Mikael Blomkvist is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson . He is a main character of Larsson's award-winning Millennium series , along with Lisbeth Salander .
80-480: Larsson stated in interviews that he based many characters, including that of Lisbeth Salander , on characters from Astrid Lindgren novels. Blomkvist is frequently referred to by his colleagues in the news media as " Kalle Blomkvist ", a reference to a boy detective who appears in several of Lindgren's novels, because his first notable investigation is uncovering the hideout of a gang of bank robbers. Lisbeth Salander sarcastically refers to him by this nickname throughout
160-478: A taser , tapes his mouth and fastens him to his bed with his own bondage equipment, and finally sodomizes him with a huge anal plug . She then explains that she will release the video recording of him raping her if he does not do exactly what she tells him, or if anything happens to her. She demands that he annul her legal incompetence and restore her sole access to her bank account. She tells him that she will visit him when she pleases, and if she ever finds him with
240-574: A code of right and wrong." At the end of the third book in the series, Salander is declared sane and competent: In the exhilarating court scene in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest , Salander's lawyer, Annika Giannini, tramples Dr. Teleborian as she demonstrates that Lisbeth is 'just as sane and intelligent as anyone in this room.' This victory puts Lisbeth back on the right side of the asylum's doors, as her declaration of incompetence
320-671: A confrontation with her father. He calls an ambulance, saving her life. In the final novel of the original Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest , Blomkvist risks his life researching the full extent of SÄPO's crimes, and persuades his sister Annika, a lawyer, to represent Salander, who has been cleared of the original murder suspicions, but is now charged with attempted murder and two cases of grievous bodily harm, as well as several other offences including possession of illegal weapons. With help from government prosecutors and Salander's fellow hackers, Blomkvist finds proof of
400-551: A criminal organization called "The Spider Society" stole the data with help from Solifon employees and a mole in the National Security Agency . Salander enlists his help in protecting Balder's autistic son, August, from assassins working for the Spider Society, who had also murdered Balder. Blomkvist meets Salander's sister, Camilla, and learns from Salander's former guardian, Holger Palmgren, that she
480-544: A desperate vulnerability that she reveals only to the most unlikely of people." Reviewing the first Swedish film, Roger Ebert noted that it is "a compelling thriller to begin with, but it adds the rare quality of having a heroine more fascinating than the story". The Independent ' s Jonathan Gibbs called the character "a vision of female empowerment – a kind of goth-geek Pippi Longstocking," but also an "agglomeration of clichés." Richard Schickel of Los Angeles Times suggested that Salander represents something new in
560-520: A film adaptation written by Steven Knight was in development. In November 2016, Variety reported that Fede Álvarez would direct the film, a sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . Unlike the previous books and film versions, The Girl in the Spider's Web is the first in the best-selling series to be produced into an English-language film in its initial adaptation. Knight wrote
640-407: A fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows". She has a tattoo of a wasp , about 2 centimetres ( 3 ⁄ 4 in) long, on her neck, a tattooed loop around the bicep of her left arm, another loop around her left ankle, a Chinese symbol on her hip, and a rose on her left calf. She has a large tattoo of a dragon on her back that runs from her shoulder, down her spine, and ends on her buttocks. This
720-556: A group of hackers gain access into NSA servers, much to the fury of the agency's top cyber security agent, Edwin Needham. NSA agent Alona Casales and SÄPO agent Gabriella Grane are given the task of pursuing Salander and the Spider Society, which are a group of elite Russian criminals led by an individual named "Thanos". Grane calls Balder with concerns about his safety, and Balder hires Milton Security for protection. He also reaches out to Blomkvist, hoping to confess his concerns to
800-535: A high-ranking member of the GRU , and his defection was regarded by Säpo as an intelligence windfall, thus leading to the Section's covering up his subsequent illegal activities. Zalachenko had his son (and Salander's half-brother) Ronald Niedermann kill Blomkvist's colleagues, who were writing an exposé article on Zalachenko and Neidermann's prostitution ring, and Bjurman, a former Säpo employee who would have been exposed in
880-524: A large part of the Millennium series' success. In the various film adaptations of the novels, actresses Noomi Rapace , Rooney Mara , and Claire Foy have all received praise for their portrayals of the character. In 2013, publisher Norstedts Förlag commissioned David Lagercrantz to continue the Millennium series with The Girl in the Spider's Web (2015), The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (2017), and The Girl Who Lived Twice (2019). In
