Blade Runner 2049 is now in theaters and it's fair to say that Denis Villeneuve's movie is nothing short of a masterpiece. The filmmaker has clearly set out to make his own movie but takes the time to pay homage to Ridley Scott's original in some very exciting ways.
Chances are this is a movie you'll enjoy watching again and again but which Easter Eggs should you keep your eyes peeled for and how does it pay homage to its predecessor?
What you'll find here is an in-depth look at Blade Runner 2049's biggest and best Easter Eggs as well as all the ways the sequel references the world Scott created a long time ago.
8. The LAPD 2019 Blaster
It takes a long time for Deckard to show up in Blade Runner 2049 but when he does, we learn that he still has a taste for whiskey (a drink he favours throughout the original) but take a closer look at the gun he's wielding and his drinking habits aren't the only throwback we get here.
The weapon he points at K appears to be the same one he used in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner so it's clearly something he kept with him for all those years he was on the run. Surprisingly, that's pretty much it for references to the last time we saw Deckard on the big screen but there are plenty of other references to the past and the next one is particularly interesting (and easy to miss).
7. Skinjobs
Something Blade Runner 2049 immediately makes clear is the fact that the likes of K are looked down on by society. Abuse is scrawled all over his apartment door and he faces constant insults from both his human colleagues and the general public. During the first lab sequence at the LAPD, Coco actually refers to Replicants as "skinjobs," a phrase we first heard uttered by Captain Harry Byrant.
He was obviously a fixture of the first instalment but is nowhere to be seen in the sequel. As a result, we're left to assume that he's either retired or died by this point but the derogatory term he was a fan of has caught on in a big way. In the sequel, Lieutenant Joshi is the leader of the blade runners.
6. Origami
Talking of the original Blade Runner, Edward James Olmos makes his return here as Gaff, the blade runner who always seemed to be getting on Deckard's nerves in that movie. Assuming he was also a Replicant, we learn here that "retired" models are sent to what appears to be a nursing home as opposed to being killed (which only happens when they resist arrest).
While his cameo is brief, Gaff can be seen fiddling with something under the table and when the scene comes to an end, we learn that he's been making one of his signature origami figures. It's a small nod to the original and not something which has a significant impact on the story but fans will definitely appreciate this and his return.
5. Pale Fire
The Voight-Kampff machine is nowhere to be seen in Blade Runner 2049 as K undergoes a very different sort of test when he returns from a mission known as a "Post-Trauma Baseline Test." Used to make sure a replicant is running properly and not letting any human emotions get in the way of their prime directive, it's a strange set of sequences which sees the officer repeating words like "cell" and "interlinked."
While it may all sound like gibberish, the lines said by K were taken from Vladimir Nabakov's novel Pale Fire, a book which Joi actually picks up in K's apartment. What the significance of this might be is hard to say but it's an interesting addition to the movie which adds some depth (even if we don't fully understand it).
4. Coca-Cola
There's an awful lot of product placement in Blade Runner 2049 but there's a very good reason for that. In the first movie, Ridley Scott included a variety of brands (many of which return here; Atari and Pan Am can both be seen at various points) but perhaps the most interesting is the inclusion of Coca-Cola. Asked in the past why he included that brand, Scott said that "even in a dystopian world, Coca-Cola is everlasting."
Villeneuve clearly felt the same way as we once again see that massive "Enjoy Coca-Cola" sign thirty years on, proving that even after everything, people still enjoy that sugary drink! This being a Sony movie, we also see that logo adorning the vast majority of technology here from start to finish.
3. The Opening Text
This is a minor Easter Egg but the lengthy scrawl which kicks off Blade Runner 2049 is the same red and white text that the original started with. Visually, Villeneuve clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Ridley Scott and that can be seen in both the score and visuals but this is very much his own movie and that's no bad thing. That's not really the most exciting Easter Egg, though, is it?
Well, let's take a look at another! In the Wallace Corporation, we see Replicants which look very much like the Engineers from Prometheus. However, while they may bear a striking resemblance to those mysterious aliens, it's far more interesting to note that one of these Replicants actually appears to be what Sapper Morton - a Nexus-8 model - was based on.
2. Rachael Returns
One of Blade Runner 2049's coolest moments comes when Rachael makes a surprise return. Wallace made her to try and win Deckard over but his plan fails due to her having the wrong coloured eyes (that's what Deckard says anyway; it's perfectly possible that he just wasn't going to be swayed by a copy of the woman he loved as opposed to the real deal who died years earlier in childbirth).
It's implied that Wallace used the remains stolen by Luv to recreate Deckard's beloved but he hasn't figured out how to make a Replicant capable of reproducing and never will based on the way the movie ends. It's clear, though, that Deckard's daughter is fragile, hence why she has to remain in isolation due to her weakened immune system.
1. Replicant Revealed
Blade Runner 2049 answers one of Hollywood's longest running unanswered questions. Almost immediately, it's confirmed that Deckard is a Replicant (something Ridley Scott has spent years saying is the case despite theories to the contrary) and that finally settles the debate once and for all. It's not clear what model he is but as Rachael was a Nexus-7 capable of reproducing, it makes sense that he would be one too.
The Nexus-8s were the final Replicants the Tyrell Corporation manufactured before the blackout and that's what Snapper Morton is before he's taken out by K. Speaking of which, he's a Nexus-9 and is the most advanced - and obedient (for a while at least) - model to date.
Did you guys spot these Blade Runner 2049 Easter Eggs? Have we missed any others? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.