Spaceman Ending Explained: What Happened To Jakub?

The ending of the new Netflix sci-fi adventure movie Spaceman is somewhat ambiguous, especially regarding the fate of Adam Sandler's Jakub protagonist. The unique and existential Spaceman was directed by Johan Renck, known for his exceptional work on Chernobyl (2019), Breaking Bad (2009–2011), The Walking Dead (2010), Vikings (2013), and Bloodline (2015). Despite Renck's impressive filmography, Spaceman has received mixed reviews from critics off the bat, earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 50%.

Spaceman stars Sandler in another notable dramatic performance seen in previous works such as Uncut Gems, Punch-Drunk Love, and Hustle. Sandler's Jakub receives the unfortunate news that his wife Lenka, played by Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan, wants to divorce him while he's halfway on an 8-month solo mission to outer space. Jakub is tasked with gathering samples of the mysterious yet mesmerizing Chopra Cloud that randomly became visible in the Earth's sky. During his trip, Jakub's emotional distress worsens regarding his marital status, which is when a friendly extraterrestrial arachnid creature (voiced by Paul Dano) appears and helps to alleviate his loneliness.

Related 6 Reasons Reviews For Adam Sandler's New Sci-Fi Space Movie Are Mixed Adam Sandler's Netflix movie Spaceman has divided critics, with common concerns about the film's conflict and themes but high praise for the acting.

What Happens In Spaceman's Ending

Jakub And Lena Reconnect Despite Intergalactic Distance Between Them

Spaceman's ending starts to unfold as Jakub finally makes it to the Chopra Cloud and is preparing to collect samples of the mysterious pink and purple cosmic particles. Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini) hosts an international communication broadcast that billions of people are likely watching, which plays pre-recorded footage of Jakub's scripted words before entering the Chopra Cloud. Just the first samples are being collected, Hanuš appears with small mites known as Gorompeds start crawling from within him and he leaves the ship. Jakub gets in his spacesuit and follows Hanuš out of the ship, using a Bomba cleaning detergent to try and decontaminate Hanuš to no avail.

Jakub floats inside the Chopra Cloud with Hanuš, who elaborates on the cloud that he calls "The Beginning" as Jakub appears to experience his entire past all at once. Jakub reflects on the night he met Lenka and begins to understand that they were destined to meet each other despite the improbability of that happening. Jakub finds a renewed love for his star-crossed lover as Hanuš says his journey "begins and ends here" before being consumed by Gorompeds and dissolving into space dust. Jakub is seen back on Earth in a forest with Rusalka in an apparent dream sequence, and Jakub and Lenka connect with each other from lightyears away.

Does Jakub Make It Back To Earth?

It's Implied That The Titular Spaceman Made It Home

Jakub did not make it back to Earth onscreen in Spaceman, but he appears to have been rescued by astronauts on a Korean spaceship after making it through the Chropra Cloud. Jakub is able to call Lenka from the Korean ship, where he appears safe and eventually homeward bound. It's unclear whether the Korean ship by the end of Spaceman intends to drop Jakub back off at his ship or will bring Jakub back to Earth themselves, but they will certainly be visiting the Chopra Cloud to study it and gather samples for themselves. While it appears that Jakub and Lenka are back together in a brief scene, it's likely that it was just a dream sequence.

What Lenka's "Would I Still Kiss You Question" Means

Jakub Still Has A Chance At Rekindling Their Romance

In Spaceman's final scene, Jakub asks Lenka if she would still kiss him again from the Korean ship, drawing a full circle back to the beginning of their relationship. After experiencing the Chopra Cloud and returning to "The Beginning", it appears that Jakub is asking for a second chance with Lenka that would take them back to the start. Lenka seems receptive to Jakub's inquiry, recalling the origin of their relationship and how great their first kiss was. Lenka's positive response indicates that when Jakub does return home, he will still have her as his wife and they will start a new beginning.

What Was The Rasulka Scene & How Did It Happen?

Lenka The Princess Is A Metaphor For The Balance Between Love And Career

The brief Rasulka scene in which Jakub, dressed in a spacesuit, encounters Lenka dressed as a princess in the forest back on Earth, is reminiscent of how he views her at his core. Earlier in Spaceman, Jakub had told Hanuš that Lenka was like the fairylike water nymph to him who has the power to kill mortal men with a kiss.

In the closing sequence, Jakub tells Lenka he wants a kiss, which Lenka explains will kill him, symbolically meaning his career as an astronaut which had put a massive wedge in their relationship. By Jakub saying he's good with Lenka's kiss killing him, he's effectively agreeing to give up his dream life of being an astronaut to completely focus on her and their family.