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#1732798662610960-535: A large part of the novels' success. Deirdre Donahue of USA Today referred to Salander as "one of the most startling, engaging and sometimes perplexing heroines in recent memory." The New York Times ' s David Kamp called her "one of the most original characters in a thriller to come along in a while." Likewise, Muriel Dobbin from The Washington Times dubbed her one of the most fascinating characters to emerge in crime fiction in years; "Her remoteness and her capacity for anger and violence are in contrast with
1040-413: A rape survivor. The veracity of this story has since been questioned, after a colleague from Expo magazine reported to Rolling Stone that Larsson had told him he had heard the story secondhand and retold it as his own. Lisbeth Salander has red hair which she dyes raven black. Upon her first appearance in the series, she is described as "a pale, androgynous young woman who has hair as short as
1120-431: A respected journalist. Blomkvist agrees to meet him, but as he arrives, an assassin, self-identified in the narration as Jan Holtser, kills Balder. Blomkvist reaches out to Salander, hoping to harness her talents for the investigation. August's mother is unable to cope with his disorder and remands him to a care facility. However, Blomkvist realizes that August is drawing a picture of his father's killer. Holtser's superior,
1200-400: A traumatic childhood, Salander is highly introverted and asocial , and has difficulty connecting to people and making friends. She is particularly hostile to men who abuse women and takes special pleasure in exposing and punishing them. This is representative of Larsson's personal views and a major theme throughout the entire series. In the series, Blomkvist speculates that Salander might be on
1280-425: A woman called Kira, orders him to eliminate the child, but Salander rescues August and reaches out to Blomkvist and Millennium editor Erika Berger. Grane, a friend of Berger's, offers her a beachfront vacation property as a safe house . Blomkvist learns from Balder's former associates that he had hired Salander to confirm that someone had robbed him, implicating executives inside Solifon, the company he worked for, in
1360-420: A woman, even if she is with him willingly, she will release the tape and destroy his life. Finally, she tattoos the words "I AM A SADISTIC PIG, A PERVERT, AND A RAPIST" on his abdomen, unlocks his handcuffs, and departs. Salander eventually uncovers evidence that Harriet's late father, Gottfried, and her brother, Martin, committed the murders. Salander then finds Blomkvist just in time to save him from Martin, who
1440-592: A year. Shortly afterward, Salander is falsely implicated in the murder of three people: Bjurman and two of Blomkvist's colleagues. The frame-up is in fact a conspiracy between her biological father, former Soviet spy Alexander Zalachenko, and the Section, an illegal faction within Säpo , the Swedish Security Service, whose members had protected her father after he defected from the USSR. Zalachenko had been
1520-587: Is a street named after Salander in Larsson's home town in northern Sweden, Skellefteå . It is called Lisbeth Salanders gata and is surrounded by other names from local literature. The Girl in the Spider%27s Web The Girl in the Spider's Web (original title in Swedish : Det som inte dödar oss , lit. 'That which does not kill us') is the fourth novel in
1600-486: Is alive and living in Australia . When Vanger's information about Wennerström proves to be useless, Salander uses her computer hacking skills to get sensitive information about Wennerström that is much more incriminating than what Blomkvist had in the past. With the information uncovered by Salander, Blomkvist publishes an exposé article and book that ruins Wennerström, clears his own name, and propels his magazine to one of
1680-463: Is an investigative journalist and co-owner of the monthly magazine Millennium based in Stockholm , Sweden . At the start of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , he loses a libel case involving damaging allegations about billionaire industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström, and is sentenced to three months in prison. Facing jail time and professional disgrace, Blomkvist steps down from his position on
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#17327986626101760-492: Is hired by scientist Frans Balder to find out who hacked his network and stole his quantum computer technology. She hacks into the network of his company, Solifon, and discovers that his data was stolen by a criminal organization called the "Spider Society", with help from accomplices within Solifon and the National Security Agency . When Balder is murdered, Salander, with Blomkvist's help, saves Balder's autistic son August from
1840-535: Is in the midst of torturing him. She pursues Martin on her motorcycle, but he is killed when he deliberately veers into an oncoming truck. Salander later uses her hacking skills to discover that Harriet Vanger is alive and hiding in Australia , and to get sensitive information about Blomkvist's arch-nemesis, corrupt media magnate Hans-Erik Wennerström. With the information uncovered by Salander, Blomkvist publishes an exposé article and book that ruins Wennerström and transforms Blomkvist's magazine, Millennium , into one of
