After months of speculation, Jared Leto has lifted the mask on his Blade Runner: 2049 character, revealing his full name in a recent interview. Anticipation is running high for Denis Villeneuve's upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott's seminal science fiction film, Blade Runner. It has been 35 years since the original hit theaters, and Villeneuve's sequel looks to bring back Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard as well as introduce a slate of new characters into the immersive world.

Ford recently explained why he chose to reprise his role after so many years, saying the idea of revisiting a character after so long intrigued him. Of course, he's not the only person in the film. In addition to Deckard, the Blade Runner sequel introduces audiences to the new protagonist, Officer K, played by Ryan Gosling, as well as characters played by the likes of Ana de Armas, Mackenzie Davis, Barkhad Abdi, Robin Wright, Lennie James, and of course, Jared Leto.

It was previously reported at CinemaCon 2017 that Jared Leto would be playing a character named Wallace. Leto has since confirmed the name in an interview with London Evening Standard, revealing that he's playing Neander Wallace, a replicant manufacturer as we saw in the movie's trailer earlier this year. He then went on to express his excitement for the film as well as saying how much Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner impacted his life and career.

"I can tell you that the experience of making [Blade Runner: 2049] was one of the highlights of my film career. Throughout my life, I’ve always gone back to that film. There was something in it that really touched me and taught me a lot about cinema. There’s a level of craftsmanship and beauty that’s unparalleled."

Scott is one of the most visionary directors of all time. He has created classics such as Alien, Gladiator, and of course, Blade Runner. At this point, there is very little that we know about the upcoming sequel. So far, though, Dave Bautista, whose character currently remains a secret, claims that the sequel is better than the original. While that's certainly a bold statement, if there's anyone who could potentially make a better film than Scott's original, it's Villeneuve.

Villeneuve has been on a hot streak in Hollywood. His film last year, Arrival, has been heralded as one of the greatest science fiction films of the past decade, and his previous two projects -- Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015) -- have both achieved critical and commercial success, so much that the director is already working on a sequel for Sicario. We'll just have to wait and see if Blade Runner: 2049 winds up being another hit for the director -- and the cast.

Next: Blade Runner 2049 vs. Blade Runner Trailer Comparison

Source: London Evening Standard