Mickey 17 ending explained: What happens between the creepers and humans?

Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17
Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17 | Warner Bros.

Spoilers ahead for Mickey 17

Bong Joon-ho's latest movie Mickey 17 is a hilarious and politically savvy new sci-fi black comedy film earning great reviews from critics. Robert Pattinson gets to play multiple roles in this film as his character Mickey is known as an "Expendable," a worker on the new colony of Nilfheim who is repeatedly reprinted every time he dies, making him the perfect guinea pig to test new experimental treatments and more horrible stuff since he's seen as disposable and can always be killed off and brought back to life.

But the movie starts when the latest of the clones, Mickey 17, is mistakenly believed to be dead, leading to the production of Mickey 18. Multiples are strictly forbidden, so the two Mickeys must figure out how to work together or stay hidden. But the colony's leading political leader has other plans in mind for them.

Let's recap the way the film ends.

The creepers fight back

The creepers return with a vengeance in pursuit of one of the colony's missing babies, Zoco. Since Kenneth Marshall wants to rid himself of his multiples problem after discovering the existence of Mickey 17 and 18, he and wife Ylfa put them in suits laden with a lethal nerve gas. They set them on the creeper community with simple instructions: cut off as many tails as possible for Ylfa's sauce obsession and whoever loses will be blown up, taking all of the creepers with them.

But before the Mickeys are thrust into the central creeper hub, one of the scientists, Dorothy, gives Mickey 17 an updated translator so he can communicate with the creepers. Face-to-face with the leader creeper, Mickey negotiates a new deal. Because of the human's already murdering one of the creeper babies, the leader says they demand Zoco (the other baby being held hostage) back in addition to the death of one human. Only then will there be peace between them all. Otherwise, she suggests they can use their super-screeching abilities to exterminate every human on Nilfheim.

Mickey translates to Nasha what they need to do, referencing a chart of sex positions they'd made at the beginning of the movie. He mimics "C3," which Nasha recalls is the "bringing the baby" move. She grabs Zoco and escapes from the ship to bring the creeper to its mother.

Meanwhile, some of Kenneth's staff convince him to meet face-to-face with the leading creeper before killing them all, as a way to make himself look like the hallmark of diplomacy.

In the end, Nasha gets Zoco to her mother and Mickey 18 attacks Kenneth to prevent him from blowing up the Mickeys and killing the creepers. With Kenneth sequestered on his own transport vehicle, Mickey 18 sacrifices himself by pressing the button to blow up his nerve gas pack, thus killing Kenneth too and fulfilling the bargain with the creepers.

Epilogue

Mickey 17 has a surprisingly happy ending with all of the characters living peacefully alongside the creepers. Nasha steps up into a leadership position. She and Mickey spearhead a commission to permanently put an end to human printing, and thus the Expendable program, meaning Mickey 17 is now the only Mickey remaining. Now he gets to just be Mickey Barnes instead of a number. They blow up the reprint machine. And the creepers appear to become valuable partners to the humans, with a new symbol created showing a baby creeper, perhaps in honor of the previous one's death.

There is a brief "fake out" moment toward the end where Mickey walks in on Ylfa using the reprint machine to create another Kenneth, but it turns out to be one of his dreams. In reality, Ylfa kills herself while being held in a psychiatric facility.

What happens to Timo? Well, he does eventually come face-to-face with his loan shark's accomplice, but somehow Timo manages to overpower the man and continue surviving.

Mickey 17 is now playing in theaters.