Imagine a society in which powerful, artificial intelligence rules and humans are second-class citizens. Now, that might sound like Q1 2027, but it’s also the basic gist for Blade Runner 2099, the upcoming sequel series to the Blade Runner franchise. Yes, there’s a new Blade Runner television series (it was inevitable), and it will stream on Prime Video on November 25.
Which means you’ll have hours of Blade Runner to binge during your Thanksgiving food coma. Set fifty years after Blade Runner 2049 and eighty-two years after Ridley Scott’s original classic, Blade Runner 2099 follows Olwen, a Replicant Blade Runner, played by Michelle Yeoh, at the end of her lifespan. (The panel highlighted her blue nails, which is a major tell for Replicants approaching obsolescence.) Tasked with hunting down an individual named “Marek,” Olwen teams up with Cora (Hunter Schafer), a human who pretends to be a Replicant. At New York Comic Con, series creator Silka Luisa, producers Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, and stars Michelle Yeoh, Hunter Schafer, Dimitri Abold, Lewis Gribben, and Matthew Needham appeared live to promote the series at their dedicated Saturday panel at Empire Stage in the Javits Center.
It was the show’s second major convention appearance of the year, after San Diego Comic-Con in July. For the New York crowd, the team screened a new trailer and a few clips—which mostly consisted of characters speaking in cryptic dialogue without helpful context—and held a discussion that probed the show’s posthuman dystopia. During the panel, Luisa explained that “Replicants are in control” of future Los Angeles.
But they are made in our likeness. So they still have desires, and still want more than what they’ve been given,” she said. After screening a clip set a red-light district, Luisa said Replicants go to seedy black markets to pay for stolen human experiences.
They want more than what they’ve been given. They see these humans have a life they still can’t have. So the mystery is asking Marek, someone who fought and sacrificed for all this power, is now turning his back and walking away from it.
And the question is: for what?” While Comic Con attendees had to wait until the very end of the panel to watch the trailer, you can watch it right here, right now, below. As for the leads of Blade Runner 2099, the show is poised to be another unlikely buddy cop mystery—not dissimilar to the recent HBO hit Lanterns—but don’t expect dry wit and clever quips between Olwen and Cora. They’re not just racing against the clock, but Cora’s deception is sure to be a major source of conflict.
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