"Pilgrim's" progress

Mark Webber, whose directing debut Explicit Ills just opened here, is off to Toronto to start work on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World -- the Edgar Wright-directed adaptation of the Bryan Lee O'Malley graphic novels about a rock-and-roll dude who has to kick into kung fu mode in order to defeat a gang of evil ex-boyfriends of the girl he loves. Michael Cera stars as Pilgrim, and Webber's character, one of Scott's bandmates, is called Stephen Stills.

"I am like SO excited, it’s such a cool project," says Webber. "Edgar Wright is the Man. Shaun of the Dead is like one of my favorite movies of the last five years, the way he was able to blend these different genres together was fascinating to me.... He's the master of the action comedy pop drama."

As for playing Stills, "I'm not literally the guy from Crosby, Stills & Nash," Webber chuckles. "There’s also a character named Young Neil. That’s what's really awesome about the books is that there are all these little inside jokes and this funny commentary on hipsters....

"So me and Michael Cera are in this rock band together, trying to get gigs and play these big shows, and in the process he has to get into these crazy kung fu battles with this girl’s evil ex-boyfriends. It’s wild, man."

Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans and Johnny Simmons also star, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Death Proof, Live Free or Die Hard) as Ramona V. Flowers, the girlfriend with the seven maniacal exes.