Mickey 17

In a distant future where Earth's resources are depleted, humanity ventures to colonize new worlds. On the hostile and frozen planet Niflheim, a disposable employee known as an “expendable” is sent on a perilous mission as part of a small colony. The protagonist serves as the crew’s expendable: a worker cloned and reprinted after every death, each iteration retaining the memories of its predecessor. Despite his essential role—performing the most dangerous tasks and resigning himself to repeated deaths—he struggles with isolation, boredom, and the existential burden of being seen only as a tool by the rest of the colony.

When the latest version returns from a mission, he discovers that his previous iteration has inexplicably survived. Now, two versions must hide the truth of their simultaneous existence from the colony’s authoritarian commander and wary fellow settlers. As tensions spiral in the harsh environment, the existence of duplicate expendables threatens to unravel the colony’s social order. Facing moral dilemmas and questions about identity, survival, and what it means to be human, the protagonist navigates shifting alliances and increasing suspicion. His fight is not just for his own place in this new world, but also to determine whether he is simply a replaceable pawn or something more.