Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Electric State.After all these years, it is surprising that the iconic Mr. Peanut has finally made his movie debut with a Netflix sci-fi flick. Created by Antonio Gentile, Mr. Peanut served as an advertising logo and mascot for an American food company called Planters. The anthropomorphic peanut was portrayed as an old-fashioned gentleman who donned a black hat with his name, “Mr. Peanut,” imprinted on it. He also wore a monocle, spats, and white gloves, and walked with a long black cane. At one point, Mr. Peanut was so well-known and deeply engraved in pop culture that he was featured in nearly every Planters package and advertisement.

With his proper name being Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe, the British heritage mascot only grew from strength to strength in popularity as his fame grew beyond the brand it represented. Over the years, he has been featured in everything from TV commercials to novels, with many renowned actors voicing him in commercials. Surprisingly, Mr. Peanut has now also stepped into the world of Hollywood by making his debut in a Netflix sci-fi movie.

Mr. Peanut Is A War Veteran Robot In The Electric State

He Serves As A Leading Figure For The Surviving Robots

Voiced by Woody Harrelson, Mr. Peanut is introduced as a war-veteran robot in The Electric State who fought for the robots during their battle against humans. The movie also reveals that he serves somewhat as a leading figure for the surviving robots and has signed “the Treaty of Surrender with President Clinton on the White House lawn.“ When Millie Bobby Brown’s character, Michelle, meets him midway through the film, he presents himself as a radical, revolutionary leader who wishes to keep the robots in the enclosed zone because he fears that humans will destroy him and his community.

However, Mr. Peanut eventually has a change of heart when Michelle helps him realize that the robots, too, deserve freedom. With this, Mr. Peanut leads a war against human androids with his robot army in The Electric State‘s ending arc, which nearly leads to his death. Woody Harrelson does an incredible job of capturing the iconic mascot’s voice in the movie, perfectly portraying him as a complex character torn between his role as a leader for surviving robots and his desire for self-preservation.

Mr. Peanut Is One Of The Most Surprising (& Fun) Parts Of The Electric State

His Role Surprisingly Works & Fits The Movie’s Storyline

Having Mr. Peanut as a character in a dystopian drama about a war between humans and robots initially seems a little strange. It is hard to process what a robotic version of the iconic mascot is doing in such a setting — that, too, as a political figure who stands next to Bill Clinton in a bizarre alternate history scene.

However, the more the movie progresses, the more Mr. Peanut’s character works. Instead of making him look like the real mascot, The Electric State cleverly gives him the appearance of an old and weathered peanut who has experienced the atrocities of war.

With Woody Harrelson’s voice, the Mr. Peanut robot also exhibits a sense of gravitas and weariness that perfectly fits his role in the movie’s story. The battle-worn appearance that he and other popular mascot robots bear also seems to point towards the movie’s exploration of how the unchecked development of technology has killed all innocence and purity in the world. Featuring a mascot like Mr. Peanut as a character could have easily backfired for The Electric State, but the Netflix movie surprisingly makes it work with its brilliant VFX and decent character development.