Up until this point, we’d been led to believe that the only character from Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner that would be returning for Arrival director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel would be Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), but a new rumor doing the rounds suggests that might not be the case. According to The Terminator fans — who have nailed a few scoops in the past, we should point out — the former replicant-hunter is going to be joined by one of his old targets, who will be brought back by the power of a fully CG performance.
Blade Runner featured five, possibly six replicant characters: Roy, Pris, Zhora, Leon, Rachel and, depending on who you ask, Deckard himself. The middle pair were very minor characters and were killed off pretty quickly, so we’ll assume Villeneuve and co. won’t be resurrecting them.
Furthermore, it’s already been confirmed that 2049 won’t answer the enduring Deckard question, which leaves three strong possibilities. As tempting as it is to go with Rutger Hauer’s iconic Roy Batty, my guess is it’ll be Rachel (Sean Young), who survived the first film and has the closest ties to Deckard.
Of course, nothing is confirmed at this point, but we do know such a computer generated performance is possible, if not entirely convincing. Case in point, the divisive resurrection of Peter Cushing’s Grant Moff Tarkin for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Blade Runner 2049 opens October 6, 2017, and also stars Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto.