Blade Runner 2049: What You Need to Know Before Watching

In 1982, director Ridley Scott released Blade Runner, a neo-noir/science fiction movie based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Although the film underperformed at the box-office, it's since taken on cult status and become widely regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all-time.

Thirty five years later, Blade Runner 2049 is set to reintroduce audiences to the film's dystopian Los Angeles, with its decrepit buildings, street markets and Replicants -- a type of bioengineered android created by the Tyrell Corporation.

REVIEW: Blade Runner 2049 – The Sequel Almost Equals the Original

If you haven't seen the original, you should definitely watch it. But if you haven't, or if you have already seen it bunted a refresher, this guide will give you an overview of the events of the first film and explain a bit about one of the series' biggest mysteries: Is protagonist Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) a Replicant? We'll also talk a bit about the three shorts Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve commissioned to bridge the gap between the original film, set in 2019, and his sequel, while providing some relatively spoiler-free details about the upcoming movie.

What Happened in the First Movie?

Before summarizing the original Blade Runner, it's important to know that there are several different cuts of the film, and there are some pretty big differences between them. The "Theatrical Cut," for example, features a much-derided voice over that is absent from many other versions of the film. The only version that you really need to know about for Blade Runner 2049 is Scott's "Final Cut," which he released in 2007 and was the only take over which he had complete creative control.

After Gaff (Edward James Olmos) detains ex-police officer Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh), Deckard's former supervisor, threatens the retired blade runner into hunting down and "retiring"-- a euphemism for killing -- four rogue Nexus 6 model Replicants that have illegally come to Earth to extend their four-year lifespans. Those four Replicants are Leon (Brion James), Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Pris (Daryl Hannah) and their leader, Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).

Deckard heads to the Tyrell Corporation to test his Voight-Kampff machine, a device used to detect synthetic humans through the use of questions. There, he meets Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel) and Rachael (Sean Young), a young woman who doesn't know she's an experimental Replicant implanted with false memories. Rachael follows Deckard home and tries to convince him of her humanity using a family photo, but he explains to her that her memories are actually those of Tyrell's niece.

After retiring Zhora, Bryant informs Deckard that Rachael has run away and that he's going to have to get rid of her too. Leon attacks Deckard shortly after, but Rachael saves the blade runner's life by shooting his attacker in the back of the head. Deckard takes Rachael back to his apartment and promises that he won't hunt her if she runs away.

With half of their compatriots dead, Batty and Pris manipulate a genetic designer named J.F. Sebastian so as to gain access to the Tyrell Corporation and Eldon Tyrell, their maker. During their meeting, Tyrell informs Batty that it's impossible to extend his lifespan. Batty responds by killing his creator and Sebastian.

Deckard finds out about Sebastian's death and heads to the deceased designer's apartment, where he finds and retires Pris. Batty, now the final Replicant, bests Deckard in an intense game of cat-and-mouse. However, Batty chooses to save the blade runner's life rather than let him fall off the side of a building. After pulling Deckard up, Batty gives his famous "tears in rain" speech before expiring.

Gaff arrives on the scene, taunting Deckard about Rachael's inevitable death. The blade runner, gun drawn, returns to his apartment where he finds her unharmed. Deckard disappears with Rachael in order to keep her, and himself, safe.

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Is Deckard a Replicant?

One of the biggest questions in Blade Runner fandom revolves around the humanity of Deckard, and the question of whether or not he's one of the film's Replicants. Even those involved in the film's production dispute Deckard's humanity. Ford claims that the character is definitely human while co-writer Hampton Fancher prefers to keep Deckard's status ambiguous. Scott, however, asserts that Deckard is a Replicant.

Deckard's humanity depends a lot on which cut of the film that you're watching as different editions make it or more or less ambiguous whether Deckard is a Replicant. The "Final Cut" provides one of the biggest clues that the blade runner might not be human. Around the film's midway point, Deckard daydreams about a unicorn running in a forest. The scene feels weirdly out of place until the very end of the movie. As Deckard and Rachael flee his apartment, she knocks over a small origami unicorn left by Gaff. The unicorn indicates that Gaff knows Deckard's dreams in the same way that Deckard knew about Rachael's false memories.

How's the World Changed in 30 Years?

Set three years after the original film, Shinichiro Watanabe's Black Out 2022 is probably the most important of the tie-in films for understanding how the world has changed in the time between the movies. The opening crawl reveals that, after the debacle with the Nexus 6 models, the Tyrell Corporation created the Nexus 8, which have natural life spans. This leads to a human supremacy movement that uses the "Replicant Registration database" to find and murder the androids.

The short itself follows two Nexus 8 models named Iggy and Trixie as they do their part in a coordinated attack against all of the data centers containing information about Replicants. The two hijack an oil tanker and blow it up, destroying all of the backups while a massive EMP causes a worldwide blackout. The EMP also results in mass destruction, with flying cars dropping from the sky. The aftermath of the event causes the prohibition of all Replicants and the bankruptcy of the Tyrell Corporation.

Luke Scott's Nexus Dawn takes place over a decade later and focuses on Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), CEO of the Wallace Corporation. With the Earth's ecosystem, on the verge of collapse, Wallace monologues to a hearing about the production of Replicants about his belief that Replicants are important to the survival of humanity. An illegally built new model of Replicant -- the Nexus 9 -- accompanies Wallace to the meeting. Wallace reveals that the Nexus 9s are totally obedient, having the one accompanying him slash its own face before killing itself.

Nowhere to Run, also directed by Luke Scott, takes place just one year prior to the events of the film and follows Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), a rogue Nexus 8. The video shows Morton's human side through a relationship with a girl and her mother. However, when a group of men attempts to sexually assault the girl and her mother, Morton fights them off, revealing himself as a Replicant in the process. At the end of the short, a spectator calls the LAPD to inform it of the rogue Replicant.

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What Do We Know About the Sequel?

A lot of plot details about Blade Runner 2049 are still unknown. The film is set to follow LAPD officer K (Ryan Gosling) as he embarks on an investigation that will bring him into conflict with Wallace -- who is "constructing an army." K will also have to seek out Deckard and fight Morton along the way.

Blade Runner 2049's official synopsis reads:

Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who's been missing for 30 years.

Only Ford and Olmos will return from the original film. Olmos is set to reprise his role as Gaff in some limited capacity, but it's unlikely his role will be particularly big. It's also highly unlikely that Young will reprise her role as Rachael as, in 2013, the actress suggested fans boycott the film when she revealed that she likely wouldn't be in it.

One thing that we do know for sure about the film is that Scott promised it will finally put to rest the question of whether or not Deckard is actually a replicant. So it's almost time to find out the answer to one of cinema's greatest mysteries.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) from a script by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Barkhad Abdi, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis and Sylvia Hoeks. Executive produced by Ridley Scott, the film arrives in theaters on Oct. 6.