If you’re waiting on a third Blade Runner movie, you’re in luck. Well, sort of. Reports have come in confirming that a sequel to the 2017 Denis Villeneuve movie is coming. The catch is, it will be a series for Amazon Prime. On top of that, it will take place quite some time after the events of the second movie. Would it be appropriate to say that it takes place in the future when the whole franchise already takes place in the future? I don’t think it matters, but after that chilling cliffhanger from the last movie, I’m sure many fans are curious to see what happens next. Well, it looks like this series will continue the story in the year 2099, fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049. And just in case you’re wondering, Harrison Ford is not reported to reprise his role as Rick Deckard.
I can see why fans would be disappointed by that, but in my opinion, Harrison Ford wasn’t the strongest part of Blade Runner 2049. For me, it was Jared Leto’s character, Niander Wallace, the head of Wallace Corporation. I thought he was an excellent villain, with his status as the successor to the Tyrell Corporation, on top of the fact that he was blind and needed little robots to basically guide him, made him an intriguing and also scary villain. He even managed to terrorize Deckard by killing a clone of Rachael. Unlike Roy Batty, Wallace was hardly sympathetic and no problem with enslaving or killing the replicants. And as usual, Jared Leto delivered a masterful performance that made me want to see that character again.
After the ending of Blade Runner 2049, I think we all had an idea on what a third movie would be like. Just a little recap, we saw Ryan Gosling’s character, Officer K, die after saving Deckard from Luv. His sacrifice allowed Deckard to meet his daughter for the first time and reunite with the replicant freedom fighters. It is heavily implied that the replicant resistance will take the fight to the Wallace Corporation and will have Deckard backing them. And at some point, I’m sure we were going to learn about the secret to the replicant reproduction, something Wallace himself was trying to learn.
This is something that could have been expanded on with Ana Stelline, who turned out to be the daughter of Rachael and Deckard. She was basically the key to understanding how the replicants were able to reproduce biologically. On top of that, it would’ve been interesting to see her chemistry develop with Deckard. Again, all of these things are what we could have seen in the third Blade Runner movie. Unfortunately, Blade Runner 2049 was not a big box office hit. Not enough people went to go see it, although it did get enough favorable reception from critics and fans. Because it was a financial flop, the chances of a third movie were next to none, but now there is a loop hole.
A second movie didn’t make enough money? No problem. Amazon Studios will give us a sequel series that will likely give us a new batch of characters. I’m excited that the Blade Runner franchise will continue, but I’m not sure how I feel about the old characters not coming back. Granted, it has yet to be confirmed on who will be returning, but this is fifty years after Blade Runner 2049. Deckard was already older by then, so he has probably passed on by the time 2099 rolled around. Then again, this is the future where enhanced humans are running around, so who knows what could happen.
Personally, I would like to see Wallace return and see him be a villain more. His resourcefulness, as well as his creepiness, is what made him a good villain and the true enemy of the replicants. What would be a fitting end to his story? Since the series will take place in 2099, he was either likely killed by the replicant freedom movement or he is still alive as an older man. The guy had robots that basically helped him see, so it’s not too crazy to think that he figured out a way to prolong his life. Could it have something to do with his experiments on the replicants?
I think if he could create a clone for Rachael, then it’s possible he could create a clone of himself. This new clone of Wallace could be the main antagonist of the Blade Runner 2099 series. It’s not hard to believe that Wallace would have a contingency plan to ensure that the Wallace Corporation will persevere. That only means bigger problems for the replicants and they’ll have to be more aggressive with the movement. And as for the legacy of Deckard, that will have to live on through his daughter. She might have to become the new protagonist for this series, but this is a risky move. Officer K was a cool character, but Blade Runner started with Harrison Ford as its leading man.
Let’s be real here, it is nearly impossible to top Harrison Ford as a leading man. That’s why the Indiana Jones franchise should end after the fifth movie. Would they actually replace him and cast someone else to play Indy? Would it even be a good idea to continue the franchise with a totally new character? I don’t think so, and let’s not even bring up how Disney tried to continue the journey of Han Solo without him. Just a little refresher, it didn’t turn out too well, since the 2018 solo movie flopped.
With that in mind, I think it is legitimate to think that Blade Runner 2099 would be taking a risk without Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard. His character may not be completely essential to making this series work, but if he really isn’t in it, then it better go bigger than before. How does it do that? Well, both Blade Runner movies mentioned activity in space several times.
Wallace’s obsession with learning the secret to replicant reproduction was for the purpose of interstellar colonization. He would likely want to use the secret to control the population of replicants and would continue to use them for slave labor off Earth. I think the series can benefit showing us what the Blade Runner universe is like away from Earth. What is the true extent of the conditions the replicants go through on and off Earth? This all led to the replicants forming a resistance movement and they’ll probably pick up more recruits from other worlds. These are the kinds of things Blade Runner 2099 can explore and expand the universe.
What are your thoughts, Blade Runner fans?
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