What are the main differences between Catch-22 the novel and Hulu’s miniseries adaptation? Joseph Heller’s satirical war novel Catch-22 was published in 1961 and is regarded as one of the greatest books of the 2oth century. Set during the closing chapters of World War II, the book follows Captain John Yossarian – a US Air Force bombardier stationed on an island off the coast of Italy who desperately tries to outsmart his superiors and save himself from going on any more deadly missions.
George Clooney, writer Luke Davies and writer-director David Michôd spearheaded a television adaptation of Catch-22 that premiered on Hulu in 2019. This six-episode miniseries starred The Sinner's Christopher Abbott as protagonist John Yossarian with actors including Kyle Chandler, Austin Stowell, Hugh Laurie and George Clooney filling out the rest of the main cast. Critics praised Catch-22 for its stellar casting and hilarious yet harrowing depiction of war. It was also lauded for its fidelity to Heller’s work but there are some key differences between the novel and the miniseries.
One of the most notable differences between the Catch-22 miniseries and the novel is that the events in the Hulu show unfold chronologically for the most part. Heller’s book has been called “unfilmable” thanks to its episodic narrative, though the miniseries solves this issue by sticking to a more linear retelling of Catch-22’s plot. Some key events are omitted too, like Doc Daneeka (Grant Heslov, Good Night, And Good Luck) being misidentified as dead, while others are added that aren’t in the novel such as Dunbar (Josh Bolt) getting a much more gruesome death.
The miniseries omits quite a few characters entirely while others are given less prominence. For example, characters including perverted soldier Hungry Joe, Native American Chief White Halfoat, young recruit Huple and Yossarian’s love interest Luciana don’t appear in Hulu's adaptation and Chaplain Tappman (Jay Paulson, Grey’s Anatomy) is more a confidante for Yossarian than an object of his lust while the characters of “Nately’s Whore” and “Nately’s Whore’s Kid Sister” are actually given names (Clara and Ines) in the TV adaptation.
The ending of the Catch-22 miniseries differs a lot from the novel’s conclusion too, and it’s arguably a lot grimmer. In the book, Yossarian makes a break for freedom when he deserts the army and flees to Sweden whereas in the show he doesn’t escape his base but rather takes to wandering around in the nude after the death of his comrade Snowden (Harrison Osterfield, The Irregulars). The final scene of Catch-22 sees Yossarian still stuck in the midst of war apathetically dropping bombs from his plane in the nude.