1920-403: Is informed by several law enforcement agencies that he is in danger of a criminal organization who call themselves the "Spider Society", but he ignores their warnings, preferring to focus on his neglected son. August exhibits savant syndrome ; he produces drawings of impressive veracity and demonstrates facility with numbers. Meanwhile, one year since Millennium magazine's scoop on The Section,
2000-507: Is one of the heroines, I think, of the 21st century, and a most unlikely heroine. She's brave, she's intrepid, she's unfrightenable, she's got a moral core (...) And I hope people will just welcome the return of this extremely unlikely pair of Salander and this crusading journalist." Computer scientist Frans Balder abandons a prestigious job in Silicon Valley and returns to Sweden to take custody of his autistic son August. Balder
2080-420: Is published, Blomkvist and Salander meet at his apartment. Blomkvist is divorced with one daughter – Pernilla – and throughout the trilogy has several lovers, including a brief affair with Lisbeth Salander. However, his primary partner throughout his adult life is Erika Berger, also his business partner. They enjoy an on-off sexual relationship which began years earlier before each were married. Berger
2160-520: Is rescinded, then and there. Sanity prevails." Writers have described Salander as a "fiercely unconventional and darkly kooky antiheroine", a "superhero", a "misfit", and "an androgynous, asocial, bisexually active... loner who makes a living as a computer hacker..." Jennie Punter in Queen's Quarterly wrote that "the diminutive, flat-chested, chain-smoking, tattoo-adorned, anti-social, bisexual, genius computer hacker Lisbeth Salander" has become "one of
2240-424: Is skillful at concealing her identity; she possesses passports in different names and disguises herself to travel undetected around Sweden and worldwide. Salander has a complicated relationship with investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist , which veers back and forth between romance and hostility throughout the series. She also has an on-again/off-again romantic relationship with Miriam "Mimi" Wu. The survivor of
2320-442: Is still married and her husband knows about and accepts their open relationship . Towards the end of the first novel, Salander, after realising that she has fallen in love with him, and believing it to be one-sided, abruptly cuts off all contact with him. Blomkvist also has sexual relationships with three other characters in the series: Cecilia Vanger, Harriet Vanger and Monica Figuerola. In the 2009 Swedish version of The Girl with
2400-508: Is the leader of the Spider Society. When Camilla kills one of his reporters, Andrei Zander, Blomkvist—using information supplied by Salander—writes an article exposing Camilla's complicity with Solifon and the NSA in Balder's murder. The article nets Millennium enough money to buy out Serner, and re-establishes Blomkvist as one of Sweden's most respected journalists. The night the article
2480-488: Is using it to strike against Lisbeth. Needham comes to Sweden and contacts Blomkvist, asking to meet Salander so that she can help him secure the NSA database. However, they are interrupted by Salander: she and August are under attack at the safe house by the Spider Society by the orders of Camilla AKA Kira AKA Thanos. Lisbeth fends them off, wounding Holtser and several other suspects. Though Camilla gets away, Lisbeth and August do as well; additionally, August has already drawn
Mikael Blomkvist - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-572: The Millennium series . It focuses on the characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist . Written by David Lagercrantz , it is the first novel in the series not authored by the series' creator and author of the first three Millennium books, Stieg Larsson , who died of a heart attack in 2004. The novel was released worldwide on 27 August 2015, except in the United States, where it was released on 1 September 2015. In December 2013,
2640-605: The spectrum . Her mental state is never definitively described, an ambiguity that many antagonists in the series try to use against her: her sexually abusive public guardian, Nils Bjurman, describes her as "a sick, murderous, insane fucking person", while her one-time jailer Dr. Peter Teleborian describes her as "paranoid", "psychotic", "obsessive", and an "egomaniacal psychopath ". On the other hand, Larsson stated that he thought that she might be looked upon as something of an unusual kind of sociopath , due to her traumatic life experiences and inability to conform to social norms. In
2720-589: The 2005 novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , as an antisocial computer hacker with a photographic memory who teams up with Mikael Blomkvist , an investigative journalist and publisher of a magazine called Millennium . Salander reappears in The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2007), sequels that Larsson had written before he died in 2004. The character has been positively received, with David Denby writing that Lisbeth Salander clearly accounts for
