JIMMY JIMMY

The robot who sounds like Sir Anthony Hopkins has a big role to play in The Scargiver

There’s no shortage of robots in sci-fi, but there aren’t too many who speak with the received pronunciation of a bona fide knight of the realm. Voiced by Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jimmy (JC-1435 to his mum and dad) was programmed to protect the Motherworld’s royal family, but after they were assassinated, he opted for a life of pacifism – until Imperium soldiers assaulted a young woman on Veldt, and he was forced to take lethal action.

“Jimmy’s been created to see the world through the eyes of a protector of this princess who was supposed to be a saviour, but is now dead,” explains Zack Snyder. “If she was like a Messiah and the Messiah dies, that’s a tough nut for you. I think it’s fun to explore those kinds of themes and concepts through a robot, because it allows you to distil it down to its most pure form. He’s a singular creature and now he’s been forced to contemplate his existence.”

Having played a prominent role in the first act of A Child Of Fire, Jimmy was absent until the end of the movie, where he was sighted wearing a crown of antlers. His story, says Snyder, isn’t over.

“You’ll see quite a bit more of Jimmy in the director’s cut, where he’s communing with nature and musing about his existence. Then in movie two he has a choice to make. He has to pick a side, basically. I mean, if you really examine what he’s done to be in the position he’s in, he’s gone down a road that’s going to be hard for him to come back from – it’s whether or not he wants to participate directly in the fight.

“There’s also some fun interaction between him and Kora. They’re both weapons, and they’re good foils for each other.”