Deckard’s A Replicant
It’s one of the most celebrated ambiguous endings in all of cinema: Is Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard actually a replicant? Sci-fi lovers have been debating the true nature of the titular robot hunter ever since Ridley Scott’s masterpiece arrived in 1982. Part of the fascination with the mystery is that we could never really find out.
Except we did, when Scott himself decided to puncture the bubble and provide a definitive answer. Back in 2000, the filmmaker came out and said, yes, obviously Deckard was really a replicant. There’s a case to be made that a director’s opinion doesn’t matter any more than a fan’s, as the creative piece should stand on its own, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that what Scott says goes.
Thankfully, Denis Villeneuve’s belated sequel Blade Runner 2049 stayed true to the spirit of the original movie rather than Scott’s statements and managed to continue to fuel the mystery about Deckard even more without coming down on either side of the fence. “If we stuck the landing on this film,” screenwriter Michael Green said, “it is all about allowing continued debate on that question, other questions in the film, and on new questions asked in this film.”
Prometheus Revealed Jesus Christ Was An Alien
Prometheus was promoted as a prequel to the Alien franchise, but – for better or worse – what it turned out to be was something much more convoluted and ambitious, with designs on making bigger, philosophical points other than just explaining where the Xenomorphs came from.
In particular, it introduced the concept of the Engineers, an ancient alien race that’s revealed to have created humanity using their incredibly advanced genetic engineering tech. Due to their benevolence and live-giving abilities, they were viewed as gods by the many civilizations they helped create.
Because of this, fans theorized that perhaps Prometheus was implying that Jesus Christ was an Engineer who’d been sent to Earth to get humanity back on track. However, they gave up on the planet when Jesus, the emissary, was ultimately crucified. It’s a bold idea, but it fits well with the lofty ambitions of Damon Lindelof’s script.
Sure enough, director Ridley Scott was on hand once again to confirm that, yes, this was a concept that was originally considered and was explicit in an earlier version of the movie. However, it was ultimately decided to be too “on the nose” and references to it were removed. Still, there was clearly enough in there for fans to work it out for themselves.