2800-433: The Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels, Blomkvist is played by Michael Nyqvist . In the 2011 English adaptation , Blomkvist is played by Daniel Craig . In The Girl in the Spider's Web , he is portrayed by Sverrir Gudnason . Lisbeth Salander Lisbeth Libby Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson in his award-winning Millennium series . She first appeared in
2880-465: The NSA, which he uses to write an exposé article that results in the arrests of Camilla's accomplices and re-establishes Millennium as the most influential news magazine in Sweden. Salander shows up at Blomkvist's apartment, and they spend the night together. Lagercrantz's second novel in the series, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye , was published in 2017. Lagercrantz's third and final novel in
2960-402: The Section's orders, Teleborian declared Salander legally incompetent so that no one would ever believe her accounts of what they had done. They then had Bjurman, a lawyer in their employ, appointed as her guardian after Palmgren's stroke. In the third Millennium novel, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2007), Salander is arrested for the assault on Zalachenko, while she recuperates in
3040-509: The Spider Society's assassins, and she is badly wounded in the process. She bonds with August, a fellow math prodigy , and becomes his protector. Salander learns the Spider Society is led by her twin sister Camilla, a sociopath who as a child tormented her and delighted in the abuse their mother suffered at their father's hands. Camilla sends assassin Jan Holtster to kill Salander and August. Salander overpowers Holtster, however, and gives
3120-552: The Swedish publisher of the Millennium series, Norstedts Förlag , announced plans for a fourth Millennium book, written by David Lagercrantz , to be published in August 2015. Extreme caution was taken to make sure details did not leak, and no early review copies were given out. Lagercrantz wrote the book on a computer that had no internet connection, and he personally handed his manuscripts to his publisher. Lagercrantz reported
3200-459: The allusions to Marvel Comics characters Janet Van Dyne , the founding member of the Avengers , and their perennial foe . Meanwhile, a woman calling herself Rebecka Mattson attempts to seduce Blomkvist. After talking to Salander's former guardian, Holger Palmgren, he learns she is Lisbeth's long-missing twin sister Camilla, who has taken over part of her father Zalachenko's criminal network and
3280-445: The article as Salander's rapist. The Section then falsely incriminates Salander to cover up their concealment of Zalachenko's crimes. Blomkvist tries to help Salander, even though she wants nothing to do with him. When she hacks into his computer, he leaves her his notes on the prostitution ring, from which she learns that Zalachenko is behind the frame-up. By the end of the novel, she tracks Zalachenko to his farm, where he shoots her in
Mikael Blomkvist - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-459: The authorities. Salander is set free the same day, her name cleared. After she is cleared of the charges, Salander receives word that, as Zalachenko's daughter, she is entitled to a small inheritance and one of his properties. She refuses the money but goes to a disused brick factory she has inherited. She is attacked by Niedermann, who has been hiding there since shortly after the confrontation with Salander at Zalachenko's farm. She nails his feet to
3440-463: The book The Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , on the question "Is Salander a psychopath?", Melissa Burkley, Ph.D. and Dr. Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt write: "Although Salander is antagonistic and violent, she doesn't appear to lack a conscience, which is the hallmark trait of a psychopath. While she may not always follow society's rules, she does have her own set of moral principles that abide by
3520-404: The character was inspired by an incident in which Larsson, then a teenager, witnessed three of his friends gang-raping an acquaintance of his named Lisbeth, and he did nothing to stop it. Days later, wracked with guilt, he begged her forgiveness, which she refused to grant. The incident, he said, haunted him for years afterward, and in part moved him to create a character with her name who was also
3600-409: The conspiracy and publishes an exposé article on the case, which results in several SÄPO agents being arrested. Using this information, Annika clears Salander's name. Blomkvist shows up at Salander's flat that night, and they reconcile as friends. In the 2015 novel The Girl in the Spider's Web , written by David Lagercrantz as a continuation of the original series, Blomkvist again appears as one of
3680-457: The crooked officers at the NSA. Salander visits Blomkvist to renew their friendship. An early review by Upsala Nya Tidning characterised The Girl in the Spider's Web as "standard crime", portraying more brooding, human versions of Blomkvist and Salander, while downplaying the earlier "exaggerated and cartoonish features of the series". The book topped the U.S. bestseller list in August 2015. In November 2015, Columbia Pictures announced
