Brandon Routh is certainly no stranger to the world of live-action comic book adaptations, starring as the Man of Steel in 2006's Superman Returns, Dr. Ray Palmer/Atom on The CW's Arrowverse shows (not to mention a Superman reprisal for the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event) and, of course, Todd Ingram in 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
In a recent appearance on Smallville alum Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Routh looked back fondly on the Oni Press adaptation -- which celebrates its 10th birthday this year -- revealing he actually learned to play the bass guitar for the "bass battle" Todd engages in against Michael Cera's Scott Pilgrim.
"It's a fantastic film," Routh said of Scott Pilgrim. "I still get many, many fans who come up and are very appreciative and quote the lines from the movie. It was so much fun. [Director] Edgar Wright is a genius. The whole cast and crew was fun to work on and... I love playing outrageous, out there, over-the-top characters." When asked if he actually played bass guitar, Routh replied, "I learned to play the pass for that... to play the bass battle."
In Scott Pilgrim, Todd -- in addition to being third of Ramona Flowers' Seven Evil Exes and having superhuman posters granted by his veganism -- is also the bassist for the band The Clash at Demonhead. He engages in a "bass battle" with Scott, the bassist for his own band, Sex Bob-Omb. Todd handily maintains the upper hand for most of the fight, before Scott tricks him into drinking coffee with milk, which results in him losing his powers at the hands of the Vegan Police.
While he did not play bass prior to working on Scott Pilgrim, Routh has a long history with music, having played the trumpet in high school. "I was in jazz band, I was in marching band. I didn't end up doing marching band in college because it didn't work with my schedule. But my dad is a jazz drummer, so I grew up listening to a lot of jazz."