History Trivia / TheMartian

** Since mankind has yet to visit Mars, much less film there, a location on Earth had to be selected. In this case not California (or the American Southwest), but Wadi Rum, Jordan. This is a red-colored desert.
** Budapest Doubling: The Chinese space center is a very recognizable building in Budapest (without the Chinese writing, obviously), with a similarly recognizable bridge in the background. The interior shots of NASA's mission control were also shot in Budapest in a shopping center / office building practically next door to the "Chinese space center".

** The title in Brazilian Portuguese is ''Perdido em Marte'' (''"Lost on Mars"'').

* CreatorBacklash: Two very minor examples from Andy Weir: He wished that the book opened up with Watney getting stranded instead of showing that event later, and that the story used a more realistic reason to leave Mars than a dust storm (which in real life would not pose a threat to the astronauts) though he admitted the dust storm felt like a necessary force for a man vs. nature story. The former issue was corrected in the film adaptation.
** Weir also later found out lightning storms are possible on Mars and had he known that probably would have went with that instead of the dust storm.

** The film adaptation was able to take into advantage NASA's fondness for the novel by having the agency review the scientific aspects of the story treatment ''pro bono'' plus permission to '''display the NASA logo''' in their spacesuit and spacecraft props (Note that NASA, as a public, tax-funded agency, does not take too lightly on attempts to "commercialize" their brand and the work they do). Needless to say, however, NASA also benefitted a lot from the film's popularity in bolstering public interest on the ongoing Mars exploration program (the ''Opportunity'' and ''Curiosity'' rovers), paving the way for a possible manned mission to Mars.

-->In the middle column, the colony ships she and her fleet had taken: the Bedyadat Jadida, out of Luna. The John Galt and the Mark Watney, out of Mars.

* ApprovalOfGod: Andy Weir very much [[https://youtu.be/QxWGVONpMG8 approved]] of the film version, even going so far as to say he almost cried in the first four minutes just to see his book come to life on screen.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: The French title is ''Seul sur Mars'' (''"Alone on Mars"''). The Japanese title is ''Odyssey.''

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/SeanBean A) doesn't play the villain and B) doesn't die.[[note]]Although because of his actions his career does get killed, so that may count for half credit.[[/note]]

* FanNickname: Russian-speaking watchers immediately dubbed Mark himself and the movie in general ''[[NationalStereotypes/EasternEurope The Belorusian]]'', because of ''[[HollywoodCuisine all the potatoes]]''.[[note]]For those who don't get the joke -- in Eastern Europe the Belorusians are stereotyped as potato eaters to an even larger extent than the Irish, to the point that the common nickname for a Belorussian is "Bulbash", from "bulba" -- "potato".[[/note]]

* ReferencedBy: In ''Literature/TheExpanse'', a Martian ship is named the ''Mark Watney''. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/7hjh84/i_am_andy_weir_author_of_the_martian_and_my_new/ According to Andy Weir]], it's just a ShoutOut and does not indicate a SharedUniverse.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: The French title is ''Seul sur Mars'' (''"Alone on Mars"'').

** It was not known at the time that Martian soil contains fairly high amounts of perchlorate salt, which would make farming considerably more difficult if not impossible. However, some experiments undertaken since have shown potatoes to have a higher perchlorate tolerance than previously thought.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/SeanBean A) doesn't play the villain and B) doesn't die.

* FakeNationality: Akew Hennie, a Norwegian actor, plays the German Alex Vogel.

* AllStarCast: Goodness!
** Creator/MattDamon
** Creator/JessicaChastain
** Creator/JeffDaniels
** Creator/MichaelPena
** Creator/KateMara
** Creator/SeanBean
** Creator/SebastianStan
** [[Music/ChildishGambino Donald Glover]]
** Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor
** Creator/KristenWiig

* TheMoralSubstitute: By the author himself. As of October 2015, Weir is working on a [[https://www.facebook.com/462962073803090/photos/a.463868883712409.1073741828.462962073803090/812246058874688/?type=3&pnref=story Scholastic Edition]] of The Martian for purchase by school libraries, which involves substituting all the swear words.

* ActorAllusion:
** Creator/SeanBean is part of a secret meeting code-named "The Council of Elrond." [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings We've seen that before]]. What's more is that he's the first to get the reference.
** [[Film/{{Interstellar}} Not the first time]] Creator/MattDamon has played an astronaut stranded alone on a barren planet. It turns out better for him this time.

** Michael Peña

** Irrfan Khan was the studio's first choice to play Venkat Kapoor but had to turn it down due to previous engagements with Bollywood projects.
** Drew Goddard was originally going to direct the film in addition to providing the film's script, but got caught up with Sony's failed ''Sinister Six'' project and ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}''.

* AscendedFanon: In ''Series/TheExpanse'', two ships are named ''[[Literature/AtlasShrugged John Galt]]'' and ''Mark Watney''. The first is just a ShoutOut, but the ''Mark Watney'' is [[https://twitter.com/jamessacorey/status/650382119449964544 confirmed]] by [[WordOfGod all three authors]] to be named for an InUniverse historical figure, making ''The Martian'' backstory for ''The Expanse.''

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/SeanBean doesn’t A) play the villain and B) doesn’t die.

* CastingGag: Sean Bean, as Mitch Henderson, is a part of their Council of Elrond, a name jokingly created by NASA adminstrators for a secret committee. In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' he is a member of the actual Council of Elrond as Boromir.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Ridley Scott was against calling the meeting “The council of Elrond” because he felt it was too meta having cast Sean Bean, insting he use some other “nerd reference”, however executives insisted it stay the same as the book.

* FakeNationality: Aksel Hennie, a Norwegian actor, plays the German Alex Vogel.

* CastingGag: Sean Bean, as Mitch Henderson, is a part of their Council of Elrond, a name jokingly created by NASA adminstrators for a secret committee. In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Fellowship Of The Ring'' he is a member of the actual Council of Elrond as Boromir.

* FanNickname: Russian-speaking watchers immediately dubbed Mark himself and the movie in general ''[[NationalStereotypes/EasternEurope The Belorusian]]'', because of ''[[HollywoodCuisine all the potatoes]]''.[[note]]For those who don't get the joke — in Eastern Europe the Belorusians are stereotyped as potato eaters to an even larger extent than the Irish, to the point that the common nickname for a Belorussian is "Bulbash", from "bulba" — "potato".[[/note]]

** Drew Goddard was originally going to direct the film in addition to providing the film's script, but got caught up with Sony's failed ''Sinister Six'' project and ''Series/{{Daredevil 2015}}''.

* AbilityOverAppearance: Kapoor was Indian in the book but after Irrfan Khan was unable to come on board, he was played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. The character was then rewritten to be half-Indian and half-African, and his first name was changed from Venkat to Vincent. His religious background also changed.
—> ‘’’Mitch:’’’ Do you believe in God?
—> ‘’’Vincent:’’’ My father was Hindu, my mother is Southern Baptist, so yeah, I believe in several.

* AbilityOverAppearance: Kapoor was Indian in the book but after Irrfan Khan was unable to come on board, he was played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. The character was then rewritten to be half-Indian and half-African, and his first name was changed from Venkat to Vincent, and his religious background to be half-Hindu and half-Southern Baptist.