The film adaptation of Ready Player One doesn’t open until March 30, 2018, but details are slowly coming out. We already know Steven Spielberg is directing the film, which is fitting for the adaptation of a book “that’s essentially a love letter to his career.” We also know T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley, Deadpool) has been cast, along with Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Olivia Cooke (as Art3mis), Ben Mendelsohn (playing a villain again, as he did in Rogue One), Hannah John-Kamen, and Tye Sheridan (as Parzival).
And now we’re learning more about T.J. Miller’s role in the film. In an interview with Fandango, he revealed his character is the only one not in the book, and he is — in Miller’s words — a lot like Boba Fett, whom his character idolizes.
“I play i-R0k and basically I am a funny, or at least mildly amusing, Boba Fett. […] I am sort of unequivocally the best bounty hunter, but I work freelance. […] My character in the movie wants to be Boba Fett. Like that’s his hero, his idol, which isn’t far off for many Star Wars fans, myself included.”
He also tried to mimic Boba Fett’s voice, specifically from the original trilogy, not the the prequels: “I used the British actor’s voice instead of the f***ing Australian’s from the prequels — Lucas, you son of a bitch!”
He went on to rave about how good the effects were (“because it’s Steven Spielberg, it looks better than any video game on the market”), describing it as better than Gears of War and Call of Duty. Then again, most movies can be a better experience than those games as long as you don’t hear an extra constantly screaming racial slurs off camera.