Scott Pilgrim Diverges From The Graphic Novels Around The Third Book
MTV recently talked to director Edgar Wright, who confirmed what many people who have read the screenplay(s) for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World had known for a while: the story diverges from Bryan Lee O'Malley's source material somewhere around book number three.
Here is the quote from Wright:
"After three volumes, it starts to take its own path, but very much within the spirit of the book — and approved by Bryan as well. ... There are some things that are in the film that are actually from Bryan's original ideas before he wrote the books. [So] there are some things in there that refer to older ideas which he didn't end up doing. It's ironic, because there will be a couple of scenes when people will say, 'That's not in the book,' but actually, if you look at these notes from 2005..."
This shouldn't be a huge surprise as only three of the five books were released when Wright began writing the film adaptation with Michael Bacall. Even the sixth and final book in the series is not even completed, and as one might expect, O'Malley's plans have changed a bit along the way.Fans shouldn't worry however, as the film has been almost universaly praised by those who have attended the two early cut test screenings. Most fans who have seen it agree, that even when the story diverges from the graphic novels, the film nails to tone of the books.