Does Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Include A Multiversal Connection To An Edgar Wright Classic?
Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy (known as The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) is one of those movie trilogies that is linked in nearly every way except narratively. In other words, while visual elements, themes, actors and even jokes repeat between 2004's "Shaun of the Dead," 2007's "Hot Fuzz" and 2013's "The World's End," the films don't actually share any characters or even take place in the same universe. That's because it was formed as a joke in and of itself at first, with a throwaway reference to the Italian mini-ice cream cones in "Shaun" leading to Wright and actor/co-writer Simon Pegg attempting to emulate (and lightly parody) other thematic trilogies such as the "Three Colours" trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
Ever since "The World's End," there's been no further reference to Cornettos or the characters and events in the Trilogy in Wright's work — until now. As Wright's film adaptation of creator Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim" series of comics, "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," has only grown in popularity and influence since its release in 2010, the opportunity arose for O'Malley and co-writer BenDavid Grabinski to re-adapt the material into a Netflix animated series, "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," which is executive produced by Wright and features the voice talents of just about everyone who starred in the live-action film reprising their roles.
Also making an appearance in the voice cast are Pegg and fellow Wright collaborator Nick Frost, and their showing up may be more than just a cute meta-reference; they may, in fact, be portraying the same characters from the middle chapter of the Cornetto Trilogy, "Hot Fuzz."
The return of Angel and Butterman?
"Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" stuffs a lot of references and meta-comedy into its eight episodes; for instance, characters talk a lot about "sparks" that literally fly when two people fall in love, and Wright is famous for being a huge fan of the band Sparks, having directed a documentary about them in 2021, "The Sparks Brothers." So, at first blush, the appearance of Pegg and Frost in the series seems like just another reference to Wright's work. After all, their characters are generically named "Studio Security #1" and "Studio Security #2."
Pegg and Frost's "Studio Security" guards turn up in episodes 4 and 8 as employees of the Canadian movie studio owned by a newly ascendant Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), supervising cast and crew who are making a movie about Scott Pilgrim that's ostensibly been written by Young Neil (Johnny Simmons). Thing is, Pegg and Frost are voicing their security guard characters in a way that make them sound exactly like Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman from "Fuzz"; Frost even uses the same West Country accent as he did when playing Danny.
Furthermore, in their second appearance in episode 8, the two security guards are supervising the making of a new action movie on the lot when Young Neil speeds by in a golf cart. "Have you seen him Tokyo Drift that thing? Young Neil is off the chain," Frost's security guard says. In "Hot Fuzz," Danny Butterman was an action movie superfan, and he used the exact "off the chain" phrase during a key moment in the film. Sealing the deal is the fact that both security guards are seen eating — you guessed it — Cornettos in the scene.
While there's no doubt that the Studio Security characters are a deliberate reference to "Hot Fuzz," all these similarities could point to their appearance marking the first (and, to date, only) sequelizing of the Cornetto Trilogy characters. Who knows — perhaps Wright and company have some further Flavours up their sleeve.