Why Robert Pattinson’s Character Has That Nightmare Explained By Director

Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Mickey 17.Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho explains the nightmarish dream sequence at the end of the movie. The Parasite director’s sci-fi action comedy follows Mickey Barnes’ (Robert Pattinson) journey as he signs up to be an “expendable” on a mission to colonize an ice planet. After having died 16 times and successfully made peace with the native Creepers on the planet, Mickey 17 is tasked with destroying the human printing machine. However, before pressing the button, he imagines Marshall’s wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette) trying to resurrect the villainous politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) by using the technology.

In an interview with Vulture, Bong explains what Mickey 17‘s nightmare means at the end of the movie. He shares that destroying the machine is a win for Mickey, who has suffered too much, but at the same time, the nightmare Mickey 17 has serves as “a sense of anxiety” about the worst-case scenario coming true. The director reflects on the temptation of convenience technology brings and reveals that the historical moment Mickey destroys the machine is inspired by a real-life conversation about AI. Check out his comments below:

I just felt so bad for Mickey. He’s quite close to my son’s age. I wanted him to not be destroyed by everything. Looking back on my previous films, I felt that I was quite harsh with the characters that I created, although it may have been necessary.

I wanted to end the film with this sense of anxiety that this nightmare can always repeat itself.

Technology is very tempting. It provides a lot of convenience, and, especially for the people who are making money off of it, it’s a very tempting thing. A couple of years ago, there was this one AI researcher who quit his job and did this interview where he said, “We should all agree to stop developing AI for a couple of years and come up with actual procedures on how to use this technology and how to prevent anything from going wrong.” But that didn’t work out. Everyone’s competing out of this anxiety and it’s going at a crazy speed. And who knows what will come out of all of this? We have to have John Connor.

What This Means For Mickey 17’s Ending

The Dream Sequence Is Tied To The Main Theme

Bong’s comment sheds some light on how the nightmare sequence is tied to Mickey 17‘s ending and theme, with it directly contributing to Mickey 17’s decision to destroy the machine. The nightmare sequence is Mickey’s own fear of technology misuse, but as Bong points out, it’s also one that could potentially happen if the machine was preserved. The sequence is in conversation with the ongoing concerns about AI technology in real life and partially serves as the director’s comments on the issue.

In the movie, technology misuse as a theme has been brought up several times, including through the case where a serial killer uses technology to advance his crimes and the villainous duplicate of Mickey 18. Marshall had guaranteed to safeguard human printing technology by promising that only one “expendable” would be used throughout the entire journey, but still, he couldn’t prevent the scenario where two Mickeys were created. Not to mention, the technology also gave others a reason to abuse Mickey to the full extent, including using him for painful experiments.

Our Take On Mickey 17’s Dream Sequence

It Tells Something About Mickey As Well

As Bong points out, seeing the human printing machine blown up serves as a triumphant moment for Mickey 17. In the movie, Mickey’s life is forever changed when he presses a red button moments before a car crash took away his mother’s life, resulting in him growing up believing that he was the one to blame for his mother’s death. As a result, Mickey has a natural fear of pressing any red buttons, but the nightmarish dream sequence in Mickey 17 provides the final push he needs to overcome his own fear.

Mickey, the closest person to human printing technology, knows how dangerous it is if it falls into the wrong hands, and the last thing people need after having just made peace with the Creepers, is the worry of another Marshall being printed. He has suffered the insufferable because of human printing technology, and seeing it blown up is no doubt a relief. The dream sequence also tells something about Mickey in Mickey 17, who didn’t blow up the machine for hatred or pain, but for the greater good.

Source: Vulture

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Mickey 17

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Release Date

March 25, 2025