50 Fun Facts About Scott Pilgrim

Who created the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels?

Bryan Lee O'Malley admits he took the film deal as 'a starving artist' who just wanted some money, fully expecting Hollywood to cast 'some actor that I hated'.

Scott Pilgrim's name was borrowed from a song by which Canadian indie band of the 1990s?

Plumtree had split in 2000, four years before the first book; the film repays the debt by putting Scott in the band's T-shirt and their song on its soundtrack.

Which independent publisher released the six original Scott Pilgrim volumes between 2004 and 2010?

Oni Press printed the books small and in black and white, a cheaper format their creator embraced as a manga look; full-colour hardbacks only followed from 2012.

How did Gideon found the League of Evil Exes in the Scott Pilgrim comics?

A drunken Craigslist rant: after Ramona dumped him he vented online, and he was shocked when six other exes she had hurt wrote back.

In which city does Scott Pilgrim live?

Toronto is drawn almost street by street: before filming, the director toured the real locations with the books' author, who had to dig out his reference photos to find some of them.

What is the name of Scott Pilgrim's garage band?

Sex Bob-omb takes its name from the Bob-ombs, the walking bombs of the Mario games; every band in the series is named after a video game.

Which instrument does Scott Pilgrim play in his band?

Bass: in the film he proudly shows his bandmates that he has learned the bassline from Final Fantasy II, a game that was really Final Fantasy IV under its old American title.

One scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is shot and scored like an episode of which sitcom, laugh track included?

Seinfeld: for a minute the film borrows the sitcom's music cues, fixed cameras and studio laughter, a gag the director added that appears nowhere in the comics.

In the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, what do Ramona's evil exes burst into when they are defeated?

Coins: beaten enemies pay out as they would in a video game, and in the comics the last ex showers $7,777,777 in change on the crowd.

Who is Scott Pilgrim's "cool gay roommate"?

Wallace Wells owns nearly everything in the flat they share, and his actor, sent a script with no word on which part to read, knew it was his from that very description.

Who plays drums in Scott Pilgrim's band?

Kim Pine was also Scott's first girlfriend, back in high school; the romance ended when his family moved away, and she later moved to the same city and joined his band.

The lead singer of Scott Pilgrim's band shares his name with which 1960s folk-rock musician?

Stephen Stills is the character's own name, always used in full by Scott, and his roommate 'Young Neil' flips the name of the real singer's old bandmate to finish the joke.

In the Scott Pilgrim comics, what job does Ramona Flowers take after moving to Canada?

Amazon delivery courier: her rounds run along 'subspace highways' that cut through people's minds, and Scott's is so empty that he sees her skating through his dreams.

Which habit is Ramona Flowers known for in Scott Pilgrim?

Frequently changing her hair colour, every three weeks in the comics, unsettles Scott, who blames a haircut for his last break-up.

Who is Ramona's first evil ex in Scott Pilgrim, who crashes through the ceiling mid-gig?

Matthew Patel dated her only briefly in seventh grade; in the film his attack turns into a Bollywood-style song and dance, the first hint of how strange the fights will get.

Scott Pilgrim often wears the T-shirt of which rock band, whose initials match his own?

The Smashing Pumpkins shirt isn't his only badge of fandom: his winter parka carries an X-Men patch, which the film shows him ripping off.

In Scott Pilgrim, Ramona's third evil ex, Todd Ingram, gets his superpowers from what?

Being vegan gives him psychic powers until the Vegan Police turn up to strip them; in the film Scott brings them running by tricking him into drinking half-and-half.

Which of Ramona's evil exes in Scott Pilgrim is a woman, upending Scott's assumption that all were boyfriends?

Roxie Richter met Ramona at college; since Scott refuses to hit girls, it is Ramona who does most of the fighting when her fourth ex attacks.

What are the first names of the Katayanagi twins, Ramona's fifth and sixth evil exes in Scott Pilgrim?

Kyle and Ken build robots to attack Scott in the comics, but in the film they are musicians who summon twin dragons from their amplifiers in a battle of the bands.

Which Saturday Night Live star voices the unseen narrator of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Bill Hader's narration does the job the captions do in the comics, cutting in with back-story such as exactly how many days have passed since Scott's big break-up.

What is the name of Gideon's venue, where the final showdown of Scott Pilgrim takes place?

The Chaos Theater shares its name with a club in the game EarthBound where a band is made to play night after night to work off a debt, much as Scott's band is here.

When Scott first challenges Gideon in the Scott Pilgrim film, what does he earn?

The Power of Love sword appears when he says he is fighting for Ramona; after Gideon kills him he uses his 1-up, fights for himself and draws the Power of Self-Respect instead.

Which pop star, Scott Pilgrim's ex-girlfriend, fronts The Clash at Demonhead?

Envy Adams was plain Natalie when Scott dated her at university; she reinvented herself, took over their band and dumped him.

Which real band inspired The Clash at Demonhead and gave the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World the song "Black Sheep"?

Metric had first meant the song for an album of their own and held it back for sounding too much like themselves; their singer calls it a caricature of the band.

