FILM · 2023 · USA
The Killer
34 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (34)
- #001
The comic book "The Killer," written by Alexis Nolent and drawn by Luc Jacamon, had been a passion project for David Fincher for roughly 20 years.
- #002
The list of the 9 aliases used by The Killer: * Felix Unger - The Odd Couple (1970) * Archibald Bunker - All in the Family (1971) * Oscar Madison - The Odd Couple (1970) * Howard Cunningham - Happy Days (1974) * Reuben Kincaid - The Partridge Family (1970) * Lou Grant - The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) * Sam Malone - Cheers (1982) * George Jefferson - The Jeffersons (1975) * Robert Hartley - The Bob Newhart Show (1972).
- #003
Fincher had first considered Brad Pitt for the role of The Killer in 2008, but Pitt said it was a bit too "nihilistic" for him.
- #004
In a 2023 interview with GQ, David Fincher discussed how The Smiths became the preferred music of Michael Fassbender's character: "I always knew I wanted to use 'How Soon Is Now?' Because I love the guitar. And I love the idea of somebody saying, 'What Johnny Marr is doing here is my meditation.' I just thought it was fun. But originally we had a whole pre-goth soundtrack of Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was really great and interesting, but you kept asking yourself, 'Is he a music critic?' But as you go along, you realize that the release of a song is now divided between two or three different parties who don't talk, and blah, blah, blah. And whenever a song came up, we'd put The Smiths in instead. 'This Charming Man' and so on. Every time it was The Smiths, it was both sarcastic and rude. Trent Reznor had a lot to do with it: we kept thinking about what we wanted to say about this man. I like the idea of a man with a mixtape who kills people. But if we have all these different musical influences, are we missing the opportunity to see who this man is? So The Smiths became a kind of stained-glass window showing who this man is."
- #005
This is the second feature film under David Fincher's four-year exclusive deal with Netflix, following his first, Mank (2020).
- #006
The film contains an unusual amount of product placement. Usually this is used to cover the budget and promote marketing tie-ins. Here, however, it is used to show how easy it is for a hitman to use these services to reach his target. Some of the brands that appear are McDonald's, ACE Hardware, Hertz and Amazon.
- #007
To achieve a more relaxed tone in his voice-over, Michael Fassbender recorded all of his voice-over dialogue lying in bed.
- #008
This is Michael Fassbender's first film in four years, following X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019).
- #009
Similar to Baby Driver, during the opening section, while The Killer listens to music through a single earbud, if you watch the film with headphones the music plays only on that side when the film shows POV shots.
- #010
The Killer rarely blinks throughout the entire film.
- #011
After the film's release, several VFX breakdowns were published revealing the extensive CGI used to create the dense locations the story visits. Most notably, the opening in Paris includes full-scale city and crowd simulations as The Killer flees on a scooter. The photorealistic CG Michael Fassbender in the scene reveals the uncanny details of this creation when the film is paused on close-ups of the helmet visor.
- #012
In an interview with Variety, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt explained that almost all of the handheld shots in the film were achieved in post-production using editing tools that artificially create camera shake. David Fincher is known for rarely using handheld shots. The Killer contains the most handheld camera movement in a Fincher film since Seven.
- #013
David Fincher told The New York Times: "I like the idea of the Charles Bronson character as perhaps a misdiagnosed adult autistic. And I'm not sure anyone before 2023 would have said, 'Oh, that makes sense.'".
- #014
When The Killer looks at the Client's (Arliss Howard) photographs, there is a photo of him with Howard's wife, the actress Debra Winger.
- #015
This is the second collaboration between David Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker after Seven (1995). However, Walker did so without being credited on Fincher's The Game (1997) and Fight Club (1999).
- #016
It is adapted from the French comic book series of the same name, written by Alexis "Matz" Nolent and drawn by Luc Jacamon.
- #017
Body count: six (the Dominatrix, the Taxi Driver Leo, Edward Hodges, Dolores, the Brute and the Expert). The Killer commits all of the murders.
- #018
It was confirmed in September 2023 that the soundtrack would consist mainly of songs by the English rock band The Smiths.
- #019
Although it features anamorphic lens flares, the film was actually shot with spherical lenses. The flares were added in post-production.
- #020
It premiered on 3 September 2023 at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. It was released in a limited theatrical run on 27 October 2023, and began streaming on Netflix on 10 November 2023.
- #021
The film runs 29 minutes before any direct dialogue is spoken. Before that, counting only face-to-face dialogue, only The Killer's narration is heard. At seven minutes into the film, The Killer speaks with the Lawyer by mobile phone as he steps out of the sniper's nest for McDonald's.
- #022
At 57:45, after The Killer enters the Lawyer with a nail gun, he says in voice-over, "three 9-gauge nails." "Nine Inch Nails," also known as NIN, is the name of the band Trent Reznor founded in 1988, whose other sole member in 2023 is Atticus Ross. The film's score composers are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
- #023
In the Miami airport scene (at 1:30:42 remaining in the film), The Killer is given a boarding pass bearing the name Archibald Bunker. Scanning the barcode on the boarding pass with a barcode reader app reveals the name of the Lead Graphic Designer (Carly Siena Sertic).
- #024
Different songs and genres were considered for The Killer's playlist, but Trent Reznor ultimately chose The Smiths because he, David Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker found it funny.
- #025
Chee initially played Marcus, but was later replaced by Emiliano Pernía during post-production for undisclosed reasons.
- #026
Dolores's death is the only murder in The Killer carried out without a firearm. He only breaks her neck and pushes her body down the stairs.
- #027
David Fincher and Michael Fassbender have both worked in the Alien franchise. Fincher had a very difficult time directing Alien³ (1992), while Fassbender played a character named David in Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), both directed by Ridley Scott, who also made the original Alien (1979).
- #028
This is David Fincher's first film adapted from a comic book or graphic novel. He had previously been attached to direct several such films, including Blade (1998) and Spider-Man (2002), as well as unmade adaptations of Frank Miller's Hard Boiled and Brian Michael Bendis's Torso.
- #029
Part 6 and the Epilogue are the only sections of the film in which The Killer does not kill anyone.
- #030
Both The Killer and Assassins (1995) tell stories about assassins, and both feature songs by Portishead (Sour Times in Assassins and Glory Box in The Killer).
- #031
Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton both play characters in the Marvel universe: Fassbender as Magneto and Swinton as the Ancient One.
- #032
This is Michael Fassbender's third comic book film outside the X-Men series, after 300 (2006) and Jonah Hex (2010).
- #033
Tilda Swinton (The Expert) starred in Snowpiercer, while Kerry O'Malley (Dolores) had a major recurring role in the Snowpiercer television series.
- #034
This is David Fincher's fourth film not to receive an Oscar nomination, after The Game (1997), Panic Room (2002) and Zodiac (2007).
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