Does Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Include A Multiversal Connection To An Edgar Wright Classic?

“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.