Blade Runner 2049: Don't Miss the Film's Prologue with Jared Leto

If we take a trip down memory lane, the plot of the original Blade Runner unfolds in 2019, and with the number “2049” in the title of the new project, we basically have a fabulous universe with thirty years begging to be explored. What happened during that time? Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve reached out to some colleagues to produce three shorts focused on critical events within those three decades, and the first one is “2036: Nexus Dawn”, featuring the one and only Jared Leto on screen.

Blade Runner 2049 premieres on October 6, and I must admit the wait is getting a bit long. Its creators have thrown material in every direction, to the point that the official trailers might have shown too much about the film, but that doesn't change the fact that they captured the interest of the fans. Now, there's a small detail, which boils down to the thirty years that separate the events of both films. What exactly happened? What impacted the world of Blade Runner? Director Denis Villeneuve received the green light to explore that void in a series of three special shorts. The first one is titled “2036: Nexus Dawn”, directed by Luke Scott (son of Ridley Scott and director of Morgan), and it centers on the mysterious Niander Wallace, a character played by Jared Leto.

The people in charge of Blade Runner 2049 explained that a year after Rick Deckard escaped with Rachael, the Tyrell Corporation launched a new variant of Nexus replicants, the 8S, with a much longer lifespan than previous models, and ocular implants that make them easier to identify. In 2022, a massive electromagnetic pulse detonation causes a global blackout, and replicants are blamed. That leads to the general prohibition of replicants in 2023, but the world must face another major problem: famine. That's when the new Wallace Corporation steps in, whose open patents in agrotechnology revolutionize food production and turn it into a superpower.

This is where the story gets even more interesting. The original data indicate that the ban on replicants was lifted in 2030, but “2036: Nexus Dawn” shows us exactly the opposite. Niander Wallace, a blind and fragile man, shows up late to a meeting with high-ranking officials to discuss the repeal of the blockade on the production of Nexus units. His demonstration of the safety of the new Nexus 9 is... compelling, to say the least. We eagerly await the other two shorts.

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