You’re probably living under a rock if you haven’t heard about the Robert Pattinson-starrer Mickey 17, but did you know that the movie is adapted from a sci-fi book titled Mickey7?
While Mickey 17 is already a hit given that it’s directed by the visionary South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, who has added his signature themes of black comedy and tonal shifts to the movie, Mickey7 is a 2022 sci-fi novel written by Edward Ashton that serves as the source material.
Set in a distant space colony, the narrative of Mickey7 follows an “Expendable” named Mickey Barnes who has to put himself through dangerous experiments and tasks while fighting the alien inhabitants. Mixing black comedy with futuristic sci-fi elements, the novel takes its reader on an immersive journey full of nail-biting sequences.
But before we dive deeper into the plot, themes and reception of the novel, let’s talk about the movie it has inspired.
More about Mickey 17: The movie based on Mickey7, with a slightly different title
Directed by Bong Joon-ho, Mickey 17 stars Pattinson as the debt-ridden protagonist who signs up for a space mission to colonise the outer space planet, Nilfheim. In the process, he has to put himself through a string of fatal circumstances, and every time he dies, a clone is “printed out” to replace him.
The science fiction black comedy also stars Naomi Ackie as Nasha, Steven Yeun as Timo, Mickey’s best friend and a pilot, Mark Ruffalo as politician Marshall and Toni Collette as Ylfa, Marshall’s wife.
Mickey 17, written and directed by Bong, first premiered at Berlinale on 15 February 2025. It released in South Korea on 28 February, and in the USA and worldwide on 7 March.
But did you wonder why the movie’s title differs a bit from that of the sci-fi book? Well, that’s because in the movie, Mickey is killed off more times than in Edward’s book for heightened dramatic effect. “I killed him 10 more times, that’s why we changed it,” quipped Bong at the 2024 CinemaCon, where they unveiled the film’s trailer.
What is the plot of Mickey7?
The man who brought us the inspiration for #Mickey17, it’s Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7! pic.twitter.com/YxE4Yq1vqo
— Warner Bros. UK (@WarnerBrosUK) February 13, 2025
In a distant future where humanity has escaped the Earth and established colonies all over space, Mickey Barnes is a man who lives on a third-gen colony Midgard. Barnes, a historian by profession, finds himself bored in his personal life, which leads him to start gambling.
However, when the bets don’t go as planned, Barnes gets into crippling debt. Tortured by the people he owes money to, he enlists to be the “Expendable” on a colonising space mission to the icy planet of Nilfheim. There, he is accompanied by Berto, a pilot and Mickey’s friend.
As the book explains, an “Expendable” is a human clone whose memories and personality are saved on a database. So, when the first version dies, they can be regenerated. In fact, if an Expendable uploads their memories while dying, they can even learn from their previous death and understand what not to do this time.
Stationed on an isolated colony fighting the inhabitant species of the planet called ‘Creepers’; Mickey goes on numerous dangerous missions over the years and is on his seventh iteration, aka Mickey7.
On one such mission, Mickey7 falls into a hole. Presumed dead, a request for his eighth clone is made to the Command. But, as fate would have it, Mickey7 survives when a Creeper lets him out of the hole. (This also gives Mickey7 the idea that the Creepers might be sentient).
Problems arise as multiples of Expendables are not allowed to co-exist. If discovered, Mickey7 and Mickey8 would both be killed and Mickey9 would never come to life.
So how does Mickey7 end?
While being a page-turner, one-third of the book is spent with Mickey7 and Mickey8 hiding their secret from Berto, Nasha and everyone else in the colony. However, as the climax approaches, and their secret gets exposed, not a lot of the book is left.
Spoiler alert!
After finding out about the double clones, Marshall sends Mickey7 and Mickey8 on a mission to hunt the Creepers. In combat, Mickey8 dies and Mickey7 is overcome with survivors’ guilt.
Regardless, Mickey7 escapes. He tells Marshall that he negotiated a truce with the Creepers so they wouldn’t use the anti-matter bomb and threaten humanity.
Marshall, in the penultimate chapter of the book, apologises to Mickey7, referring to him as Mickey for the first time. Immediately after, however, he assigns him another fatal mission. Having had enough of his puppeteering ways, Mickey7 resigns. Alluding that he is the only wall of defense between the Creepers and humanity, he deters Marshall from killing him.
In the last chapter of the book, as Mickey7 and Nasha take a walk, he tells her that he didn’t leave the anti-matter bomb with the Creepers. He only implied it in front of Marshall so he would let him live and intends to leave it hidden.
What are the main themes explored in the book?
Ashton does a great job of world-building. With themes of colonisation and identity, the book poses many thought-provoking questions to its readers.
For instance, given Mickey Barnes’ profession as a historian, Ashton swiftly uses that to dive deeper into the history of colonisation, and the xenophobia and genocide that usually accompany it.
Furthermore, using the ‘Ship of Theseus’ analogy, Ashton explores identity, putting forth the notion that even though all his memories are intact, is Mickey7 the original Mickey Barnes? The same theme is extended through the character of Nasha, Mickey’s girlfriend, when she discusses how difficult it is to love someone who dies again and again.
Juxtaposing science and religion, Ashton also provides a natalist perspective. Marshall, the evil high command who assigns Mickey his missions, is a natalist. Believing he doesn’t have a soul, Marshall finds ways to isolate Mickey as much as possible by cutting his rations or doing something else.
Another theme in the book is survival — the survival of humanity and the co-existence of Mickey7 and Mickey8. Diving deeper into this theme, the novel also explores what it means to be human. Is life truly ‘expendable’, and do some people deserve a better chance at survival than others?
We’ll let you ponder over these questions.
Also read: Upcoming Colleen Hoover book-to-film adaptations to obsess over after It Ends With Us
Review and reception
Full of light and dark comedy, Mickey7 is a great read. With a well-paced narrative and immaculate world-building, the book overall serves a great premise.
It has a rating of 3.8 on Goodreads and was nominated for Readers’ Favourite Science Fiction category at Goodreads’ Choice Awards 2022. In addition, NPR listed it as one of the best sci-fi books of 2022.
The popularity of the book prompted a sequel, Antimatter Blues, the very next year.
You can buy your copy of Mickey7 on here.
Hero and feature image: Courtesy: IMDb/Mickey 17 (2025), Amazon/Mickey7
