Exclusives

Blade Runner 2049 Short Film Introduces Dave Bautista's Character

Warner Bros
By Sarah Szabo

Warner Bros has released another "in-world prequel" short film in the lead-up to the release of sci-fi epic Blade Runner 2049, and like its predecessor, it introduces us to a character we'll see in the sequel whom we've never seen before. 

The short, entitled 2048: Nowhere to Run, introduces Dave Bautista's character in the movie, a Replicant named Sapper on the run. It was directed by Luke Scott.

In the short, Sapper appears to be a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown, keeping it together as he wanders the streets of Los Angeles alone. On his walk, he speaks with a young girl he knows and hands her a book, The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene, a book published in 1940 which he says is "about an outlaw priest who's trying to understand the meaning of being here."

Next, Sapper pawns some mysterious (organic?) material for less money than he'd like, and upon leaving sees a group of criminals harassing his young friend and her mother. As the sound drops out, Sapper activates, attacking the group with brutal strength, taking blows that don't seem to slow him down at all as he dispatches them one by one, sometimes with lethal force.

The fight finished, Sapper stands alone, surrounded by people staring at him and the aftermath of what he's done. Do they know he may be something more than human? As he disappears into the crowd, someone uses a phone to call in "a rogue skinjob" to the authorities. They'll be on Sapper's tail, now—and with that, the short concludes.

There will be one more short film released in the lead-up to Blade Runner 2049's premiere on October 6. The first, focusing on Jared Leto's character Niander Wallace, takes place in 2036 and can be viewed here. The second one you can watch below right now. If you're still reeling from what came in the story in the last movie, refresh your memory with our feature on the ending of Blade Runner explained.

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