Blade Runner 2049 Trailer Asserts That “Things Were Simpler” When Deckard Was On the Job

The next installment in the Blade Runner story, director Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, is less than a year away, and we’ve finally gotten some first footage and a synopsis! But will we get an answer to the original film’s most enduring question?

Warner Bros. Pictures released an official synopsis of the film today that goes a little something like this:

Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

So, it seems that, while Harrison Ford is in it, the protagonist of the film is not Rick Deckard, but Ryan Gosling’s Officer K. The above trailer doesn’t give much more information than the synopsis, but it does show us that Deckard and K do meet. What’s unclear, in addition to whether or not Deckard is a replicant, is whether Deckard will be on K’s side, or whether they will be at odds. I mean, their introduction seems pretty at-odds in this footage, what with Deckard training a gun on K and saying “I had your job once. I was good at it,” and K replying, “Things were simpler then.” What a difference thirty years makes! Still, this meeting can mean anything, and I’m excited to see how this story develops.

As for Ridley Scott being a producer, but not director this time, I’m also excited to see Villeneuve’s take on the story. Already, it’s interesting to see 2049 play in a different color palette, with amber coloring K’s connection to the past (frozen in amber?) and moving beyond the black/white/grey look of the original film.  The “things were simpler then” line definitely has me curious. After all, if that was “simpler,” what the hell is going on now? Probably something to do with the “what’s left of society” business in the synopsis.

Anyway, color me intrigued. Are you amped for Blade Runner 2049?

(via /Film, featured image via screencap)

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