This week, Amazon announced plans for its new series, Blade Runner 2099. A sequel to Blade Runner 2049, it marks the fifth live-action entry in the Blade Runner franchise, a universe that spans two movies, an animated short and series, several books, a tabletop RPG, and a classic PC game. Over the decades, Blade Runner has influenced a vast array of science fiction, and is regarded as a classic movie. It’s an institution. Which raises the question— do we really need more of it?
There aren’t many areas of Blade Runner‘s world left to explore. Over the forty years since the movie’s initial release, science fiction fans have followed the shadowy struggle between humans and the android replicants over numerous media. The press releases for 2099 states it’s a story set fifty years after 2049 about a replicant nearing her expiration date. A lot of that ground was covered in the movies, to say nothing of the expanded universe. On that note, if the story’s set far enough in the future that it wouldn’t connect to anything else in the franchise, why even make it Blade Runner other than possible nostalgia? We have plenty of properties that borrow and reference Blade Runner; the show could certainly shine on its own.
There’s also no need for more adapted properties. While adaptations still do numbers in both streaming and box office, a significant amount of what we consume is adapted media, whether it’s video games, YA novels, or even classic toys. It’s still a popular trend, but it’s disappointing that so many need the name recognition and someone else’s work to rely on. Blade Runner 2099 is no different. It’s banking on the Blade Runner name recognition rather than the riskier idea that the show could work without it.
Name recognition isn’t even a guarantee of success. For every Fallout or Loki, there are tons of shows like American Born Chinese (which shares a star with 2099, Michelle Yeoh) or The Peripheral, which open to positive reviews and then vanish after the initial buzz dies down. Even Reacher had a quick decline from its first season to its second. Amazon, where 2099 is set to debut, is especially quick with the axe, cancelling well-received shows like Paper Girls before their stories were fully told.
On the other hand, as far as adapted properties go, Blade Runner is one where the subdued and highly visual nature of the story lend themselves to expanding the universe. So much of the world is shadowed (both literally and figuratively) that there’s a lot of room to write in the margins. Amazon is also a good place for adapted properties, as all but one of their major successes (the holdout being Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) are adaptations. 2099 will have a decent chance at success when it finally does release.
That doesn’t answer the question of why. There’s certainly no need for more Blade Runner, no need for more adapted properties, and even if it gets on, there’s a hit-or-miss chance it’ll last more than a season, tops. It feels like this would be the perfect time for a newer property, and the Reference Police aren’t going to descend upon them for making too many references to Blade Runner. After all, they haven’t arrested Hideo Kojima. Why not let the series rest? Why not accept that there’s enough stories told in a setting and forge new territory?
After all, eventually we’ll need new places to adapt from.
And now to turn it over to you. Do you think there’s still places to go in the Blade Runner franchise? Is this a series that should finally be laid to rest? Let us know in the comments or at the Boss Rush Discord Server!
Featured Image: Prime Video (via Geek Culture)
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