Blade Runner 2049: Is Deckard a replicant? Denis Villeneuve answers a few burning questions
The director of the epic sci-fi sequel opens up about what happened to Las Vegas and Deckard’s new furry friend, but even he doesn’t have all the answers
It’s OK to still be a little perplexed about Blade Runner 2049. Director Denis Villeneuve leaves a lot unexplained in the complex, futuristic world he created for his critically acclaimed sci-fi epic, which he says has “a lot of layers.”
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Multiple viewings are recommended to better understand the dystopian universe inhabited by Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. Villeneuve is still tight-lipped about key aspects of the film, like the ending. “I’ve been keeping secrets for two years, I don’t know if I can start talking now,” he says. But Villeneuve did answer a few of our burning Blade Runner 2049 questions.
Is Rick Deckard a replicant?
The question has raged since Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner: Is replicant hunter Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) a bioengineered android himself? Ford has always argued that the character is human, while Scott has maintained Deckard is a replicant. The original novel by Philip K. Dick on which the film is based – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) – was filled with ambiguity.
“In the book, blade runners themselves are doubting their own identity, like a doctor always in contact with sick people,” Villeneuve says. “They start to see symptoms of the sickness. They became paranoid.” Paranoia is an important theme of Blade Runner 2049.
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“Deckard, himself, is unsure of his own identity,” says Villeneuve, adding that replicant creator Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) “plays with (Deckard) at the end.”
Wallace might know, but Villeneuve happily insists even he doesn’t. “I love the fact that we are not sure,” he says. “It’s more exciting and more dynamic. When you are sure, it’s a dead end. In my heart, I prefer to keep the question alive.”
What happened to Las Vegas?
The light in deserted Las Vegas in Blade Runner 2049 is the glow of radioactive fallout. “That dirty bomb generated a lot of radiation, but it doesn’t destroy the infrastructure,” says Villeneuve.