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Quote1 Never ████ing mind how I'm doing it! Quote2
Julie Powers

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (film)

Julie Powers (b. July 13, 1982) is the social glue binding most of the characters in the series together, though she herself is a comparatively unimportant character.

Julie is known to frequently hosts parties, introduce characters to each other, and is known to be a full-time bitch and a half.

Biography[]

Little is known about Julie's prio to college though in the continuity of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Julie was in high school (West Ferris) with Gordon Goose in North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

She attended the University of Toronto with Stephen and Scott and was roommates with Envy during their first year. She was an art student and apparently cooked for Stephen and Scott frequently. Despite being on terms wth Envy back as dormmates, she refers to Envy as "my best friend" in Volume 2 and tries (unsuccessfully) to get back in Envy's good graces once she has become famous.

She was also friends with Ramona before she and Scott began dating; something she told him not to do, believing him to be a loser. Her character is described as "bitchy and obnoxious" and she frequently fights/argues with other characters, even befriending Kyle & Ken Katayanagi as they attempt to fight Scott.

At one point, she suspects that Stephen and Knives may have a mutual attraction, causing her to react toward Knives with hostility, and eventually to break up with Stephen.

During Volume 5 she begins holding regular themed parties at her new loft apartment, with themes ranging from Halloween, "Underwater Pimp and Ho Party," and "Canadian Politics Circa 1972 but You're Secretly Batman Party", and a Mexican Day of the Dead party.

In the final volume, it is revealed that Stephen was in a homosexual relationship with Joseph, to which Scott replied, "So Julie turned you gay??", believing that due to Julie's constant bitchiness, Stephen Stills was turned gay. Young Neil had also revealed earlier in final volume that Julie had moved to Montreal.

Portrayal in adaptions[]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World[]

Julie-film-01

Aubrey Plaza as Julie Powers in the film adaptation

Julie Powers is played by Aubrey Plaza, whose previous works include roles in Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Mystery Team, and Funny People.

In the film, Julie is everything like her comic book version. A main difference was when she starts cussing Scott out after he ignored her warning of hooking up with Ramona. She was first seen in the record store where Knives and Scott were. A black bar and ZX Spectrum-like censor beep stops her swear words. When Scott asks "How are you doing that with your mouth?", she responds, "Never ████ing mind how I'm doing it!". After The Clash at Demonhead show, Julie tells Scott and the band that Envy has invited them all backstage. She constantly tries to strike up a friendly conversation with Envy, who coldly rebuffs her to confront Ramona. After Scott headbutts Todd Ingram and defeats him, Julie says to Envy: "For the record, I am so pissed off for you right now", to which Envy responds "Shut the ████ up, Julie".

In an deleted scene at the end, Julie is heard gossiping over the phone with Stacey about how Scott kicked Gideon's head off.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game[]

Julie appears as one of the many background characters in the video game adaptation. She is seen as a store clerk in World 1 and later in front of the stairs at the Halloween party.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off[]

Julie (voiced by Aubrey Plaza; Yū Kobayashi in the Japanese dub) is portrayed mostly the same, though it is revealed she went to school with Gideon Graves back in North Bay. After Gideon gets defeated by Matthew Patel and loses everything, he ends up crashing at Julie's house. It is later revealed that Julie is attracted to Gideon's evil side, and it is implied that the two of them are in a relationship (or in the very least working closely together).

In other media[]

Seconds[]

Julie Powers makes a cameo appearance in another Bryan Lee O'Malley comic, Seconds, Julie can be seen along Stephen Stills having a meal as Katie imagines what her new restaurant will look like once it's finished.

Personality and traits[]

Temperamental, sassy and acerbic, Julie Powers is descrbed as a bitch by many of her aquaintances and those within her inner circle. Being the most assertive and outspoken of the group, she will often make her opinion known and not hold back on what she thinks of people. A woman of somewhat short temper, she ends up rubbing people the wrong way as a result. She is also quite a social expert as she hosts many of the parties that the group ends up attending.

