We’re still a few months away from the October 6th release of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Until then, though, fans will be able to tide themselves over with a series of three short films looking to fill in the 30-year gap between the original Blade Runner — set in 2019 — and the sequel.
The first is 2036: Nexus Dawn, posted over at Collider, which takes place 13 years before Villeneuve’s film kicks off. In the world of Blade Runner, the government instituted a prohibition on new replicant production in the year 2023 following an EMP attack that was blamed on replicants. The new short picks up Niander Wallace — presumed to be the villain of Blade Runner 2049, largely based on the fact that he’s played by Jared Leto and looks incredibly evil — petitioning to have that prohibition overturned so that he can create new replicants of his own.
As seen in the short, Wallace has created a new model of replicant, the Nexus 9, which he claims is superior to those built by Eldon Tyrell. It’s a good introduction to the bold arrogance of Wallace’s character, but it also serves to fill in a crucial question left after the original film: basically, where are all the new replicants in the sequel coming from?
Fittingly, 2036: Nexus Dawn was directed by Luke Scott, the son of original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott.
