The following contains spoilers for Mickey 17, now playing in theatersMickey 17 kills off Robert Pattinson’s character in several different ways. Mickey 17 centers around Mickey Barnes, a desperate man who agrees to become an “Expendable” during an attempt to colonize the distant alien world of Niflheim. As an Expendable, Mickey’s genetic make-up and memories have been saved and duplicated, allowing the scientists aboard the ship to make copies of Mickey anytime he dies in the line of duty.
This is crucial for Mickey, considering how often he dies during the course of the film in the name of scientific advancement on the ship. While audiences don’t get to see all of these deaths, they ultimately are at the core of Mickey 17‘s thematic throughline and highlights the cost. By the time of Mickey 17‘s ending, Mickey had experienced darkly hilarious, quietly horrifying, and surprisingly heroic deaths — here is how each of them plays into the film’s story and themes.
Radiation Poisoning In Space
Mickey’s Space Death Sets The Tone For The Rest Of The Movie
Mickey’s first prominent death in Mickey 17 is while he’s exposed to lethal amounts of radiation while in space, setting the tone for the rest of the film and his other various demise. After establishing what an Expendable is, Mickey (and the audience) get to see first hand how terrifying the process can be when Mickey is sent to the outside of the space ship to check on equipment. Mickey never makes it back inside, instead being exposed to lethal amounts of radiation poisoning. The scientists even take this opportunity to study the impact of radiation on the human body.
Mickey is forced to take off one of his gloves so they can see his skin, leading it to being frozen in the vacuum of space and then quickly broken off. Mickey likely loses many other lives in a similar fashion, given the jump in number by the time they arrive at Niflhem. This is a good showcase for the disregard the scientists have for Mickey in the film and establishes how Expendables are seen as disposable test subjects instead of crew members.
A Printer Error Kills A Mickey
Mickey 17‘s Cloning Technology Isn’t Perfect
One of the most darkly comedic of Mickey’s deaths occurs during a printing error. Each time Mickey is killed, the next clone is simply created in a large machine that “prints” a new body from the existing DNA samples, digital memory storage, and waste from the ship. However, the machine isn’t flawless. The staff needs to be on point, with their distracted staff often failing to set up the proper space for the new copies to be created. It’s unknown what kills many of the Mickey clones off-screen, as the film largely focuses on the ones after 10.
The most notable members of the scientists in Mickey 17 are Akady (played by Cameron Britton) and Dorothy (played by Patsy Ferran).
Audiences do see one clone quickly killed shortly after as he’s printed, with a machine error quickly leaving Mickey on the verge of death — which the scientists decide to simply let happen. Dorothy, the only scientist with any clear sympathy for Mickey, tries to reᴀssure him that he won’t have to suffer for long before dying and being remade. This moment helps establish Dorothy’s personality, setting her up to play a minor but vital role in the climax of the film after she crafts a translator for Mickey to speak with the alien creepers.
First Contact With Niflheim
Boldly Going Where No One Has Gone Before
When the human colonists arrive on Niflheim, Mickey’s role as an Expendable makes him the ideal person to send onto the planet’s surface. Walking around without a mask, Mickey is exposed to the natural pathogens and viruses of the planet. The scientists predicted the atmosphere would be lethal, requiring them to craft a vaccine to combat the effects of the virus. To do this, though, they require a viable sample of the virus, leading to Mickey 11 being sent to the planet side and told to take off his protective helmet.
This is one of the saddest of Mickey’s deaths, as the character actually has time to enjoy being out of the spaceship and breathing fresh air before he unceremoniously dies. What makes this even sadder is the reality that Mickey may actually be one of if not the first person to actually step foot on Niflheim. However, because he is an Expendable, his contributions to this mᴀssive achievement is likely glossed over for the sake of celebrating people like Kenneth Marshall.
Vaccine Research Kills Multiple Mickey Copies
What Being An Expendable Really Means
The most Mickeys that are killed on-screen in Mickey 17 die in quick succession as part of clinical trials on Niflheim. At one point in the film, Mickey 17 remarks that the last five versions of himself all died as part of the attempt to create a vaccine to the viruses on Niflheim. Each of these deaths happen in quick succession after the demise of what appears to be Mickey 11. Mickey 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 were all used as test subjects for a possible vaccine, with the scientists treating him as a guinea pig for their experiments.
This is one of the darkest segments of the film, with the various versions of Mickey always seemingly having a little flash of hope about the situation before his health collapses and he dies a horrible death all over again. This is where the themes of the film about the ways people are treated as expendable for higher society’s benefit are most evident. While this does lead to the successful creation of the vaccine, it comes at a cost most inhabitants of the ship will never know or even care about.
Mickey 18’s Self-Sacrifice
Mickey 18’s Big Moment, Explained
The climax of Mickey 17 is Mickey 18 sacrificing himself to kill Kenneth Marshall, serving as the final Mickey death of the film. Mickey 18 is a brash and confrontational figure, more than willing to risk his own life to kill people he is angry with. Ultimately, Mickey 18 finds a productive outlet for that rage after being sent on a suicide mission by Marshall alongside Mickey 17. After ambushing Marshall on the surface of Niflheim, Mickey 18 detonates the bomb on him alongside Marshall as an appeasement for the death of the creeper baby.
After a short lifetime of suffering for the sake of others in Mickey 17, Mickey 18’s death saved more than ever before and was finally of his own accord.
This saves humanity from the creepers, and is the only time Mickey dies of his choice in the film. All of Mickey’s rebirths occur after he’s been abused by the system of power and used as a tool rather for their gain. Mickey 18 was a version of Mickey who took things into his own hands, leading him to finally die accomplishing his own goals. After a short lifetime of suffering for the sake of others in Mickey 17, Mickey 18’s death saved more than ever before and was finally of his own accord.
