Warning: This article contains spoilers for Mickey 17.Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 made some changes to Edward Ashton’s original novel, and though one of them could’ve created an awesome Robert Pattinson bit, the film unfortunately didn’t follow through. Released at the start of March, Mickey 17 is a futuristic sci-fi story which centers on Mickey, a young man who volunteers to be an Expendable, a human whose consciousness and body are reprinted after they die. Mickey finds love in his dystopian world, but when an illegal extra version of him is created, he goes on the run to save his life.

Bong succeeded in adapting Mickey 17, at least in terms of ratings. The movie has earned a Certified Fresh 77% critics score and a 73% audience score. For newcomers, Mickey 17 presents a hilarious scif-fi world that perfectly toes the line between real danger and whimsy. Those who have read Ashton’s Mickey7 also enjoyed seeing this strange universe on the big screen with Bong’s quirky filmmaking style. However, Mickey 17 made quite a few significant changes to the original story, and though some of them added to the overall project, others were not used to their full potential.

Mickey 17 Greatly Increased The Number Of Multiples Robert Pattinson Could Play

Why Bong Added More Mickeys

A pivotal change that Bong made when adapting Mickey 17 was that Mickey has 10 more deaths than in the original book. As implied by the novel’s тιтle, Mickey7, Mickey’s story of “multiples” occurred between his seventh iteration and his eighth, meaning both Mickey 7 and Mickey 8 were alive at the same time. However, in the movie, Bong expedites the Expendable process and sets the story during the life of Mickey 17, and eventually, Mickey 18. Ultimately, this provides viewers with quite a few Mickeys to follow through flashbacks over the course of the film.

It isn’t entirely clear why Bong added so many new Mickeys, but one theory is that it proves to audiences just how much Mickey suffers on Niflheim. One major element of Mickey’s story is that, as an Expendable, he has a truly awful life. He is constantly put into terrifying and painful situations, all of which result in his death. He has very little respect from his peers, aside from Nasha. Thus, Bong may have added more Mickeys to really show how difficult Mickey’s lot in life is, which makes it even more vital that he survives this “multiples” situation.

Robert Pattinson Only Really Plays A Few Of Mickey’s Multiples

What Mickey 17 Did & Didn’t Show Of The Multiples

Although Bong’s extra Mickeys help establish the severity of the story, it was disappointing that the movie didn’t delve into all these characters. For most of the movie, Pattinson portrays Mickey 17 and 18. While these two Mickeys were uniquely different from each other, the movie had the chance to showcase so many more Mickeys with equally interesting personalities. In fact, the movie even hints at this with dialogue between Mickey and Nasha implying that some Mickeys were sulkier, angrier, and stranger than the true Mickey. Bong introduced this idea, but never actually showed it to audiences.

Mickey 17 offers glimpses at previous versions of Mickey. We see him being injected with a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly virus and dying in a transparent pod. We watch a darkly hilarious moment when the researchers tell Mickey to breathe in Niflheim’s air, which is full of lethal pathogens. We even get a glimpse of an earlier Mickey on an expedition with Kai, which ends in an unexpected death. Unfortunately, as much as these scenes are interesting and fun, they don’t really flesh these Mickeys out as full characters. They just seem like Mickey, rather than a unique iteration of him.

I Really Wanted To See Robert Pattinson Play All 18 Versions Of Mickey

Mickey 17 Could Have Tackled A Compelling Question

In reality, it would have been awesome to see Pattinson portray all 18 versions of Mickey. Although Mickey 17 is already jam-packed with action and multiple storylines, it would have been a neat trick to see a montage, at least, of Pattinson embodying every Mickey. The actor already did such a great job at differentiating between Mickey 17 and 18 that he definitely could have come up with compelling ways to portray the other ones. This small change would have made the addition of 10 more Mickeys make far more sense, because viewers would have actually met these characters.

Furthermore, Mickey 17 could have used this bit to pose a captivating question: what part of every Mickey iteration makes him a true Mickey? While every Mickey fluctuates in terms of personality and motivation, there must be something within every version that connects him to the real Mickey. To be fair, this is a pretty abstract question and Mickey 17 may not have had time to answer it thoroughly, but at the very least, it would have left audiences wondering about idenтιтy and what it means to be truly yourself, even after being reprinted 18 times over.

Mickey 17 Doesn’t Justify Increasing The Number Of Multiples

Pattinson Must Take On More Roles Like Mickey

Ultimately, Mickey 17 does not explain why Bong added 10 more Mickeys to the equation. Based on how the movie plays out, it would not have made a difference whether the main character was Mickey 17 or Mickey 7. Thus, Bong’s decision seems arbitrary. However, if the director had given Pattinson a scene to showcase all 18 Mickeys, then the addition of more iterations would have made a lot more sense, and even better, would have had a more satisfying pay-off. As of now, those other Mickeys are nothing more than an idea in audiences’ heads.

Bong’s lack of follow-through with the Mickeys is disappointing, but if viewers have learned anything from this situation, it is that Pattinson needs to take on more roles like Mickey 17. In his post-Twlight years, Pattinson has certainly taken on exciting roles, but Mickey 17 seemed like a really different challenge for the actor, and he definitely succeeded. Now, it would be great to see Pattinson in even more sci-fi roles where he must transform into a completely different version of himself. Perhaps Pattinson’s next roles can make up for what Mickey 17 lacked.