3760-410: The disappearance of Vanger's grandniece, Harriet, 40 years earlier. Salander uses her research skills to uncover a series of murders, dating back decades and tied to Harriet's disappearance. During the investigation, Salander and Blomkvist become lovers. The novel reveals Salander was declared legally incompetent as a child and is under the care of legal guardian Holgar Palmgren, one of the few people in
3840-521: The draft finished in January 2015. Its Swedish title, Det som inte dödar oss , literally translated, means "That Which Does Not Kill Us" . Lagercrantz was given free rein by Larsson's estate. He tried to stay true to the series' complex stories with different plotlines but did not attempt to imitate Larsson's "journalistic authoritativeness." The novel was translated into 38 different languages, including an English translation by George Goulding. Like
3920-455: The drug cartels. At the end of the book, Salander acknowledges to herself that she has fallen in love with Blomkvist. On her way with a Christmas present to tell him so, however, she sees him with his longtime lover, Millennium editor Erika Berger. Heartbroken, Salander dumps the present in the garbage and cuts off all contact with him. The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) begins with Salander's returning to Sweden after having traveled for
4000-510: The first book, Salander is played by Rooney Mara , who received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The Girl in the Spider's Web , Lagercrantz's first continuation novel, was adapted into a 2018 English-language film . Salander is portrayed by Claire Foy , with Beau Gadsdon as her younger self. David Denby of The New Yorker stated that the character of Lisbeth Salander clearly accounts for
4080-420: The floor and then calls the same motorcycle gang who attacked her in the previous novel, who want him dead because he killed some of their people. Before they arrive to kill Niedermann, she contacts the police. That night, Blomkvist shows up at her door, and the two reconcile as friends. In The Girl in the Spider's Web (2015), written by David Lagercrantz as a continuation of the original series, Salander
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#17327986626104160-592: The full scope of the Section's conspiracy, which he strives to publish at the risk of his own life. Salander eventually writes, and passes to Giannini, an exact description of the sexual abuse she suffered at Bjurman's hands, but written in such a way as to make it sound hallucinatory so as to mislead the prosecution. At her trial, Salander is defiant and uncooperative. The prosecuting counsel uses testimony from Teleborian, appearing as their principal witness, to depict Salander as insane and in need of long-term care. Giannini then destroys Teleborian's credibility by introducing
4240-475: The girl declared legally insane and sent to a Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Uppsala . While there, Salander was placed under the direct surveillance of psychiatrist Dr. Peter Teleborian, who had earlier conspired with the Section to have her declared insane. During her stay at the hospital, Teleborian put her in restraints for the most trivial infractions as a way of venting his repressed pedophilic urges. On
4320-402: The head and has Niedermann bury her alive. She digs her way out, however, and hits her father in the face with an axe before losing consciousness. Blomkvist finds her and calls an ambulance, saving her life. The novel expands upon Salander's childhood. She is portrayed as having been an extremely bright but asocial child who would violently lash out at anyone who threatened or picked on her. This
4400-488: The hospital. Zalachenko, who is a patient in the same hospital, is murdered by someone in the Section, who then tries to kill Salander; fortunately, Salander's lawyer (Annika Giannini, Blomkvist's sister) has barred the door. The would-be assassin then commits suicide. Due to her deep-seated mistrust of authority, Salander refuses at first to cooperate in any way with her defense, relying instead on her friends in Sweden's hacker community. They eventually help Blomkvist discover
4480-545: The job. The two form an important relationship, in which each of their skill-sets prove invaluable in solving the Vanger case; they also become lovers. At the end of the first novel, Salander saves Blomkvist from Vanger's great-nephew (and Harriet's brother) Martin, a serial killer who has been murdering women throughout Sweden for decades. Using her phone tapping contacts in London , she and Blomkvist discover that Harriet Vanger
4560-461: The latest book in the series. However, Larsson's long-term domestic partner, Eva Gabrielsson , has voiced criticism against this project and referred to Lagercrantz as a "completely idiotic choice" to continue the Millennium series. She possesses an unfinished fourth manuscript of the Millennium series, which is not included in the novel. In an interview, Lagercrantz said that he had one criticism against Stieg Larsson and Larsson's portrait of
