Great Scott!: Adaptive Dynamics of the Scott Pilgrim Franchise From the Comics to the Netflix Series

Abstract

This article investigates the franchise that originated from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim comics series (2004-2010) and continued with a film adaptation (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 2010, Edgar Wright) and the recent animated Netflix series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023). Scott Pilgrim’s narrative ecosystem unfolds across various media, displaying heterogeneous characteristics regarding production structures, forms, and content. Indeed, the franchise also features several spinoffs: a short-lived mobile comic, a beat ‘em up video game, and a card game. While surveying its medial articulation, I will discuss its appeal to hypermediacy mechanisms, both interweaving references between the components of the franchise and connecting it with music and gaming cultures; and its content, examining the progressive reworking of its storyworld, its alignment with diverse genres and imaginaries, and the way its unfolding aims to adapt and resonate with varied audiences and cater to their cultural preferences and consumption patterns.