Dave Bautista Has ‘Nowhere to Hide’ in New Blade Runner 2049 Prequel
Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve is is preparing fans for the film with a trio of short films, which bridge the gap between 2019 — the year in which Blade Runner takes place — and 2049.
The first film, 2036: Nexus Dawn, saw a future in which replicants had been purged from society, but the mad, brilliant scientist Neander Wallace (Jared Leto) takes the first step in what he believes is a necessary resurgence of “skin-jobs,” which he has already created. They are clearly an upgrade on the original models, but as all science fiction fans and smartphone owners know, upgrades can be buggy and downright dangerous.
This latest film takes a 12-year leap forward, to 2048. Los Angeles is filthy, worse even than it was originally portrayed in Blade Runner — humanity and the environment are clearly in decline, as predicted by Wallace. And books are clearly hard to come by, as kindly giant Sapper (Dave Bautista) looks as though he’s gone through hell to deliver a copy of The Power and the Glory to a sweet young girl. The unnamed girl and her mother are clearly friends of his, though the nature and history of that friendship is not revealed.
Sapper’s loyalty to the two young women is unquestionable however; after he takes his leave of them they are attacked, and Sapper saves them, with a violent show of force that leaves them terrified of him. Worse, he may very well have outed himself as an outlaw replicant.
It’s one year before Blade Runner 2049, and a renegade is on the loose in Nowhere to Run, which, like Nexus Dawn, is directed by Luke Scott (son of Blade Runner director Ripley Scott).
For context, here is the timeline of the Blade Runner universe as shown by director Denis Villeneuve at the Blade Runner 2049 panel at SDCC:
2019: Blade Runner Rick Deckard flees Los Angeles with a replicant named Rachael.
2020: The Tyrell Corporation introduces a new replicant model, the Nexus 8S, which has extended lifespans. (Dave Bautista plays one of these Replicants in 2049.)
2022: An EMP detonation causes a global blackout that has massive, destructive implications all over the world.
2023: A Replicant prohibition is put into effect.
2025: A new company, Wallace Corp., solves the global food shortage and becomes a massive super power.
2030: Replicant prohibition is repealed.
2049: Life on Earth has reached its limit and society divides between Replicant and human.
Originally published at www.robotmutant.com.
