A Blade Runner TV show is in the works, and while giving the franchise a major TV series is exciting, it is missing a huge opportunity. The Blade Runner universe is massive, with it containing all kinds of lore and backstories that could easily be fleshed out in TV shows and movies. However, the Blade Runner franchise has mostly stuck to the same stories when it comes to film, meaning that Blade Runner 2099 is missing its chance to tell a truly unique tale.
Blade Runner 2099 is currently in development for Amazon Prime, with the miniseries being the franchise's first live-action TV outing. The show will be a sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2017 film Blade Runner 2049, which itself is a sequel to Ridley Scott's beloved 1982 sci-fi film Blade Runner. Ridley Scott is returning once again to executive produce Blade Runner 2099, although that is one of only a few details that have been released about the show so far. While Blade Runner 2099 will surely be good, a different story could have made it even better.
The Blade Runner TV Show Should Be About A Replicant Revolution
Blade Runner 2099 will follow up the events of Blade Runner 2049, with it most likely sticking to the franchise's typical cyberpunk police stories. However, a Blade Runner show would have been the perfect opportunity to tell a prequel story about a replicant revolution. Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 have already told LA-based police stories twice, meaning that a change of pace is warranted. While there have been prequel stories in Blade Runner comics, bringing these stories to TV would be a great way to expand the franchise.
Replicants have been at the heart of Blade Runner since the very beginning, with a replicant revolution being a key element of the story of the original film. Blade Runner's villain Roy Batty as well as the other fugitive replicants got to Earth after escaping an off-world colony during a violent revolution. While this replicant revolution happened completely offscreen, it has the potential to be an incredibly interesting story, which is why the Blade Runner series should have been a prequel.
A Blade Runner Prequel Could Make The Replicants Even More Sympathetic
The biggest opportunity that a Blade Runner prequel would have is that it could make the replicants even more sympathetic. Blade Runner is all about blurring the line between machines and humans, with it painting replicants as an unfairly treated group that is almost indistinguishable from human beings. Although characters like K and possibly Rick Deckard are replicants, their stories have been about hunting down other replicants. Considering how dependent the Blade Runner franchise is, it's really time to center a story on the culture and lives of replicants.
A Blade Runner prequel could also make the replicants more sympathetic by showing how horribly they were treated. Replicants are essentially slaves in the world of Blade Runner, but the franchise has never shown things like the colonies. Blade Runner needs a story like Andor, with it showing how horrible the colonies are and eventually leading up to their justified revolt. Although Blade Runner 2099 will probably be a great sequel, it's missing the opportunity to be a perfect Blade Runner prequel.