Despite this harshness, she still has her moments of being kind. For all of the complaints and irritation in regard to her inner circle (especially Scott), she still hangs around with them and enjoys her time with them. She is even smiling being with Scott and the others over on his birthday as she brings out the birthday cake. One interesting note is that she was an art student in college, indicating an interest in the subject. Additionally, her desire to suck up to Envy along with general frustration at work indicates a desire to reach fame and fortune, possibly through her creative endeavors, not unlike Envy or even Stephen. Her willingness to repeatedly take Stephen back romantically despite their fights shows a bit of care over for him. Additionally, there seems to be elements of bitterness within the young woman over the path her life has taken and serves as the source of her acerbic behavior.

Relationships[]

Stephen Stills[]

Stephen Stills was Julie's first known, longest running and possibly only romantic partner. The two have met in college, which would have a prominent influence on their roommates' lives as they introduced Scott and Natalie to one another.

The two have dated on and off over the years, though their relationship is rather unhealthy, consisting of her yelling at him while he nods silently. This hints that Julie was the dominant one of the pair. Despite their rocky history, the two would keep getting back together and there were times where they were happy with one another. The relationship ends for good when Stephen comes out of the closet.

While Stephen was drawn to Julie's aggressive and dominant personality, it's unknown what she saw in him. Whatever it was, it was enough for her to keep getting back together with him. It's likely that Stephen's true sexuality was a dominant factor that led to their relationship troubles.

Scott Pilgrim[]

Julie has a rather rocky relationship over with Scott Pilgrim. Having met in college with their shared relationship in Stephen as well as being his sister's coworker, the two don't have much in common. That said, it's clear that Julie doesn't think highly of Scott and is willing to badmouth him.

Despite this, she still takes opportunities to invite him to his parties and hang out with him and the others, including celebrating his 24th birthday with him. Scott in turn isn't as insulting to Julie as the others are.

Julie attempted to stop Scott from meeting Ramona, unaware they already met when Ramona invaded his dreamspace. While part of this was viewed by her low view of him, it's hinted it's also out of concern after what happened with Envy. For all of her vitriol, she still cares about him, looking just as shocked and horrified as the others when Scott got stabbed by Gideon.

Natalie "Envy" Adams[]

Julie and Natalie were dormmates over in college. The two didn't get along much due to having different personalities with Julie being a social butterfly while Natalie at the time was withdrawn and caring more on her anime hobby of the time.

However, Julie would have a profound effect as she would introduce Natalie to Stephen and Scott, leading to a relationship with the latter and discovering her talent for music. When they meet up as adults, Julie tries to suck up to her for fame, to little avail.

Interestingly enough, this reveals a surprising parallel between the two women as both have ambitious streaks in them, interests in the creative fields and being rather sardonic.

Trivia[]

  • In Volume 3, Julie started wearing glasses, Artist Bryan Lee O'Malley has openly admitted that this was because he briefly mistook Julie for Monique and decided to keep them.[1]
    • However, Julie has glasses in the film and color re-prints of Volumes 1 and 2.
  • Julie is one of the main characters in the series, even though she hates Scott and plays a kind of antagonistic role in some of the books, befriending Envy and the twins.
  • According to Aubrey Plaza, who portrayed Julie in the movie, she had a crush on Scott in college, which went unrequited as he went after her friends (particularly Envy). Bryan Lee O'Malley has however frustratedly denied this claim, saying "that [comment] was bullshit, Plaza was making shit up". This may partially explain her temperament in the movie however.[2]
    • Ironically, Aubrey Plaza dated Michael Cera (Scott's actor) for almost two years following the movie's production.
  • Her birthday is in the summer.
  • Bryan Lee O'Malley explained that Julie was loosely based on a girl he knew in Toronto, but that he liked her and she "was not a superbitch".
  • Julie's name was chosen because Powers rhymes with Flowers, and because O'Malley wanted to allude to Julie Power from the Marvel Comics' Power Pack.[3]
  • It was originally planned that Julie would be the only character in the movie with the ability to censor her swear words, however, Envy is able to do it too as having her actually say the F word would mean moving up the movie's age rating.
  • According to the Relationship Chart, Julie "actively dislikes" Young Neil. However, Julie and Neil's relationship is never deepened or hinted at in the series.
  • In Volume six, it was revealed by Young Neil that Julie moved to Montreal.

Quotes

ScottPilgrimSaysQuotePages

Click to view quotes said by Julie Powers.

Gallery

Sex Bob-omb SPTO 23

Click to view the gallery for Julie Powers.


Notes and references[]

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