It was a reboot of one of the biggest cult movies of the 21st century.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off has been cancelled at Netflix after one season despite earning rave reviews.
Based on the beloved Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, the 2023 animated action-adventure show revolves around the title character (voiced by Michael Cera) – a slacker and part-time musician who meets the girl of his dreams, the mysterious Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
In order to date her, however, he learns he must defeat her seven evil exes. “Then things get even more complicated,” the plot synopsis reads.
The graphic novels were previously adapted into the live-action 2010 movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which was co-written and directed by Edgar Wright and also starred Cera and Winstead.
Though it was not a hit at the box office upon release, the film received rave reviews and eventually attracted a devoted fan base.
This led to Netflix greenlighting the animated series reboot, which saw the entire cast of the 2010 action flick return to voice their characters from the movie.
Alongside Cera and Winstead, this included Alison Pill, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Ellen Wong, Jason Schwartzman, Kieran Culkin and Satya Bhabha.
Upon its premiere last November, the show earned a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and was praised for its animation, its humour and the modern twist it put on the source material.
Despite this, Lee O’Malley – who also co-created the series – confirmed the news of its cancellation in a statement.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote:
“It’s been one year since Scott Pilgrim Takes Off came out. It was an honour to work with all of the cast and staff around the world. It was like conducting a symphony orchestra every day.
“From the moment [co-creator] BenDavid Grabinski sparked the idea, the project felt like a one of a kind miracle.
“Anyway, we were recently informed that the show will NOT return.
“As you know, we only intended one season, and called in a lot of favours to make it happen, so making more would have been nearly impossible.
“Still, I know some of you have been holding out hope.”
Anyway, we were recently informed that the show will NOT return. As you know, we only intended one season, and called in a lot of favors to make it happen, so making more would have been nearly impossible. Still, I know some of you have been holding out hope. 😩🫶🏼
— Bryan Lee O'Malley (@bryanleeomalley) November 20, 2024
O’Malley’s comments echo ones he made to Rolling Stone around the time of the show’s release.
Asked about a season two, he said:
“It’s self-contained for now. We loved what we did. We put it all in there. We don’t have any ideas lying on the floor. We pretty much put them all in.
“I never say never, but right now, it seems like it would take about 50 different miracles simultaneously for another season to happen. So we’ll see.”
Grabinski added: “We’re not working on it. We have no official ideas. We put everything we had into this, and we think it has a really great ending that we’re proud of.
“I don’t make any plans in general. Maybe some day one of us will text each other an idea that’s really great for a season two. But for now, my entire brain and heart is in this thing, and just getting it out into the world.”
As such, fans of the series can take solace in the fact that the show did not end in a cliffhanger that will not be resolved.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is streaming on Netflix now.
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