The Blade Runner universe is about to take a big step forward, arguably its most significant, since Blade Runner 2049, the impossible sequel to the original film, was released.
Announced in 2021, five years after the release of 2049, Alcon Entertainment announced that it partnered with Amazon Prime Studios for a ten-episode limited series that will act as a direct sequel to Blade Runner 2049. The first question many may have might be, 'Does Blade Runner 2049 need a sequel?' 2049 had a sense of finality regarding the characters of Deckard, his daughter Ana Stelline, Rachael's fate, and Officer K, played with mesmerizing skill by Ryan Gosling.
Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Deni Villeneuve on the set of Blade Runner 2049
There's been some excitement about the Prime series and much more caution. Deservedly so. In 2021, Crunchyroll released Blade Runner Black Lotus, a 13-episode anime series starring a female protagonist for the first time in the IP's history. Produced by Blade Runner rights holder Alcon Entertainment, fans and audiences were not enthusiastic. While steps were taken to expand the unique and arresting world, the show was held back by character animation that felt like nineties-era CGI as opposed to the brilliant work on display from shows like Arcane, Blue Eye Samurai, and others. Black Lotus featured a central character who looked the part but was mired by a lack of agency and a pronounced damsel-in-distress syndrome that would only sink her narrative.
Elle, Blade Runner: Black Lotus
Enter the announcement of Blade Runner 2099, a ten-hour bookend to the films. At the outset, the series has to recreate a version of both films' tone and atmosphere while maintaining that sense of wonder, melancholy, and poetic sensibilities that is now synonymous with Blade Runner. The show needs to get so much right, and the margin of error for a ten-hour show set in the world of Blade Runner is razor-thin.
There is much to love about Blade Runner, from its rich environments and artful aesthetics to the strength of its characters and story. Blade Runner is the litmus test for science fiction, and its redefining of the science fiction genre is now the bar for any film born from its fire. When movies and shows get it wrong, it's often because their impression of Blade Runner is purely aesthetic when, in fact, the success of those films begins and ends with the richness of the characters that inhabit that world. Blade Runner would not be what it is without Roy Batty's heartfelt wonder and sense of humanity, Rachael's loss of identity, and Deckard learning what it means to be human in an inhumane world.
Rachael and Deckard, Blade Runner 1982
For some, including myself, the heart and soul of Blade Runner resides in the character of Rachael, the unique human who's not entirely human after all. Fridged in 2049, Rachael's essence is the atmosphere in which 2049 is conjured. Her spirit continues to permeate the world of Blade Runner. She was so popular that a version of her was brought back for the briefest and most tragic of moments in 2049, only to be killed again by a fellow Replicant. Rachael's spirit, illuminated by Sean Young's other-worldly performance, continues to surround the films and fandom.
Academy Award-winning actor Michelle Yeoh and breakout star Hunter Schafer have both been cast as leads in Blade Runner 2099. The show is currently in its last weeks of filming in Prague. Led by showrunner Silka Luisa of Apple TV's Shining Girls, 2099 will be the first time the live-action world of Blade Runner will be led by women, despite a significant female presence in both films. There have yet to be any announcements on who will compose the score for the series, which will be a daunting task. Following in the footsteps of Vangelis' god-like talent and the monumental score created for Blade Runner 2049 by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer is something I can't even imagine. And yet, to raise this series to the level of the films, no stone can be left unturned; everyone involved in the show must bring their A-game.
Michelle Yeoh & Hunter Schafer
Blade Runner 2049 is the impossible sequel, the miracle child born from the love of Ridley Scott's original 1982 film. 2049 was pushed into the world, loved, and has gone on to be heralded as one of the best sequels ever made. Can Blade Runner 2099 live up to this legacy? Will this series be 'the fabulous new?'
Jaime Prater for Shoulder of Orion: The Blade Runner Podcast