be released long after. Along with the show and game, a toy line was released by Mezco that featured plushies and figures of the Scott Pilgrim cast!
After the movie came out and failed at the box office, the next piece of Scott Pilgrim media wouldn’t be shown off until August 1 of last year. A new Netflix anime series called Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. From the trailers, it seemed like a retelling of the original novels with changes to modernize the original Scott Pilgrim story. Instead of working for Amazon, Ramona Flowers is delivering DVDs for Netflix, and subtle changes to Scott’s character were made to make him more comic-accurate and less like Michael Cera than his movie counterpart. The big thing about this new adaptation is that the cast from the movie is returning to reprise their respective roles in the series. Even actors who grew to become big celebrities after the movie such as Chris Evans and Brie Larson, who’ve been making that MCU money from their roles as Captain America and Captain Marvel respectively.
The show was released in November to divisive feedback among fans. It was nothing from how it was presented in the trailers. Spoilers ahead, Scott disappears in the first episode during his fight against Matthew Patel, Ramona’s first evil ex. The episodes that followed had somewhat of a “whodunit?” story. However, this was more on the marketing team rather than the crew behind the show. Despite the conflicted feedback, the show was a success and showed off the world of Scott Pilgrim to a brand new generation of audiences.
That brings us to 2024 when the original novel is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Some new goods that are released this year include the collector’s 20th-anniversary box set.
This set features the 6 original novels with remastered hardcovers. A bonus “behind the scenes” novel is also included. The set retails for around $250 and will be released in August. However, it is available for pre-order. Links for the colored release and the B&W (black and white) release will be given in the sources..
In an interview with IGN, Bryan Lee O’Malley expressed his excitement with the upcoming box sets, “It’s been fun working with the legend Patrick Crotty and my buddy Nathan Fairbairn, and the folks at Oni Press are doing a great job. I hope everyone likes the end results!”
More goods include a figurine line by Bottleneck Gallery. The line includes 6” figures of Scott and Ramona as well as “nega” variants as well as variants of their designs from the final novel, Scott Pilgrim: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. The figures stand around 6 inches tall and come with their own accessories. They retail for $35-$50 depending on where you buy them.
Scott Pilgrim has conquered every possible medium. The series has an amazing graphic novel series, a great video game, a great movie, and a successful anime adaptation. It’s safe to say that Scott Pilgrim has left his mark on pop culture, and will be relevant for years to come.
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