15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

By Sean Hutchinson |

Supercharge your next viewing of Edgar Wright’s comics-inspired film with these 15 little-known facts.

1. Edgar Wright waited six years before agreeing to direct.

The eventual executive producers of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World first approached Wright to make the film in 2004 after a screening of Wright’s first film, Shaun of the Dead, by giving him a copy of the first volume of author Brian Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel. Wright would go on to make 2007’s Hot Fuzz before settling on adapting Scott Pilgrim (which was released in 2010). 

2. Brian Lee O’Malley named the character Scott Pilgrim after a song.

“Scott Pilgrim” is a 1998 song by Canadian band Plumtree. In the movie, Scott can be seen wearing one of their band t-shirts and their titular song appears on the soundtrack.

3. O’Malley and his wife, cartoonist Hope Larson, make cameos.

You can spot them at Lee’s Palace after Sex Bob-Omb come offstage.

4. Wright told the actors to not blink during takes.

He wanted to mimic the feel of Japanese anime.

5. The film is filled with hidden numerals tied to the sequential numbers of Ramona’s evil exes.

Matthew Patel has one chevron on his military jacket. Lucas Lee has the Tibetan symbol for “2” tattooed on his neck, wears a belt buckle made of two Xs, drives a car with the racing numeral 2, and also points at Scott with two fingers. Todd Ingram wears a t-shirt with the number 3 on the chest and with three stripes on the shoulders, and the trashcans in the alley where he fights Scott all have 3s on them. Scott fights Roxy in a nightclub called “4,” and Roxy also has four rips in her leggings. The Katayanagi Twins each have “5” and “6” stenciled on their cuffs and turn their volume up to the Japanese character for 11 (5+6=11, which is also a nod to the film Spinal Tap). Lastly, the logo for Gideon Graves’ G-Man Records is made of 7s turned on their sides. Scott meanwhile drinks Coke Zero and wears a T-shirt that says “Zero” on it because he isn’t an evil ex. 

6. Scott’s Pac-Man story is true.

Pac-Man was originally called “Puck-Man” because of his hockey-puck-shape, but the name was changed in American markets to avoid unwanted vandalism.

7. Scott’s bass is a Rickenbacker 4003.

It costs $2,159 in US dollars or about $2,459 Canadian dollars.

8. Lucas Lee’s pompous final exchange with Scott happened to Edgar Wright in real life.

While backstage at a concert for the band The Hives, Wright told lead singer Pelle Almqvist he was a “big fan.” Almqvist responded, “Why wouldn’t you be?”

9. Ramona’s exact phone number is 212-664-7665.

This number often appears in films, including Munich, Definitely Maybe, and The Adjustment Bureau. It’s a real phone number that was acquired by Universal Studios to avoid the fake 555 prefix normally used for phone numbers in films. 

10. Real life bands wrote and performed the songs for the fictional bands in the movie.

Sex Bob-Omb’s songs were by Beck, Crash and the Boys’ songs were by Broken Social Scene, The Clash at Demonhead’s were by Metric, and The Katayanagi Twins’ songs were by Cornelius. Additional music, like the themes to the fictional video game Ninja Ninja Revolution, was written by hip-hop producer Dan the Automator.

11. The voice-overs in the film are all done by comedian Bill Hader.

Even the voice in Ninja Ninja Revolution.

12. All the animation in Ramona’s flashbacks was drawn by Edgar Wright’s brother Oscar.

He mimicked the style of Brian Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels.

13. The film includes a nod to Quentin Tarantino.

Edgar Wright said he included a close-up shot of Ramona’s feet during her date with Scott as a tribute to his friend and fellow director, who notoriously has a foot fetish. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Ramona Flowers, previously appeared in Tarantino’s film Death Proof.

14. Michael Cera and Mae Whitman (Roxy Richter) were lovers before they were enemies.

On screen, that is. They previously appeared together (and dated) on Arrested Development before they battled each other in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. 

15. In the original ending, Scott stays with Knives Chau instead of going with Ramona.

Wright, co-screenwriter writer Michael Bacall, and O’Malley all rewrote the final scene together and agreed that Scott should end up with Ramona since he’s been fighting for her all along.