Who wrote the songs Scott's band performs in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Beck knocked them out in a matter of days, wanting them 'underthought' and raw like demos; one unpolished jam became the music for the opening titles.

Who directed the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Edgar Wright was handed an advance copy of the first book while promoting Shaun of the Dead in 2004, and spent the next six years getting the film made.

Who plays Scott Pilgrim in the 2010 film?

Michael Cera was the only actor the director could picture in the part, even when the studio, fresh from Knocked Up, suggested Seth Rogen instead.

Which actress plays Ramona Flowers in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Mary Elizabeth Winstead was the director's pick two years before filming began; she jokes that it was because her big eyes matched the drawings.

Which of Hollywood's Chrises plays skateboarding movie star Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Chris Evans said yes at once as a fan of the director, who gave him a Steven Seagal bar brawl to study; a year later he was Captain America.

Who composed the score for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Nigel Godrich, best known as Radiohead's producer, had never scored a film before; his arrival also killed an early script joke in which the bands were never actually heard.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opened in cinemas on the same weekend as which Sylvester Stallone action film?

The Expendables won that weekend while this film opened fifth with about $10.5 million; its first run ended on some $48 million worldwide against a budget of at least $60 million.

Which game franchise's music opens Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, its director calling it 'like nursery rhymes to a generation'?

The Legend of Zelda music had to be cleared with Nintendo, so the director sent a clip of the film with a letter making that very case.

Which castle appears in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World as a movie set during the Lucas Lee fight?

Casa Loma has stood in for so many places on screen that here, for once, it plays itself; the film adds a gag in which Scott is thrown through a fake skyline backdrop.

Which Canadian coffee chain appears in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World instead of Starbucks?

Second Cup is where Scott's sister works in the comics, and the film got permission to shoot in a real branch instead of swapping in an invented chain.

Where did Scott Pilgrim vs. the World have its world premiere in 2010?

San Diego Comic-Con got it first: after the Hall H panel the director led several hundred of the crowd to a surprise screening, and the band behind 'Black Sheep' played afterwards.

Which actress plays Scott's 17-year-old girlfriend in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Ellen Wong auditioned several times, taekwondo training in hand, for a part she has said an Asian actress like her never expected even to be seen for.

Which actress plays Julie Powers, the party host who cannot stand Scott Pilgrim, in the 2010 film?

Aubrey Plaza was cast before Funny People or Parks and Recreation had made her name; the director had never even met her before her audition.

Who plays the lead singer of Scott's band in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Mark Webber had never sung professionally or played guitar, and learned both in the weeks before filming, when the band's actors were drilled until they could pass as a real group.

The original ending of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, written before the last book came out, had Scott end up with whom?

Knives won him back in the first cut, but test audiences were divided over it and the final book paired him with Ramona, so a new ending was shot before release.

The opening of Scott's last battle with Gideon in the Scott Pilgrim film recreates the intro of which classic game?

Ninja Gaiden's opening duel was first copied in the comics, for the battle with Ramona's fourth ex; the film saved the homage for its finale.

Which chiptune band performed the soundtrack of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game?

Anamanaguchi returned sixteen years later to score the follow-up, Scott Pilgrim EX; the original game had vanished from sale in 2014 and come back as a Complete Edition in 2021.

On which late-night TV block did the short Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation air the night before the film opened?

Adult Swim showed it around midnight on August 12, 2010: a flashback to Scott's school days, with two of the film's actors voicing their own roles and two more playing new ones.

Which anime studio produced the 2023 Netflix series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off?

Science SARU animated it in Japan, while every one of the film's main actors came back, thirteen years on, to voice the same characters.

What happens to Scott in the first episode of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off?

He disappears, apparently killed by her first evil ex, and the series turns into a mystery with Ramona as the detective and the exes' lives knocked off course.

What was the Scott Pilgrim creator's first original graphic novel, released in 2003?

Lost at Sea, about a shy 18-year-old who believes a cat stole her soul, was still on his drawing board in 2002 when he began planning Scott Pilgrim.

What is the subtitle of the sixth and final Scott Pilgrim volume, released in July 2010?

Finest Hour reached shops less than a month before the film, which had been shot without it: the film-makers had only its author's notes and wrote an ending of their own.

Which actress sings 'Black Sheep' on screen in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Brie Larson sings it on screen as the villainous frontwoman, while the soundtrack album carries the original singer's version at her band's request.

Which director, shown an early cut of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, said it needed an opening title sequence?

Quentin Tarantino thought the film started too fast and told its director to let people settle down and strap in; the hand-scratched animated titles were the result.

Members of which Canadian indie band wrote the songs for Crash and the Boys in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

Broken Social Scene's two songwriters kept every track short, fast and punk so that the actor playing Crash could shout them himself without being a singer.

Which Mario Bava film did the director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World name as an influence?

Danger: Diabolik (1968) had what he called 'a sense of completely unbridled imagination': a comic-strip film that makes no attempt to look realistic, the licence he took for his own.