The book is the story of a man who is left for dead on Mars. Indeed, many think he's dead already, and although he's alive it's surely only a matter of time; he's running out of food, he's all alone with any way of communicating with Earth or his crewmates. Basically, as Watney himself says at the beginning the novel, he's f**ked. It's not exactly the sort of story you'd expect to find a great deal of comedy in, but that is certainly what you get. Watney himself uses humour for self-preservation reasons, and because it's simply the kind of person he is - he is genuinely funny, sarcastic, and a total wiseass. Based on what we've seen of the film so far, they're definitely using that element of the character, with a few quips already revealed, such as the "...science the sh*t out of this" line. There's many more - and better - jokes from the book to be used, and this should well be a hilarious film as well as a completely thrilling one.
NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far.
A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.
