The New Blade Runner Trailer is Here!

The full-length Blade Runner 2049 trailer is here, further teasing the enigmatic storyline for Denis Villeneuve's sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic, Blade Runner. The official title and synopsis confirm that the Blade Runner sequel picks up thirty years after its predecessor and follows the LAPD officer/Blade Runner K, played by Ryan Gosling, as he searches for the long-missing, replicant-hunting legend Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford).

The "Why" behind K's quest to find Deckard remains something of a mystery, though the Blade Runner 2049 preview footage suggests that Deckard is the key to maintaining order in the movie's own version of the troubled, futuristic Los Angeles. As for the City of Angels, that world appears even more visually striking and dazzling to behold in Villeneuve's followup than the Noir-inspired sci-fi metropolis featured in Scott's original film - based on the latest trailer footage from the Blade Runner sequel (footage that will be shown with Scott's Alien: Covenant in theaters).

Blade Runner 2049's setting - photographed by Villeneuve's acclaimed Prisoners and Sicario collaborator, Roger Deakins - carries over the aesthetic of neon-lit streets, foggy skies and grimy atmosphere from Scott's original movie. However, both the original Blade Runner 2049 teaser and the full-length trailer (see above) showcase a world that have evolved beyond the technology and way of living in the Blade Runner universe was circa 2019; making the path that Gosling's K travels all the more treacherous than even the dangerous world that Deckard navigated back during his own replicant-hunting days.

The aged Deckard isn't all too keen on being found by K either, after having spent some unspecified amount of time hiding out in a futuristic version of Las Vegas that has degraded into a desert wasteland reminiscent of Mad Max. Both this new trailer and the Blade Runner 2049 footage shown at CinemaCon back in March (some of which made the cut in the film's new theatrical preview) emphasize atmosphere and imagery over plot. But after waiting thirty-five years for this sequel, we could stand to wait a little longer to find out exactly what returning Blade Runner screenwriter Hampton Fancher and co-writer Michael Green (Logan, American Gods) have in store for us with their next chapter in the Blade Runner saga.

That also goes for the characters in the film, though we have an idea about who supporting players such as Robin Wright (House of Cards) and Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) are playing now, thanks to their appearances in the Blade Runner 2049 marketing thus far. With a cast as stacked as this one, counting people such as Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Mackenzie Davis (The Martian), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) and Edward James Olmos (reprising his role as Gaff from the original Blade Runner) amongst its ranks, there's no need to rush and introduce all these players at once, either.

Like the mystery around Deckard, more will be revealed about Blade Runner 2049 when the time is right. Just don't necessarily expect Villeneuve to settle the is-Deckard-or-isn't-Deckard-a-replicant debate, once and for all. This is the same filmmaker who drew from theoretical linguistics concepts for the ending of his alien contact feature Arrival, after all.