Explanation of the ending of Mickey 17

After several years of waiting, the new science fiction and comedy film directed by Bong Joon-ho, Mickey 17, has premiered in theaters. Based on Edward Ashton's novel Mickey7, the film tells the story of Mickey, a man who, after going through tough times, becomes an "expendable" on the icy planet Niflheim in search of a fresh start. However, his work forces him to die and be reborn in a cloned body repeatedly, facing the struggle for his life in the midst of a war against the native creatures of the planet.

The plot of Mickey 17 is quite different from the dark comedy Parasite, but Bong continues to offer his unique satire with a narrative filled with surprises and reflections on humanity and its future. The film also provides an indication of where the director's new science fiction franchise could be headed.

The story of Mickey 17 follows Mickey Barnes and his partner Timo, who find themselves fleeing from a loan shark after the failure of their macaroon shop. To escape their debts and certain death, they decide to join a colonization mission to Niflheim, under the command of the fascist politician Kenneth Marshall and his wife, Ylfa. As an expendable, Mickey faces various tasks that risk his life, being treated almost like a guinea pig by the ship's scientists, who repeatedly kill him to test chemical weapons or develop vaccines to help the crew survive in the new environment.

When the seventeenth version of Mickey falls into a ravine and is left for dead, he is rescued by the planet's native inhabitants, known as the "Creepers." Upon returning to the ship, he realizes that a new clone has been generated, causing both to be considered "multiples." Since multiples are prohibited after a case involving a self-cloning serial killer, Mickeys 17 and 18 try to eliminate each other before their superiors execute them. Eventually, they are discovered and imprisoned along with their love interest, Nasha. As punishment for their "crimes," Marshall sends both Mickeys to eliminate a group of Creepers surrounding the ship, as one of them is holding a Creeper child captive. With the help of a high-tech translator, the Mickeys agree to return the child in an attempt to balance out the deaths they have caused.

The story takes a turn when Nasha and her allies organize a rebellion against Marshall and Ylfa, culminating in the delivery of the child to their group. However, Mickey 18 blows himself up along with Marshall, thus concluding his forced negotiation and achieving peace with the Creepers.

After the uprising, Mickey, Nasha, and their allies are imprisoned but miraculously exonerated, with Nasha becoming a key figure in the Niflheim colony. Thanks to her leadership, the expendables program is banned, and Mickey destroys the machine used to create clones. Before this heroic act, he experiences a nightmare involving Ylfa, who had died, in which she uses the printer to clone Marshall, symbolizing that the fascism they represented has not been eradicated. This vision reflects Mickey's fear of the final death that would come with destroying the printer, but he chooses to overcome his fear and ends the machine, ensuring that neither he nor Marshall will return.

Although Mickey 17 does not explicitly set the stage for a sequel, Edward Ashton has already published a subsequent book titled Antimatter Blues, which could encourage a continuation. This story follows Mickey on another adventure to save his colony, where he learns to live without the possibility of returning as a clone, aligning with his decisions at the end of the film. This situation suggests that a potential sequel could pit Mickey against a new villain similar to Marshall and Ylfa, reiterating the cycle of oppression from the original film. However, Mickey 17 presents itself as a complete narrative, leaving Mickey Barnes ready to begin a new life on Niflheim.