4640-637: The magazine's board of directors. At the same time, he is offered a freelance assignment by Henrik Vanger, the former CEO of Vanger Enterprises and patriarch of the wealthy Vanger family, to help him solve the cold case of his great-niece, Harriet Vanger, who has been missing for 36 years and presumed dead. Blomkvist reluctantly accepts the case in exchange for valuable information Vanger claims to have that would help him in his case against Wennerström. During this time, Blomkvist meets and begins to work with computer hacker Lisbeth Salander , whom Vanger had hired prior to investigate Blomkvist while considering him for
4720-432: The main protagonists. In the novel, Millennium ' s parent company , Serner Group, is trying to push Blomkvist out as editor. Desperate for a story, Blomkvist agrees to interview scientist Frans Balder about the theft of his quantum computer technology by hackers. When Balder is murdered, Blomkvist learns that he had hired Salander to hack his company, Solifon, to find out the thieves' identities. She had found out that
4800-485: The most compelling characters in recent popular fiction". In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005), Lisbeth Salander is introduced as a gifted, but deeply troubled, researcher and computer hacker working for Milton Security. Her boss, Dragan Armansky, commissions her to research disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist at the behest of a wealthy businessman, Henrik Vanger. When Blomkvist finds out that Salander hacked his computer, he hires her to assist him in investigating
4880-409: The most respected and profitable in Sweden. During her investigation of Wennerström, Salander uses her hacking skills and a series of disguises to withdraw billions of Swedish kronor from Wennerström's off-shore accounts. She anonymously reveals the address of Wennerström's final hideout to a lawyer with criminal connections, and Wennerström is murdered three days later, supposedly owing much money to
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#17327986626104960-565: The most respected and profitable in Sweden. Salander abruptly ends their relationship at the end of the novel, however, after seeing him with his lover and business partner, Erika Berger. In the following novel, The Girl Who Played with Fire , two of Blomkvist's colleagues and Salander's former legal guardian Nils Bjurman are murdered and Salander is identified as the prime suspect. Blomkvist becomes her only supporter and strives to clear her name, even as she wants nothing to do with him and refuses to help him in any way. He eventually discovers that
5040-587: The murders are part of an elaborate conspiracy between The Section—a faction of SÄPO , the Swedish Secret Service—;and Salander's father, former Soviet spy Alexander Zalachenko, whom The Section had illegally helped to defect. He also learns that Bjurman had raped Salander a few years earlier, and that The Section conspired to have her committed to a mental hospital as a child in order to protect Zalachenko. He follows Salander to Zalachenko's farm, where he finds her near death after
5120-467: The only interview he ever did about the series, Larsson stated that he based the character of Lisbeth Salander on what he imagined Pippi Longstocking might have been like as an adult. In the Millennium series, Salander has the name "V. Kulla" displayed on the door of her apartment on the top floor of Fiskargatan 9 in Stockholm . "V. Kulla" is an abbreviation of " Villa Villekulla ", the name of Pippi Longstocking's house. Another source of inspiration
5200-479: The picture implicating Holtser and helping Salander decrypt the last of the NSA's secrets. Grane takes a position at the UN working for human rights . Millennium publishes an exposė of the affair which restores their credibility; additionally, a new investment from Gibraltar (the site of Salander's Wasp Enterprises) allows Millennium to buy out their meddlesome investors. Needham, with the magazine as ammunition, ousts
5280-402: The police August's drawing of him. She has an opportunity to shoot Camilla during her escape, but cannot bring herself to kill her sister and allows her to get away. Salander returns August to his mother, Hanna, kicks Hanna's abusive boyfriend out of the house, and gives Hanna and August plane tickets to Munich so they can start over. She then supplies Blomkvist with information she hacked from
5360-666: The previous novels, the English language translation is published by Quercus in the UK. In March 2015, the US publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced the English-language title of the book, The Girl in the Spider's Web , and released their cover art. The first printing in the United States was for 500,000 copies. The late author's literary estate is fully controlled by Larsson's brother and father, who hired Lagercrantz and have supported
5440-465: The protagonist Mikael Blomkvist : "Women came to [Mikael Blomkvist], fell down and wanted to sleep with him, he didn't even have to charm them. I tried to tone this down as I couldn't understand it." When asked about the decision to continue the series after Larsson's death, Sonny Mehta , the president of Alfred A. Knopf — the American publisher of all the Millennium books — said, "Lisbeth Salander
