‘Mickey 17’ and writing unique Science Fiction
March 14, 2025
In the first few scenes of Mickey 17, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) through voice over explains the wild and strange reality of the world the audience is about to experience for the next 2+ hours. He shares how he became an “Expendable,” someone who signed up for a ride on a starship voyaging to a new planet, and who is used in any number of experiments on board that can lead to death. The kicker: once you’re dead, they can reprint you and implant your memories back into your brain.
Mickey 17 is the latest film from Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning writer and director of Parasite, and shares the tale of the 17th iteration of Mickey who is believed to have died while out on the new planet only to come back to the ship and realize they made Mickey 18 (no spoiler, it’s in the trailer). However, multiples are illegal, so one of the Mickeys must go.
The film has a lot to say regarding politics, ethics, morality, class and humanity, and creates a world to discuss these themes in a way that’s entertaining, fun and funny.
If you’re looking to build a world with a unique cast of characters that examines today’s common issues and concerns, screenwriters can learn from the who, what, where, why, when and how of Mickey 17.
Who is Mickey?
Almost immediately, the audience falls in love with Mickey. He seems like a loveable doofus, making bad decisions but endlessly optimistic, kind and folksy. In the first scene, he’s in the bottom of an ice cavern and the voice over starts like the beginning of Sunset Boulevard, the classic film in which a screenwriter laying face down in a pool narrates, “You might be wondering how I got here.”
Timo (Steven Yeun) appears at the top of the ice cavern. He’s Mickey’s friend from earth, there to save him but his rope isn’t long enough, and so he takes Mickey’s flamethrower, apologizes and leaves. Mickey is gracious, saying it’s okay and they’ll just reprint him when he dies here.
While screenwriters and storytellers often lean toward creating leading characters who are capable and smart, they can see how having a loveable loser can also be a great tool in building a story.
Who are the Characters in Mickey’s World?
Bong Joon Ho gives the Coen Brothers a run for their money when it comes to unique and creative characters. There are the more down-to-earth characters like Timo and Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who plays Mickey’s love interest and fellow traveler. But most of the others onboard the starship are bigger-than-life characters who reflect the absurdity of the mission and the film’s themes.
Mickey 18 is unique in his own right because he’s the reprint created after Mickey 17 is believed to be dead. He’s different in some capacities, such as being more aggressive than Mickey 17. When the audience has spent so much time with Mickey 17, they’re exposed to a version of Mickey that they and 17 are not used to – it’s as if Mickey has become someone he doesn’t recognize even if it’s himself (a play on a theme there).
Then there’s Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette). Marshall is the charismatic leader who lost an election and has a legion of loyal followers literally willing to go to another planet with him. Ylfa seems to be the one to keep Marshall’s idiosyncrasies on track, but that doesn’t mean she’s any less outrageous or cruel.
These supporting characters have their own goals, needs and desires and it’s how Mickey interacts with them that reveals who they are, and who Mickey is.
What Themes are Being Explored
Bong Joon Ho explores many themes in his films, especially when it comes to class and how people treat each other. While not every movie will dive into a variety of themes, it’s important that a writer knows what message they want to have in their story.
The Brutalist had themes around artistic integrity and the immigrant experience. Even Transformers has a theme around man versus machine and how a powerful entity can show compassion and stand up for those who are threatened.
Mickey 17 has several themes that screenwriters used within the context of the story, such as:
- What it means to be humane: How those in power exploit those who are considered “expendable” and the lack of humanity they have if it’s perceived to be for the greater good
- Class systems: The “workers” on the spaceship have rationed food and energy expenditure to the point that Marshall has considered banning sexual activity because of the calories used in the act. Meanwhile, Marshall and Ylfa have extravagant dinners.
- Political exploitation and manipulation: At the beginning of the movie, the audience sees how many people will blindly follow their political leader and how Marshall and Ylfa are exploiting this. When they arrive on the planet, Marshall flat out says they are achieving their goal of populating a pure white (“icy”) planet with a superior race (those who came with him).
Where and When Does Mickey 17 Take Place?
Time and location are important to a movie and will impact how the story is told. By having Mickey 17 take place in a somewhat dystopian future, it removes the audience from the present day and allows for more technological advancements to be present. Most people will understand the concept of cloning and 3D printing, but no one expects anyone in the present day to be able to 3D print/clone a human being. Yet, Mickey 17 makes this both possible and believable.
The future setting also makes interstellar travel an accepted reality. The audience doesn’t think twice about a large number of people boarding a massive spaceship and spending over four years traveling through space to another planet as an impossibility.
A great exercise for screenwriters is to consider what this film would look like in a different time and place. How would you tell the story of Mickey Barnes if it were modern day? Would it take place at a secret compound in the desert? Or a wealthy person’s lab in New York City? The more you explore this, the better you can see how the when and where of a setting impacts how a story is told.
How Mickey Finds Himself in this Situation
Before Mickey launches into space, we get a glimpse of his life on earth and the reason he’s escaping. Mickey and Timo opened a business using mob money and witnessed what happens when you don’t pay them back. Instead of the gruesome death, they apply to be passengers on the spaceship headed to a new, better planet. Timo has the experience to pilot helicopters; Mickey has no skills and didn’t read what he was applying for: an Expendable.
That loveable doofus aspect plays a big role in getting him into the circumstances he’s in – he goes along with what his friend tells him to do (opening up a restaurant with mob money), he applies to be an expendable without knowing what it really entails, and he gets used by those running experiments.
Why Tell This Story?
Mickey 17 is based on the sci-fi novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton that was released in 2022, although he started writing the book in 2015. The ideation for the story began with Ashton thinking about an unglamorous immortality, maybe what if being a vampire wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Expanding upon that, Ashton then paired it with an exploitative social structure.
It was a story that piqued his interest and one he felt compelled to tell. When screenwriters are working on their next project, they have to find a reason to tell the story. It doesn’t have to be as ambitious as Mickey7 or Mickey 17. Sean Baker, the Academy Award winning filmmaker of Anora, having spoken with sex workers wanted to tell a small-scale story expanding on how one of the workers he knew married the wrong Russian mafia figure. It was a story Baker wanted to tell, just as Bong Joon Ho wanted to take Ashton’s story and turn it into an epic space opera focusing on class and politics.
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Mickey 17 leans into the absurd. It’s ambitious, fun and filled with commentary on today’s political and class issues. For screenwriters who like to write out of the box and want to create a unique science fiction world, Mickey 17 is one you’ll want to study.
