| Errors | Missing | Unverified | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
Okay, since the film Mickey 17 isn't out yet and details are largely under wraps, I'll have to use my knowledge of the source material, Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7, and extrapolate based on what we know about Bong Joon-ho's style and potential changes.
The Darkest Moment (Based on Mickey7):
Arguably, the darkest moment for Mickey is when he's forced to confront the sheer expendability of his existence. This happens after a particularly gruesome death (likely involving environmental hazards on Niflheim), and his consciousness is uploaded into a new clone. However, the previous Mickey, Mickey 6, hasn't been properly terminated.
He wakes up sharing space with his own past self. At first, they have to cooperate to survive within the limited space. But it soon dawns on him that not only are they both going mad from the confinement, but that the only way to resolve this is for one of them to kill the other. The realization that the corporation would consider this an acceptable outcome, even a desirable one, is what really breaks him. He isn't just expendable, he is expected to destroy himself as part of the job.
How He Overcomes It (Speculation, Blending Book and Director):
In the novel, Mickey's "overcoming" this involves a gradual descent into something approximating insanity, a kind of numb acceptance intertwined with a growing resentment towards the people exploiting him. He develops a detached cynicism and starts making increasingly questionable decisions that serve his own self-preservation.
However, given Bong Joon-ho's track record, I suspect the film will take a more proactive, even subversive, route to resolving this. I imagine the film will have Mickey refuse the self-sacrifice, instead choosing to team up with his previous versions (assuming the film includes more than one duplicate, as the title Mickey 17 suggests) and expose the exploitation that has been forced upon them. The film will likely highlight the inhumanity of his treatment in a way that inspires at least some of the other colonists, and possibly the corporation itself, to question the ethics of their mission. There will likely be some form of revolt or mass exodus to somewhere safer. I imagine the ending will have Mickey, or more likely multiple Mickeys, together.
Ultimately, the "overcoming" isn't a clean victory but a messy, morally ambiguous fight for self-preservation and dignity against a system that sees them as nothing more than disposable tools. It's about acknowledging the darkness and refusing to be completely consumed by it, choosing instead to find a way to carve out a small space for themselves, even within a fundamentally unjust situation.
Mickey's survival and the colony's peace depend on his discovery that the Creepers are sentient, which allows him to negotiate a future for the colony.
The film's resolution involves Mickey 18 detonating a vest to kill Commander Marshall, a major plot point missed by the summary.
Marshall's authoritarianism and hatred of 'multiples' drive the conflict and the 'darkest moment' of the film.
The summary incorrectly identifies the clones as Mickey 6 and 7.
In the film Mickey 17 (2025), the darkest moment for Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson) occurs when he returns to the colony after being presumed dead, only to find that his replacement, Mickey 18, has already been printed. This creates a 'multiple' situation, which is a capital offense punishable by 'recycling' (incineration). The psychological horror of his expendability is realized when he sees his own replacement living his life. He overcomes this by forming an alliance with Mickey 18 and his girlfriend Nasha. In the climax, Mickey 18 sacrifices himself by detonating a vest to kill the tyrannical Commander Marshall (Mark Ruffalo). Mickey 17 then negotiates a peace with the sentient indigenous 'Creepers' and destroys the cloning machine, ending the Expendable program and reclaiming his identity as Mickey Barnes.