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Surrogatesis based on a five-issue comic book series, The Surrogates (2005-2006), written by Robert Venditti and drawn by Brett Weldele. In 2009, it was followed by a prequel graphic novel, The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone. The comics were adapted for the movie by American screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris.

It is said at some point after a solider surrogate takes a shot that "these things aren't free". However, there are multiple types of surrogates, and extra abilities cost extra; therefore, there probably exist basic model of surrogates with prices equaling those of, say, small-size ordinary cars. The world's GDP per capita was estimated at around $600 in 1800, $5,000 in 1995, and $10,000 in 2008 (figures in 1990 dollars). At that exponential growth rate, coupled with economies of scale associated with making billions of surrogate parts, it can be imagined that in, say, 100 years, mostly everyone would be able to afford a surrogate. However, since the movie obviously takes place in the near future, and it is clearly stated that surrogates were only introduced 14 years beforehand, the question remains unanswered.

Since 98% of the population could afford surrogates, it meant they had enough money to not be tempted my material crimes (burglary, theft etc). Given that surrogates were essentially equally hard to destroy, there were no weaker groups bullied by stronger groups, so violent crime decreased. As for taking out one's rage on a surrogate's human operator, it is shown that the police could inspect the logged visual perception of surrogates, so criminals would be caught easily after the fact. The anxiety of Tom Greer (Bruce Willis), once he's in the flesh among a world of surrogates, tells him that humans would most likely avoid going out in the flesh or having their surrogate confiscated—a likely punishment measure for crime.

In the movie, they explained that violent crime decreased. However, crimes committed against surrogates or by surrogates would be a different classification. The police, in the scene where Cantor's son died, said he was going to "report it as a simple vandalism." Also, it appears that electrical stimulant use by surrogates doesn't count as a drug-related crime either, and we see that people still do commit crimes using surrogates. Therefore, there appears to be plenty of crime, but they are classified as being less serious when committed by or to surrogates.

One possible explanation is that since the surrogates run on batteries, jogging or walking uses up the charge faster than riding. A second explanation is that not all Surrogates have this ability. The salesman in the surrogate store states that many things are extras, and thus cost more. It is possible that only police, FBI, or other emergency service agencies have surrogates with these capabilities, and this theory is bolstered by the fact that Willis' surrogate was FBI issued. A third possibility is that the model we're looking at is computer games. People like computer games where they run and jump—and they like games where they drive cars. As for public transport, you could probably fit a cup of coffee or a vital bodily function into your morning train ride. Not to mention public transportation or driving is faster than walking or even running.

According to the film website, surrogates have a "self-cleaning abdominal reservoir" that allows them to break down food and drinks into an "environmentally safe by-product."

It's very likely that the FBI had access to VSI's database, and VSI had a monopoly on surrogate production.

The movie explanation is that the weapon causes a lethal feedback circuit between the surrogate and the operator, similar to a fatal electric shock, by uploading a virus to the surrogate.

There is no answer to this question as of yet. Surrogates were controlled either by telepresence or by mind upload from the humans into the surrogate body, then mind download back to preserve memories. Both cases require a high-speed data connection between the operator and the surrogate. This connection would be present apparently everywhere, including in helicopters (as shown in one scene). If surrogates can transfer massive amounts of data wirelessly, the use of cell phones seems unwarranted. Surrogates could simply talk to other surrogates via the transmission protocol they used. However this may only between the user and the surrogate they control, to avoid hacking, therefore needing phones still, because if phones weren't needed, anyone would be able to talk to anyone, wanted or not.

This could be attributed to the fact that the movie never states a specific year. This would mean that this movie could be set in 2009 or '10 (when the movie was made), and when a reference to 14 years ago is made, it means 1996. Just because this movie features futuristic technology doesn't mean that the movie couldn't be in an "alternate universe" where this kind of technology was developed in 1996. If this was the case, then having a 2008 Chevy Malibu chasing a surrogate down the street would fit and make perfect sense.