The biggest mystery in the originalBlade Runnerwas Rick Deckard himself. After spending his life hunting down replicants, was he one himself? The answer was played up in a scene added to the director’s cut of the film in which the character comes across an origami unicorn, but then directorRidley Scottdefinitively confirmed he was a replicant. So, there you have it. Cased closed, right? Well,Denis Villeneuve, who’s helming the sequel, hopes to keep the case open just a crack forBlade Runner 2049.
The director spoke with a French film siteAllocine, which was then translated and paraphrased byThe Playlist. Villeneuve said it was important to keep the tension of this replicant mystery, if we can still call it that, and to keep some of the riddles from the first film unsolved. He also saidHarrison Ford’s presence inBlade Runner 2049isn’t confirmation that Deckard isn’t a replicant — even though, again, Scott said he is. Referring to the Nexus 6 replicants, which have lifespans of four years, he said Deckard is “not necessarily” a human.
Just for shits and giggles, let’s look back at exactly what Scott said to see if there was any possible way his quotes could’ve been misconstrued…
Digital Spyasked Scott during a press junket forExodus: Gods and Kingsabout the puzzler and whether he thought it’d be addressed inBlade Runner 2049. Scott said, “He is definitely a replicant.” He followed that up with, “He is!” and explained some of the hints that we all should’ve picked up on in the original movie. On top of that,leaked pages from earlier draftsofBlade Runnerpopped up online, detailing an alternate ending that, again, confirmed Deckard to be a replicant.
So, no, his quotes weren’t taken out of context. Perhaps the “mystery” is more for those who haven’t seen the original film (or for Ford, who famously disagreed with Scott’s view and asserted Deckard was a human), or perhaps there’s some other payoff for fans in the story. We’ll find out whenBlade Runner 2049— also starringRyan Gosling,Jared Leto,Robin Wright,Dave Bautista,Barked Abdi,Mackenzie Davis, andAna de Armas— will be released on August 27, 2025.
