9 Things You Didn’t Know About 'Veronica Mars'

It's been many years since the Veronica Mars Season 3 finale, and, in the sabbatical between that and the movie, fans were devastated to not have a mystery worth solving (aside from the greatest one of all: how do I stop mainlining my Veronica Mars DVD box set?). But, during this most recent Veronica Mars mystery dry spell, I'm thinking it may be interesting to dive deep into the backstory of the show itself. In fact, Marshmallows, I did some sleuthing and uncovered the some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of Veronica Mars.

OK, "secrets" is a strong word here, whereas "things you find out from a bit of poking around the Internet" is a smidge more accurate. Regardless, through said poking, I found out a bunch of interesting tidbits that both pepper and twist the show, and darken the already shady underbelly of Neptune High. You ever hear of the post-mortem Lilly Kane video? Or did you know that Veronica's future ambitions were supposed to be a little less straight-laced than that of a lawyer? How much of a superfan are you, really?

If you're not working on your own oral history of the show, here are a few things you probably didn't know about your neo-noir teen dramedy fave, Veronica Mars. Duh, spoilers ahoy.

1. Jason Dohring Auditioned To Be Duncan

Dohring said in an interview with VM fansite NeptuneSite, that his original reading was a tad too dark to play Neptune's golden boy, so they had him read for Logan. Suffice to say, I think doing the old switcheroo was a solid casting move.

2. Kristen Bell Was The First Of 100 Girls To Try Out For Veronica

"I kept thinking, 'Was that first girl as brilliant as I thought she was?'" Thomas said at PaleyFest 2014. Turns out yes, and even 99 girls later, Bell's audition shined the hardest. Of course there were still other success stories in the mix. Seyfried auditioned and ended up as Lilly, while Tal auditioned and ended up playing Meg Manning. There were definitely enough tragic blondes to go around for everyone.

3. Initially, Duncan And Veronica Were Supposed To Be Related

Ick, ick, ick! Thankfully, the reality of the couple being half-siblings never came to be. Once Veronica Mars was picked up by UPN instead of HBO or a more "adult" network they decided to nix the idea, according to a 2005 "mass email" from Thomas to his fans.

4. And Lilly Kane's Body Was Supposed To Be Found In A River

The networks thought this was a bit too gruesome, as it implied that Lilly's father had to dump his daughter's dead body into the river, according the DVD commentary. More disturbing? The Lilly Kane death video that shows her floating in the water. NOPE.

5. Veronica's Style Was Designed With A Military Vibe In Mind

You ever notice how her wardrobe is filled with muted green button-up jackets? That's intentional. Costume designer Salvador Perez told MTV that he wanted Veronica's "armor up" at all times. "She had been emotionally abused, she thought she had been raped, she needed to be protected from everybody around her," Perez he said. "I wanted her to be a warrior, so there was a militarist vibe to her clothes." Definitely the right look for a pint-sized powerhouse like Veronica.

6. There Is A Real-Life Shelly Pomroy

I am, of course, talking about Shelly Pomroy of the infamous "Shelly Pomroy's party." According to and interview with Thomas, the real Shelly Pomroy is an former crush and current old friend of his. The Real Pomroy called up Thomas asking if he could see if her cousin was right for a part. That cousin turned out to be Amanda Noret, who ended up playing the horrible Madison Sinclair.

7. Veronica Mars Uses The Same Car Rental Service As All Your Other Favorite Shows

In the episode "Rat Saw God," Veronica ends up questioning a car rental guy (played by Joss Whedon, by the way) about the whereabouts of Abel Koontz's daughter Amelia. The rental place is Lariat Rent-A-Car, and it's a company used across many of your favorite shows, from Breaking Bad to Supernatural. Interestingly enough, Lariat Rent-A-Car first showed up at the aid of two other fictional truth-seekers: Scully and Mulder on The X-Files.

8. Veronica May Be A Fan Of The Dandy Warhols

Here's the sitch. The Dandy Warhols are a band primarily famous for doing the Veronica Mars theme song "We Used To Be Friends." In the middle of Veronica's locker at Neptune High, there's a black sticker with a banana on it... essentially the cover art for the band's Welcome to the Monkey House. Conclusively, Veronica was probably a fan of the The Dandy Warhols, which tended to be a common thing for teen protagonists of eventual CW shows in 2005. See: Seth Cohen.

9. The Fourth Season Was Supposed To Have A Dramatic Flash Forward

According to the DVD extras, it would've featured a new cast of characters, and taken place after Veronica graduated the FBI academy. Unfortunately, the show was canceled, and Veronica returned in the movie having pursued a career as a lawyer.

Well, Marshmallows? How many of these facts did you know? I'm personally just glad that the role of Veronica was pretty much always in the bag for Kristen Bell. I can't imagine Veronica Mars without Bell's trademark sassy smirk.

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