5520-410: The publication has stagnated and is in danger of losing creative control to outside investors. Balder's former associate, Linus Brandell, tells Mikael Blomkvist about Balder and his tumultuous history, mentioning that some of his activities were aided by Lisbeth Salander . Spurred by a childhood memory, Salander attempts to track down someone from her past, leading her to the Spider Society. She helps
5600-463: The recording of Salander's rape and produces extensive evidence of the Section's plot, published in Millennium that morning by Blomkvist. At the same time Giannini starts questioning Teleborian, the 10 members of the Section are arrested and charged with crimes against national security. Police briefly interrupt Salander's trial to arrest Teleborian for possession of child pornography , which Salander's fellow hackers uncovered from his laptop and sent to
5680-511: The screenplay with Alvarez and Jay Basu. In March 2017, it was confirmed that the film would have an entirely new cast and was scheduled to be released on 5 October 2018. In May 2017, Variety reported that Claire Foy is the top pick for the main role. Scott Rudin , Søren Stærmose, Ole Søndberg, Amy Pascal , Elizabeth Cantillon, Eli Bush, and Berna Levin produced the film, which is executive produced by Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Line Winther Skyum Funch, Johannes Jensen, and The Girl with
5760-429: The series, The Girl Who Lived Twice , was published in 2019. In 2009, the Swedish film and television studio Yellow Bird produced a trilogy of films based upon the first three novels. In these films, Salander is played as an adult by Noomi Rapace and as a child by Tehilla Blad . Rapace received a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination in 2011. In the 2011 English-language film adaptation of
5840-523: The series. "Mikael Blomkvist is a graduate of the School of Journalism and had much of his professional life dedicated to revealing and report suspicious transactions, specifically in the field of banking and business," writes Larsson in the first volume of the trilogy. "It will give the typical image of guardian of the moral, incorruptible, facing the business world. And as such quite frequently invite you to comment on various issues in television." Blomkvist
5920-417: The theft. Thus, Balder went to Solifon to attempt to gain more evidence, discovering that they were collaborating with both the NSA and the Spider Society in their espionage efforts. It was this investigation that resulted in his death. Needham is pulled off the investigation into Salander's hack, as the NSA is eager to cover up the agency's involvement. He learns of an individual known as "Wasp", and catches
6000-476: The thriller genre; "She's a tiny bundle of post-modernist tropes, beginning with her computer skills." Laura Wilson wrote in The Guardian that by Lagercrantz's third continuation novel, The Girl Who Lived Twice (2019), "the main characters have, sadly, become subject to the law of diminishing returns – in particular Salander, who is now just another all-purpose kick-ass heroine." Since 2015, there
6080-427: The world she trusts and cares for. When Palmgren suffers a stroke, the court appoints her a new guardian: Nils Bjurman, a sadist who forces Salander to perform oral sex in return for access to her allowance. In a second sex session at his flat, he violently rapes and sodomizes her, unaware that she is recording his actions with a hidden camera. A few days later, she returns to his flat and, after disabling him with
6160-460: Was Larsson's niece, Therese. A rebellious teenager, she often wore black clothing and makeup, and told Larsson several times that she wanted to get a tattoo of a dragon. The author often emailed Therese while writing the novels to ask her about her life and how she would react in certain situations. She told him about her battle with anorexia and that she practiced kickboxing (previously jujitsu ). After his death, many of Larsson's friends said
6240-464: Was always uncomfortable showing herself naked". Salander is a world-class computer hacker . Under the pseudonym "Wasp", she becomes a prominent figure in the international hacker community known as the Hacker Republic (similar to the group Anonymous ). She uses her computer skills as a means to earn a living, doing investigative work for Milton Security. She has an eidetic memory and
6320-503: Was changed in the English translation to a small dragon on her left shoulder blade. Salander visits a clinic in Genoa between the first and second books, where she had her wasp tattoo removed as she felt it was "too conspicuous and it made her too easy to remember and identify". She also has a breast enlargement, having previously "been flat-chested, as if she had never reached puberty . She thought [her breasts] had looked ridiculous, and she
6400-601: Was in part the result of a troubled home life; Zalachenko repeatedly beat her mother but escaped punishment because the Section perceived his value to the Swedish State as being more important than her mother's civil rights. One day, when Salander was 12, Zalachenko beat her mother so badly that she sustained permanent brain damage. In retaliation, Salander hurled a homemade Molotov cocktail into her father's car, leaving him permanently disfigured and in chronic pain. The Section, fearing this would lead to their exposure, had
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