Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child of Fire.
After Jimmy’s introduction in the beginning of Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire, the movie doesn’t feature him again until the very end, revealing a transformed version of the robot, featuring a new costume including a cloak, a staff, and an antler headpiece. While he was only a small part of the first installment, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) doesn’t only have a bigger role in the sequel, Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scargiver, but also an expanded character arc in the longer R-rated director’s cut set to release in 2024.
Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire kicks off Zack Snyder’s new sci-fi fantasy universe with a story heavily inspired by Seven Samurai as Kora (Sofia Boutella) goes on a quest to seek out a team of warriors to defend a farming village on Veldt against the tyranny of the Imperium. Despite turning on the other Imperium soldiers to save the water girl, Sam, Jimmy doesn’t join Kora on her quest. He stays behind in the farming village and doesn’t get any additional screen time until the very end of the movie, although it’s clear he’s been on his own character journey while the rest of the team was coming together.
What is Jimmy?
The origin and history of the Imperium’s JC-1335 robot.
When the Imperium arrives on Veldt, they boot up Jimmy, denoted JC-1435, and begin utilizing him to unload crates, working as a glorified forklift despite his engravings and symbols on his armor suggesting he’s designed for a more noble purpose. When he speaks with Sam under the bridge near the water, Jimmy reveals that he and his “brothers” were in service of the Slain King and awaited the prophecied arrival of Princess Issa, the Lifegiver, who they believed could bring a new age of peace and compassion to the universe after generations after generations of war.
Instead of that peace being realized, Jimmy says the entire royal family was killed by an assassin. After that, the Jimmies refused to fight for the Imperium any longer. He won’t even fight back in self-defense as shown when Marcus, the Imperium soldier, attacks him and repeatedly shoots him on the ground. Despite this refusal to fight, Jimmy shows up after Kora fights off the Imperium soldiers, shooting the captain to save Sam before running off.
Jimmy’s character arc was cut from the PG-13 Version
Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire’s hour-longer R-rated director’s cut arrives in 2024.
While Jimmy stays on Veldt and is off-screen until the final moments of Rebel Moon, it’s clear he’s gone on his own character arc while Kora and Gunnar were off recruiting the other warriors. Since his story isn’t relevant to the rest of the story in Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire, it was excluded in the PG-13 cut, but Zack Snyder says the longer R-rated cut will explain more about what’s going on with Jimmy and why he’s dressed up in a cloak and antler helmet at the end of the movie.
According to Snyder, the director’s cut will feature more of Jimmy discovering his humanity. In addition to the director’s cut, Jimmy’s arc in Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scargiver will see him having to “make a choice about how much will he really stand up for the villagers.” Seeing Jimmy’s story more fleshed-out in Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire would have given the ending tease more context and helped set up for the sequel, it would have also distracted from the team-building plot of part 1 unless everyone’s backstory gets more attention to balance it out, which is why the director’s cut will be over three hours long.
Why is Jimmy Wearing Antlers at the end of Rebel Moon?
How Jimmy’s antler headgear shows his character evolution and sets up the sequel.
Despite the story being excluded from the two-hour version of the movie, working simply from what’s available from the story provided on-screen in Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire, a lot of Jimmy’s character progression can be easily deduced from context clues. Jimmy lost his sense of purpose and quit fighting after the death of Princess Issal; however, he tells Sam she reminds him of the Princess. Despite not fighting back in self-defense, Jimmy shoots the Imperium captain to save Sam’s life, meaning she must have awakened something in him. The antlers, cloak, and staff at the end are all symbols of Veldt to compliment the Imperium designs built into his armor.
During their conversation next to the river, Jimmy told Sam “our compassion, our kindness, our very joy died with that young girl” to which she replied “I think it lives in you.” By wrapping himself in the imagery of Veldt and standing in defense of the farming community, Jimmy isn’t only rediscovering his sense of purpose programmed into him as a robot, but also a sense of self-determination, the ability to choose who he stands in defense of and why. Considering his deft handling of the rifle when he defended Sam and the fact that he wasn’t damaged when Marcus shot him, a fully awakened Jimmy could be Veldt’s biggest defender in Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scargiver.
