WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Mr. & Mrs. Smith season 1.

Summary

• Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2024 features more relatable characters: Glover and Erskine's portrayals of the protagonists make them more relatable and grounded compared to the glamorous versions in the 2005 movie.
• The series deviates from the original movie's premise: In the series, John and Jane voluntarily enter an arranged marriage and know they are both spies from the start, contrasting with the movie where they discover each other's secret identities after getting married.
• The series explores more complex and dramatic themes: Glover's Mr. & Mrs. Smith delves deeper into the characters' vulnerabilities and interpersonal issues, making it more daring and expanding on the original concept.

The Amazon series exceptional soundtrack that make it one of 2024's first must-watch series.

Similarly to Atlanta, Mr. & Mrs. Smith also feels grounded in reality and is not afraid to explore the more complicated interpersonal existential issues of its characters. This is a very clear contrast to the rom-com energy of 2005's Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which became the seventh highest-grossing movie of that year. Glover's Mr. & Mrs. Smith debuted with an impressive 87% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the original movie earned a modest 60% upon its release.

10 Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2024 Has More Relatable Characters

Glover & Erskine are much more relatable protagonists

One of the biggest differences between the 2005 and 2024 Mr. & Mrs. Smith projects is the personalities of the protagonists. It's no surprise that a large part of why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were cast in the 2005 film was their sleek and stylish looks. Glover and Erskine demonstrate more character acting range that ultimately makes their renditions of Mr. & Mrs. Smith more relatable. Angelina Jolie's Jane, for example, likely wouldn't binge-watch Naked & Afraid with her cat and Pitt's John doesn't seem like a mama's boy.

9 John & Jane Don’t Know They’re Both Assassins At First In The Movie

Amazon's Jane & John know they're both spies from the start

The premise of the original Mr. & Mrs. Smith is very different from the series, which feels much more postmodern and dystopian. One of the biggest differences in the 2005 film's premise is that John and Jane get married without knowing that the other person is a trained assassin and secret agent. The series takes a pretty steep deviation from the film's setup, considering in Glover's series John and Jane voluntarily sign up for an arranged marriage and work together on missions from the very start.

8 John & Jane's Marriage Isn’t Arranged In The Movie

Pitt & Jolie's characters got married naturally in the film

Another major shift from the 2005 movie is the fact that Pitt's John and Jolie's Jane fall in love and get married organically, not through an application process for an arranged marriage like in the Amazon series. The company in the series, referred to as Hihi, features a compatibility pairing system seemingly based on an advanced algorithm. This is how Glover's John and Erskine's Jane are brought together in the Amazon series, leaving their old identities and lives behind.

7 Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2024 Features Other John & Jane Characters

Other Johns and Janes are revealed throughout the series

One of the greatest additions to the original concept 2024's Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the inclusion of other John and Jane Smiths onscreen. As viewers of the new Amazon series discover, other John and Jane Smiths end up playing a crucial role in shaping the story of Glover's John and Erskine's Jane. This is one of the most innovative expansions of the 2005 film's premise and creates a lot of action and tension in the series. Another John and Jane couple ins played by Wagner Moura and Parker Posey in the Amazon series.

6 John & Jane Are Married For 6 Years In The Movie

John and Jane are essentially newlyweds throughout the series

When the 2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith begins, John and Jane are in couples therapy and discuss their marriage which began six years earlier. By the end of the first season of the Amazon series, John and Jane are essentially still newlyweds who have hardly been married for over a year, if that.The series takes more time to cover the ups and downs of John and Jane's first year together. In the 2005 version, John and Jane reflect on the story that got them to where they are, which they conclude by the end is a very happy and fulfilling marriage.

5 John & Jane Met In Colombia In The Movie

They saved each other's cover and fell in love

In the original Piit-Jolie movie, John and Jane meet spontaneously while both on a mission in Bogota, Colombia. The local authorities are searching for a suspect who is traveling alone, which would make both of them suspicious until they pretend that they are husband and wife. This eventually turns out to be true, as John and Jane fall madly in love with each other. This is very different from how John and Jane meet in the series, which is through the Hihi compatibility pairing system.

4 Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2005 Switches Between Timelines

The 2005 movie covers several years nonlinearly

The Mr. & Mrs. Smith series follows a linear narrative structure, only jumping ahead slightly in the timeline but never going back in the form of extended flashbacks or through other nonlinear devices. On the other hand, the 2005 film jumps around from past to present in order for John and Jane to reflect on their story years after it had already happened. This is arguably an improvement in the series since the fates of John and Jane remain unclear by Mr. & Mrs. Smith's season 1 ending.

3 John & Jane Have An Instant Connection In The Movie

Glover's John & Erskine's Jane aren't initially compatible

Pitt and Jolie's John and Jane Smith have an instant connection in the movie, which makes sense considering it was the film that brought them together in real life as a celebrity couple. The chemistry between Glover's John and Erskine's Jane is much less storybook and takes time to develop, which offers a much more grounded and realistic origin story. All in all, Pitt and Jolie's versions offer a much more glamorous but less accessible depiction while the characters in the series and incredibly relatable.

2 Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2005 Is More Action Oriented

The Amazon series balances action and drama

Pitt and Jolie's movie is a true action comedy, featuring a steadier pace in the action sequences than in the Amazon series, which is nearly four times as long. This is a natural deviation from the original movie, as even a more traditional remake of Mr. & Mrs. Smith would have had to allow for more time to spend with the characters and less non-stop action. The series still has plenty of action throughout, particularly in the season 1 finale, which features a classic John vs. Jane showdown.

1 Mr. & Mrs. Smith 2024 Has More Complex & Dramatic Themes

The Amazon series dives much deeper into its characters

The most ambitious risk that Glover's Mr. & Mrs. Smith takes is how willing it is to pick apart its titular protagonists on a human level, considering that the characters in the original film are larger-than-life characters. This is the biggest difference between the 2005 movie and the 2024 series overall, since not only are John and Jane more relatable now, but they are also vulnerable in ways that are not addressed in the movie. Amazon's Mr. & Mrs. Smith is daring in the ways that it is subtle and ultimately expands on a good concept into the realm of greatness.