All that's known about Michael Pitt's villain in Ghost in the Shell is his name: Kuze. Though that should be enough to offer some insight about where he fits into the film, as "Kuze" is an antagonist in the Ghost in the Shell anime series Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG, it seems as though the name is not as much of a clue about the film's villain as it might seem.
During a visit to the film's New Zealand set, we learned from the producers and cast of the movie that Ghost in the Shell is going to do its own riff on a villain story, seemingly by drawing on various elements of the existing material.
"We’re not doing 'Puppetmaster.' It’s not 'Laughing Man,'" said producer Avi Arad. "It involves Kuze, the Kuze story."
Michael Pitt stars as Kuze in Ghost in the Shell
Based on what we learned on set, it seems as though this version of Kuze will draw from elements of all three of those villains, though. (It seems likeliest that the most notable element of Kuze's 2nd GIG story to make its way to the big screen will be that he and Scarlett Johansson's character Major shared a history together.)
Most of the actors wouldn't talk about Kuze's role in the story at all, afraid of spoiling top secret story details. Star Danusia Samal, who plays Major's Section 9 ally Ladria (a character unique to the film), described the movie's version of Kuze as a "kind of hacker, but actually so much more than that."
Apparently the first interaction between Pitt's Kuze and Johansson's Major is a particular standout, considering star Pilou Asbæk, who plays the boisterous Batou, called it out as the one scene he's going to remember most from filming. But those involved in the film stayed mum on what exactly Kuze is after that makes him a cause of antagonism, instead focusing on the big picture as the "villain" of the movie.
"The villains in the story are people that are abusing this brave new world," said Arad. "The movie certainly addresses this whole idea of in the future, if you think about everybody’s biggest fear around technology is about getting your identity stolen ... as apposed someone hacking your brain could happen here. The more technology gets inside of you and the more it’s woven into your life the more that people can abuse it. So there are characters, both at a criminal level and a governmental level, who are abusing technology and doing scary things."
Kuze in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG
Chin Han, who plays the character Togusa, noted, "I think that the antagonists of the movie are actually human hubris. The pride that we take in being able to control our environment and our biology and that is a big thing that leads to the conflicts that arise in the film."
The Ghost in the Shell movie is going to explore the idea of identity in a world set in the future, where cybernetic enhancements are commonplace. Most of the characters in Section 9, the cyberterrorism organization Major works for, are enhanced, while Major herself is a full-blown cyborg.
A cyborg's mind is fallible because it is technology, and the film is going to use "ghost hacking" as a major storyline through with to explore the identity theme. Arad said Ghost in the Shell will take the exploration "even further" in some ways than the anime and manga source material, with the idea of "if someone could change your memories, what would that do to your sense of self?" being a core question in the film.
As for why the Ghost in the Shell film didn't go the route of the full-blown Puppetmaster storyline from the 1995 anime film, the source material from which the live-action movie drew much of its inspiration, Arad said they couldn't do that story justice this time around.
"There are outside villains [in this movie] but they are never the most interesting parts of a movie, especially your first movie," he explained. "I find that part of the reason we didn’t do 'Puppetmaster' in this movie was we didn’t really feel like we had time to tell that story and in your first movie he way the characters feel about themselves and the relationship with those people that they care about is usually more than enough story for a movie to handle. So there are villains and they do drive a lot of the story, but they are really there to antagonize [Major] spiritually."
For more information from our Ghost in the Shell set visit, find out what the movie drew from the anime and manga, and how Johansson's nude thermoptic suit was designed. Ghost in the Shell hits theaters on March 31, 2017.
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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