Netflix is developing a Scott Pilgrim anime

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Netflix and Universal Content Productions, previously responsible for shows like The Umbrella Academy and Happy!, are developing an anime series based on Scott Pilgrim, according to The Hollywood Reporter

It's still early days, but the comics' creator Bryan Lee O'Malley is apparently lined up to write and executive produce the series, with Japanese studio Science Saru, who previously did Devilman Crybaby for Netflix, ready to animate it. 

The Scott Pilgrim comics were heavily influenced by videogames, and a sidescrolling beat-em-up followed the 2010 live-action movie, though it only got a PC release in 2021. It seems like a natural fit for Netflix, which has become a home for quality game-adjacent series like The Witcher as well as anime adaptations of games like Castlevania, Dota: Dragon's Blood, and Arcane.

Steven Messner was thoroughly impressed by the League of Legends spin-off Arcane, saying in our review, "Even if Arcane's emotional core doesn't connect at the same level with you, I'd encourage anyone to watch it just for the animation alone. Riot's partnership with French animation studio Fortiche has delivered some amazing trailers, but Arcane is at a level that I've never seen outside of big-budget movies made by Dreamworks or Pixar. The hand-painted art is sumptuous and evocative and there's a masterful use of lighting to create striking bits of contrast—especially in the neon greens of the Undercity. Just as importantly, the 3D modelling of characters is really expressive, which helps sell moments of tragedy. Arcane just looks so damn cool."

Read more: The best anime games

Jody Macgregor
Weekend/AU Editor

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.