Why Hanus Dissolved In The Chopra Cloud

The Ambiguous Fate Of Hanus Kept The Space Spider Mysterious

While it's not entirely clear whether Hanuš was a real alien entity or a figment of Jakub's imagination, his story about the Gorompeds added up and ultimately took his life in the thick of the Chopra Cloud. Hanuš had come to a better understanding of humanity through Jakub, which made him feel more fulfilled about his pace in the cosmos before the Gorompeds that invaded his country finally killed him. Interestingly, Hanuš dissolved into space dust and essentially became part of the Chopra Cloud, but Jakub's end hadn't come yet, and he was rescued with a newfound appreciation for Lenka.

Is Hanus Real?

Director Johan Renck Has Pulled Back The Curtain On Spaceman's Spider

Whether Hanus in Spaceman is real is a question the 2024 movie doesn't answer. The nature of the spider keeping Jakub company is deliberately left ambiguous. Hanus could be real, but there's also every chance he's just a figment of Jakub's imagination. While Spaceman itself doesn't provide and answers, director Johan Renck has explained what Hanus is. Speaking to Netflix's TUDUM, Renck revealed that Hanus is real, and that he's a version of an archetypal sci-fi being present in many movies like Spaceman:

He’s a creature from the beginning of time who comes and visits Jakub. We are not alone in the universe. We know there are Hanušes out there.This entity of Hanuš has been represented in films before,but obviously we had no interest in making another rendition of that character"

So, according to the director of Spaceman, Hanus isn't a creation of Jakub's mind. However, given the ambiguity of Spaceman and the fact the film itself doesn't definitively state that Hanus exists, it's still possible to watch with the interpretation that Paul Dano's talking spider isn't really there.

How The Spaceman Ending Was Received

Opinions Of The Climax Of Adam Sandler's Sci-Fi Were Split

The critical response to Spaceman was incredibly divided, as evidenced by its clean and even 50% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. With this being the case, it's clear that the reception of the ending will be equally mixed. Some critics and viewers felt the surreal tone and ambiguity of what happened to Jakub were solid storytelling, and suited the emotionally-driven tone of Spaceman that, in many ways, defied its hard sci-fi premise. However, just as many others found that Jakub and Lenka's void-spanning romance was far from endearing.

One of the critics who had a negative response to Spaceman was Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian. For Bradshaw, it was multiple character flaws with Lenka specifically which led to the ending of Spaceman being incredibly lackluster. The critic points out that Jakub's love interest isn't anywhere near fleshed out enough, which makes their love story feel unauthentic:

"As for Lenka, her role is woefully under-written and under-imagined; we don’t really know or feel how she could have fallen in love with Jakub, or why exactly she’s fallen out of love with him – or why she seems now, as part of some cosmic-epiphanic miracle of intergalactic sympathy, to be kind of falling back in love with him all over again. It’s a spaceflight to nowhere."

Still, while the comments of critics like Bradshaw may seem damning out of context, there were just as many critics who responded to Spaceman incredibly well, such as the official review from Empire, which gave the 2024 sci-fi movie four stars. The outlet echoed Bradshaw's complaints about Lenka, but didn't feel at all the same about the ending of the story:

"In spite of Jakub’s unappealing qualities, he manages to be sympathetic thanks to Sandler’s restrained, well-measured performance. And though Lenka is underwritten, Mulligan gives her character some much-needed interiority and agency, a steady drip of flashbacks and scenes set on Earth illuminating how the star-crossed lovers reached this point. Distance may have strained their relationship, but the hopeful ending is well earned."

Ultimately, the responses to Spaceman were as divided as it's possible for opinions to be. While there is some agreement around characters like Lenka, the camps that found the Spacemen ending to be a satisfying wrap-up to the thematically heavy sci-fi and those that found it ambiguous to the point of lacking substance are equally sized.

The Real Meaning Of Spaceman's Ending

The Message Of The 2024 Movie Is The Importance Of Work-Life Balance

Close

Spaceman's ending darted through some major logistical considerations to arrive at the happy ending of Jakub and Lenka's reunion. Despite Jakub acting completely irresponsibly and unprofessionally during a crucial space exploration mission, Jakub only seems to care about getting home to Lenka and being a good husband and father. This is fitting with Jakub's development from a selfish career-chasing astronaut to a more sympathetic romantic partner. However, the final emotional punch of Spaceman's story is made at the expense of several plotholes and negligence of rationale.

The cerebral nature of Spaceman's ending makes for an out-of-this-world, nearly spiritual tone that is nicely built throughout the film through the soft, wise words of Hanuš. Although Hanuš is gone by the end of Spaceman, and his existence is never confirmed or denied, Jakub is undoubtedly a changed man and more than likely a disgraced astronaut. The specifics of the Chopra Cloud and its majestic glowing particles are not elaborated on further than Hanuš's philosophical waxings of the cloud representing the beginning and end of the universe. Lenka and Jakub seem to have a happy ending in Spaceman by returning to form as fated lovers.