Differences between novel and film
In the novel, the papal conclave attracts relatively little public attention. In the wake of the huge international interest in the 2005 election of Pope Benedict XVI, this was judged to be out of date.
The character of CERN Director Maximillian Kohler does not appear in the film.
The Italian Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is changed to the Irish Patrick McKenna, portrayed by Ewan McGregor.
The Lockheed Martin X-33 that takes Langdon from the United States to Geneva and then to Rome is absent in the film.
Langdon's visit to CERN is absent in the film.
In the novel, Commander Olivetti is the commander of Swiss Guard, and his second in command is Captain Rocher, whereas in the film, Rocher (changed to Richter) is the head of the Swiss Guard.
In the novel, the assassin contacts members of the BBC in order to influence how they present the story of his activities, but this does not happen in the film.
The character Leonardo Vetra is named Silvano Bentivoglio in the film, is not related to Vittoria, and his death scene is changed.
Vittoria is a love interest for Langdon in the novel while there is no attraction present in the film.
In the novel, Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is revealed to be the late pope's biological son while in the film he is his adoptive son.
In the film, the Camerlengo briefly acknowledges Langdon's involvement in some events of the previous film when in the book it does not, as the events in The Da Vinci Code are yet to take place. This is due to the fact that The Da Vinci Code was adapted to film before Angels & Demons.
In the book, the assassin has Middle Eastern looks whereas in the film he is portrayed by a Danish actor. In the film, he is killed by a car bomb whereas in the book he falls from a balcony at the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo. He consequently breaks his back on a pile of marble cannonballs, an injury which eventually kills him.
In the novel, Vittoria is kidnapped whereas in the film she joins Langdon almost everywhere.
In the book, all four preferiti are killed by the assassin and eventually the high elector, Cardinal Saverio Mortati, is elected as the new pope whereas in the film, the fourth preferito, Cardinal Baggia, is saved by Langdon and is elected the new pope. The high elector, renamed Cardinal Strauss, becomes the camerlengo to the new pope.
In the book, the fifth brand is one that incorporates all four words from the previous four whereas in the film the fifth brand is the crossed keys, symbolic of the papacy.
The means by which the heroes discover the location of the bomb is significantly different. In the book, the Camerlengo feigns a religious vision from God, telling him where to find the bomb. In the film, he feeds Langdon a clue to the bomb's location by branding himself with an upside-down version of the papal keys, which Langdon successfully deduces is a metaphor for Saint Peter, the first pope, who was crucified upside-down.
In the book, Langdon stows away on the Camerlengo's helicopter, and just before the antimatter explosion, jumps out using a makeshift parachute, and lands on Isola Tiberina, whose mythical healing powers heal the injuries he incurs from the fall. In the film, Langdon does not get on the helicopter.
In the book's closing scenes, a Swiss Guard hands Langdon the fifth brand, the Illuminati diamond, as a gift. In the film, the new Camerlengo hands over Galileo's book to Langdon.
