Watch the trailer for Blade Runner 2049

The first full trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to the classic 80s sci-fi is ravishingly beautiful, and we get a better glimpse of Ryan Gosling and the original film’s star, Harrison Ford, in action

Video by The Skinny | 09 May 2017

Ryan Gosling's Officer K is looking for answers in the moody and atmosphere-choked full trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi thriller. It’s been 35 years since that first film starring Harrison Ford as Deckard, a bounty hunter who’s looking for renegade biorobotic androids (dubbed replicants) on the rainy streets of Los Angeles. 

Written by Blade Runner co-writer Hampton Fancher, Blade Runner 2049 takes place three decades on from the first film, with Gosling's cop patrolling the same neon-drenched city that Deckard – who’s now in hiding – once worked. The world looks as dark and dangerous as it was in that 1982 film, but surprisingly Atari still seems to be in business.

As well as Gosling's Officer K, we’re introduced to a milky-eyed Jared Leto, who seems to be in the replicant-making business; Robin Wright as Officer K’s boss; Ana de Armas as a dangerous femme fatale; and we get a glimpse of Guardian of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista, who still looks intimidating despite wearing a pair of tiny specs.

One question fans of the original film will be asking themselves: is Deckard a replicant? This fan theory was heavily implied in Ridley Scott’s director’s cut of the film, but given that Ford’s character has aged and is still alive (replicants, we’re told in the original, only live for four years) it suggests that is not the case.

Ford, Gosling and Villeneuve didn’t give anything away when they were asked that question during a Q&A on Facebook Live before the trailer dropped.

"We are still exploring the themes of memories and empathy," said Villeneuve coyly. "That’s the deeper tissue of what this movie is about, what it means to be human."

Watch the trailer in the player above; Blade Runner 2049 is released 6 Oct by Sony.