Blade Runner 2099: What Happens When the Replicants Are Running the World?

In the upcoming Prime Video series Blade Runner 2099, set 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, the roles of Replicants and humans have reversed. Replicants, androids designed as slave labor, have taken over and now rule over humankind. The series, created by Silka Luisa and designed by Paul Inglis, brings back the iconic dystopian world of flying cars, vast cityscapes, and teeming masses from the original 1982 film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott.

In this new world, identity becomes increasingly blurred as humans pretend to be Replicants and vice versa. One of the main leads, Michelle Yeoh's Olwen, is a police officer who pretends to be a Replicant Blade Runner, while Hunter Schafer's Cora is forced to play a human who is a Replicant Blade Runner. The dynamic between the two characters explores the complexities of the human-Replicant relationship.

As the series begins, the humans are at the bottom of the hierarchy, having lost the war against Replicants decades ago. Now, it's the Replicants who are tasked with rebuilding Earth, which has become an ecological disaster due to the humans' neglect. Olwen, aware that her lifespan is limited due to the modified Replicant lifespan, grapples with her mortality as she takes on the role of a police officer in this new world.

The series also incorporates familiar elements from the Blade Runner franchise, such as the iconic flying cars, known as spinners, which are essential to the show's aesthetic. By incorporating these familiar elements alongside new dynamic relationships and characters, Blade Runner 2099 aims to pay homage to the original films while also charting its own course in the future of the franchise.