Warner Bros. Pictures’ Mickey 17 made its global streaming debut on Max on Friday, May 23. This was followed by its HBO linear premiere on Saturday, May 24, at 7:40 p.m. ET. By Bong Joon Ho (the Oscar-winning director of Parasite), Mickey 17 is a mind-bending sci-fi adaptation that strays far from the page.
Loosely based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, this is no faithful copy-and-paste adaptation. Instead, Mickey 17 reimagines core concepts, characters, and even the story’s moral center. It delivers major twists that will surprise even fans of the book.
At the base is Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), an “expendable” on a colonization mission to the frozen planet Niflheim. Every time he dies, he’s regenerated in a new body with most of his memories intact. But unlike Ashton’s Mickey, who often internalizes his existential dread, Pattinson’s version rebels. He refuses to die again and triggers a confrontation with his creators.
Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey is a Full-blown Revolutionary
One of the biggest departures from the book is Mickey’s arc. In Ashton’s novel, Mickey’s resistance is subtle and often reluctant. There’s also the fact that Mickey7 and Mickey8 are more connected than their movie counterparts, with the later not being as violent.
In Mickey 17, Bong remakes him as a rebel after killing Mickey 10 more times. He establishes a conflict between obedience and survival, which reflects the class struggle in Snowpiercer. The film examines the state of being human when a body is replaceable, but a spirit is not.
The film also strips away the book’s supporting character, Berto, entirely, replacing him with a far more morally ambiguous companion played by Steven Yeun. But at the same, it could just be Berto with a different name as he fits the mold as Mickey’s friend before he became an expendable.
The colony’s power structure also changed.
The book described the Governor as a cold but careful man. Mark Ruffalo acts as a dangerous and unstable leader, who resembles current political figures of the U.S. government. Toni Collette’s Ylfa was one of the biggest character additions not seen in the book. And Patsy Ferran, who plays Dorothy and helped Mickey communicate with the natives of the planet, was also created for the movie.
Plot Twists Change the Ending of Mickey 17 and Its Ethics
If you’re expecting the book’s ending (with Mickey outsmarting the system and holding his cards close to him in case they come after the planets inhabitants again), Mickey 17 takes a radically different path. Without giving away spoilers, Bong’s third act is bolder, bloodier, and far more final.
While the book raises questions about the ethics of cloning, the film goes all out to dismantle the system. It serves as a reflection on identity, through an absurd lens. The movie Mickey is SO done following rules so is Mickey 18 who sacrifices himself in a bold move to also rebel and follow in Mickey 17’s footsteps.
Cinematically, the film is also far more surreal than the book, leaning into dreamlike imagery and elliptical time jumps. Visual cues throughout (mirrors, duplicate shadows, and recursive architecture) suggest that Mickey might not be the only one trying to break free.
Whether you’re a fan of the novel or a Bong Joon Ho fan, Mickey 17 is a bold vision of sci-fi rebellion. And a few shocks that even the book never saw coming!
Mickey 17 is now available on HBO Max.
