 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Fellow pioneers, almost every single one of you will be remembered throughout history. | „ |
| ~ Marshall to his pioneers. |
| “ | No more reprints, that's what you both should be thinking when you die. Dead forever! | „ |
| ~ Marshall taunting Mickey 17 and 18 as he tried to erase their memories. |
Kenneth Marshall is the main antagonist of the 2025 science fiction dark comedy film Mickey 17. He is the leader of Nifelheim and the arch-nemesis of Mickey Barnes.
He was portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, who also played Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things.
Biography[]
In a dystopian capitalistic future, Kenneth Marshall is a former politician and the leader of the expedition to the snow planet Niflheim, only doing so after losing an election on earth and wanting a place where he could be in charge. Utulising "Reprinting", a controversial method of cloning, to create "Expendables", cloned workers for dangerous missions. Due to legal concerns after the case of Alan Manikova, one of the creators of "reprinting", who abused it to have himself or a clone kill homeless people while giving himself an alibi, Marshall vows to kill all "Multiples" (simultaneously living clones) on his ship. Only permitting a clone after a one dies.
In the present day after the ship's "Expendable", named Mickey 17, is accidentally cloned twice after being presumed dead, 17 is brought to dinner with Marshall, his wife Ylfa, his assistant Preston and security agent Kai Katz. Marshall informs Kai that he wants her to be in the ship's breeding program but is shut down by her and accused of seeing her and Mickey as property. 17 suddenly suffers severe pain during a hymn after being served experimental meat and the ship scientists try to treat Mickey with with experimental painkillers. After it appears not to work, Marshall decides to put Mickey out of his misery, but Kai intervenes as the painkillers have kicked in and he recovers. Later Mickey 17 informs what happened to Mickey 18, who becomes enraged and decides to kill Marshall.
While Marshall is at a public ceremony commemorating a piece of Niflheim rock, 18 finds and attempts to assasinate him before a baby creeper suddenly emerges from the rock, ensuing chaos, during so, 18 is tackled by a bystander. 17 arrives and manages to capture the creeper, Zoco. 18 breaks free and attempts to kill Marshall, but is stopped by Nasha, only managing to graze Marshall's cheek and damaging the rock. Marshall sees that Micky has become a Multiple and chastises them, but is suddenly attacked by another Creeper, Luco, who jumps on Marshall's face. Marshall manages to throw Luco on the ground, who is then killed by Kai and other security agents as Mickey 17, 18, and Nasha are arrested.
The Mickeys and Nasha are brought to Marshall, who scars 18's cheek with a hot poker in revenge before destroying Mickey's stored memories, so he can’t come back. Marshall explains that he plans on eradicating the Creepers with a supervirus created from the many that previous Mickeys were subjected to when the colony first landed. Nasha becomes enraged at Marshall's ignorance and cruelty, calling him an idiot for thinking himself superior and calling the creepers aliens despite them being the ones trying to take the planet by force, claiming his idiocy as to why he failed his election. An irritated Marshall has Nasha save Zoco from being lowered into a pit of lava by biting onto a chain and hook, prevening her from speaking. Ylfa and Preston persuade Marshall to task the Mickeys to compete in collecting 100 creeper tails, which Ylfa desires to make sauces with, the winner being allowed to live. Bomb vests are put on the Mickeys to ensure that they will do as they are told.
Mickey 17 and 18 are set out to do their task, surrounded by hundereds of Creepers who want revenge for Luco's death. Before leaving, a colony scientist named Dorothy, who had been one of the only ones to see Mickey more than a test subject, gives Mickey a translator, having discovered the Creepers to be a sapient hivemind and hoping they could be reasoned with. Both Mickeys manage to communicate with the Mother Creeper, who requires Zoco to be returned and a human to die in compensation to stop the attack. Marshall grows annoyed at 17 and 18 not doing their tasks and is persuaded by Preston to go out and poison the Creepers himself to boost his image.
17 puts himself in front of a camera and signals to Nasha to tell her they need to free Zoco. Nasha manages to free Zoco and takes Ylfa hostage. Ylfa is then arrested by security agents who had been working to take down Marshall for his corruption and finally have enough evidence to take them down. Marshall, Preston, and other workers go out on large tanks to kill the Creepers, but they start swarming around each other to hide the Mother Creeper. Marshall grows angry at not being able to locate the Mother Creeper as he wishes to gloat to her before eradicating the species. 18 sees Marshall and goes to stop him while 17 and Nasha return Zoco.
18 fights Marshall and his men, who end up fleeing exept for Marshall who is held down by 18. Marshall suddenly gets introspective and tells 18 that he knows they're both afraid, which shows them both to be human. Marshall tries to dissuade 18 from killing him, calling him "my boy", but 18 detonates the bomb planted on himself with the device on Marshall's arm, killing them both. Preston and the other Marshall conspirators are imprisoned for their actions while Ylfa is put into a psychiatric ward where she takes her life soon after. Mickey and Nasha are taken to the colony council court by Marshall sympathisers for his death, and after a long legal battle manage to go free. Nasha decides to join the council to prevent Marshall's influence to continue on and stop corruption in the colony.
With the ceasefire successful, the Creepers make peace with the humans, working with them to make Niflheim habitable. Nasha, now the colony leader, outlaws the Expendable program and a ceremony is held to destroy the reprinting machine. During the ceremony Mickey has a nightmare where an alive Ylfa manages to get Marshall reprinted and pressures him into trying one of her sauces, which is implied to be human remains of some sort and may have been the case the entire time. Mickey remembers that Ylfa is dead which ends the nightmare, and wakes up to blow up the machine. Finally freeing him from his old life.