'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off': All the Pop Culture Easter Eggs We Found in the New Anime - Netflix Tudum

  • Deep Dive

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    Jump into the subspace where Scott Pilgrim’s universes collide. See if you can spot all the pop culture nods.

    By Amy Wilkinson
    Nov. 17, 2023

Scott Pilgrim is back in the new Netflix anime Scott Pilgrim Takes Off — and the returning cast (Michael Cera! Mary Elizabeth Winstead! Chris Evans! Brie Larson!) aren’t the only connection you’ll find to the original 2010 film and graphic novels. This new series is chock-full of nods, winks, and references that Scottaholics will recognize faster than you can say “Knives Chau.”

But the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fun doesn’t end there. With a stacked creative team that includes Scott Pilgrim creator and executive producer Bryan Lee O’Malley, executive producer and writer BenDavid Grabinski, director Abel Góngora, and executive producer Edgar Wright, there’s no shortage of pop culture Easter eggs to discover that reach far beyond Toronto. 

Here’s what we spotted, episode by episode — and we know that it’s not even close to all of them. There are references to pop culture, the Scott Pilgrim universe, Canadian life, and more. Did you spot any more?

‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 1, “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life,” Easter egg

Episode 1: “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life”

  • The debut episode’s title is a nod to the first volume in the original graphic novel series released in 2004 and written by O’Malley. 
  • Did you notice that Ramona Flowers (Winstead) has a new job? Instead of delivering packages for Amazon, the Toronto transplant has a gig dropping off DVDs for Netflix. (Hey, that’s us!) 
  • Just like in the movie, at the end of their first date, Scott (Cera) and Ramona end up at the latter’s apartment, chilled to the bone from strolling in the snow. But unlike in the movie, Ramona doesn’t run through her extensive list of tea options for their romantic warm-up. Ultimately, though, the results are the same: She brews up two mugs of Sleepytime tea and they make out.  
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 2, “A League of Their Own,” Easter egg

Episode 2: “A League of Their Own”

  • When Scott’s not-girlfriend Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) arrives at Scott’s funeral, she’s clad in the same black Sex Bob-omb T-shirt she sports in the movie. 
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 4, “Whatever,” Easter egg

Episode 4: “Whatever”

  • If you look closely at the clapboard for Young Neil’s movie Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, you’ll see an “Edgar Wrong” listed as the director. Edgar Wright was, of course, the director of the original 2010 film and serves as an executive producer on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. “I gave Bryan the name ‘Edgar Wrong’ as he needed a joke name for the director’s film within a film,” Wright says. “It’s literally the stupid joke name people would call me at primary school.”
  • The security guards at Torontowood Studios, where Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life is being filmed, are voiced by none other than Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who each play a different sort of lawman in Wright’s 2007 film Hot Fuzz. (Pegg and Frost are frequent collaborators of Wright’s, having also starred in 2004’s Shaun of the Dead and 2013’s The World’s End. The three films are collectively known as the Cornetto trilogy.) 
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 5, “Lights. Camera. Sparks?!” Easter egg

Episode 5: “Lights. Camera. Sparks?!”

  • Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life isn’t the only movie being filmed at Torontowood — a documentary producer is shadowing the cast and crew for his own behind-the-scenes project. Listen closely to the disembodied voice and you may recognize it as that of actor Nelson Franklin, who plays Michael “He Knows Everyone” Comeau in the 2010 movie. 
  • In a quick clip from the documentary, we see The Clash at Demonhead once again perform the song “Black Sheep,” which Scott Pilgrim vs. the World fans know well. 
  • During the episode, Young Neil can be seen wearing a “Cronenberg for President” T-shirt. Grabinski is a fan of Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg and often works references into his projects. (See: the “Cronenberg for President T-shirt” in his Are You Afraid of the Dark? reboot on Nickelodeon.)
  • When Todd runs into his trailer’s bathroom to relieve himself, the same “pee bar” appears as when Scott takes a leak in the original movie. 
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 6, “WHODIDIT,” Easter egg

Episode 6: “WHODIDIT”

  • As Knives and Steven work on the lyrics for their off-Broadway musical about Scott Pilgrim, they land on a familiar refrain: “Bread makes you fat.” It’s the same carb slander Ramona utters in the movie after Scott declares his undying love for garlic bread. 
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 7, “2Scott2Pilgrim,” Easter egg

Episode 7: “2Scott2Pilgrim”

  • Ramona creates a time machine by tricking out her Rollerblades with DeLorean spare parts and skating at 88 mph — all references to the time-traveling classic Back to the Future
‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Season 1, Episode 8, “The World vs. Scott Pilgrim,” Easter egg

Episode 8: “The World vs. Scott Pilgrim”

  • Pegg and Frost return, but this time they are actually eating Cornettos — a blatant nod to their work with Wright. It wasn’t the EP’s idea, though. “I can’t claim credit for the Pegg and Frost idea,” Wright says. “The Science SARU guys had drawn their Hot Fuzz characters in an Easter egg, so then I asked Pegg and Frost to do a little vocal cameo… I promise I don’t personally try to get Cornettos into everything I do. You’d think I would get a commission by now, but you’d be dead wrong. Send me some free ice cream!”
  • “Black Sheep” isn’t the only encore musical performance in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. The series closes with that iconic earworm “Scott Pilgrim” by the band Plumtree.

All About Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

  • Explainer
    Holy garlic bread! Here’s the truth behind the game-changing twist at the end of Episode 1.
    By Amy Wilkinson
    March 5, 2024
  • Geeked Week 2023
    The adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s hit graphic novels is streaming now.
    By Phillipe Thao
    Jan. 15, 2024
  • Who’s Who
    Meet the full cast and characters of the new anime series.
    By Phillipe Thao
    Nov. 29, 2023
  • Behind the Scenes
    The graphic novels, fan art, and streets of Toronto all came together to punch you right in the eyeballs.
    By Amy Wilkinson
    Nov. 22, 2023
  • Soundtrack
    ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ drops the needle on an eclectic array of music.
    By Amy Wilkinson
    Nov. 18, 2023
  • Deep Dive
    “Ramona has always been pretty much my favorite character,” says creator Bryan Lee O’Malley.
    By Amy Wilkinson
    Nov. 17, 2023
  • News
    An anime adaptation of Bryan O’Malley’s graphic novels is on the way.
    By John DiLillo
    March 30, 2023

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