BLADE RUNNER 2049: Prequel Short 'Black Out 2022' Anime
Wantanbe's haunting short illustrates the costly war between humans and replicants and plays an integral role in Blade Runner's history
Check out Black Out 2022 below!
Warner Bros. and Denis Villeneuve released the third and final'in-world' prequel short titled Black Out 2022 directed by renowned anime artist Shinichiro Watanabe. 2022 takes place three years after Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and two years after the death of Eldon Tyrell, founder of the Tyrell Corporation. As a new line of Nexus 8 Replicants have been moved onto the market for Off-world use, the unveiling promises dire implications resulting in the birth of the "human supremacy movement"; a witch hunt where humans sought to capture and kill all replicants using the replicant registry data base.
Watanabe's masterful skills are at play in Black Out 2022's 15-minute short, shedding light on perhaps the most crucial piece to Blade Runner's timeline of events - the mysterious EMP Detonation that caused a global black out and eventual prohibition on replicant manufacturing.
Black Out 2022 follows replicants Trixie and Cygnus, who are planning an attack in the city of Los Angeles. The attack as Cygnus says will bring LA to "a darkness the humans have never known". With the help of a human named Ren, both Trixie, Cygnus along with other Replicants aim to destroy all data base records and back ups resulting in the elimination of the replicant database; allowing replicants to be free and exist as "human". As the plan succeeds, Black Out 2022 closes out just as the short started, with a close up of Cygnus walking away from the destruction having removed his "perfect right eye."
What comes next is the prohibition on replicant production, sealing the fate of the Tyrell Corporation. And while the detonation comes as a victory for the replicants, its only a matter of years until Eldon Wallace's son, Niander Wallace introduces his new generation of replicants in 2036.
While both 2036 Nexus Dawn and 2048 Nowhere to Run deliver a mix of character and story exposition, Black Out 2022 completely shifts gears in tone, representing what could have been a true full length Blade Runner prequel. Check it out, you won't be disappointed!
Blade Runner 2049 hits theaters in less than one week on October 6!
Blade Runner 2049 is co-written by Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) and Michael Green (Green Lantern), and stars Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Barkhad Abdi, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis, Sylvia Hoeks, Dave Bautista and Edward James Olmos.
Blade Runner timeline of events
2019 to 2049 Timeline
2019: A prototype Replicant, Rachael, and Officer Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner, escape Los Angeles together.
2020: After the death of founder Eldon Tyrell, the Tyrell Corporation rushes a new line of Nexus 8 Replicants onto market for use Off-world. Unlike previous Nexus models, built with 4-year lifespans, the Nexus 8s have open-ended lifespans, as well as ocular implants for easy identification.
2022: An EMP of unknown origin detonates somewhere in the West Coast. Cities shut down for weeks. Electronic data is corrupted for destroyed over most of the United States. Finance and trade markets crash worldwide. Food supplies become dire. Theories spread as to the cause of the Blackout; none are proven. The most popular Replicants.
2023: The governing authorities legislate an indefinite “prohibition” on replicant production. Nexus 6 models are now all decommissioned due to their programmed 4-year lifespans. Surviving Nexus 8 models are to be retired. Those that can, go into hiding.
2025: Idealistic scientist Niander Wallace pioneers advancements in genetically modified food and shares his patents for free, marking an end to a global crisis. His company, Wallace Corporation, E&C, expands across the globe — and into the Off-world colonies.
2028: Niander Wallace acquires the remains of the bankrupt Tyrell Corporation.
2030s: Niander Wallace improves upon Tyrell’s genetic engineering and memory implantation methods to make Replicants obedient and controllable.
2036: Prohibition is repealed. Wallace reintroduces a new line of “perfected” Replicants — The Nexus 9.
2040s: The LAPD commits additional resources to bolster its existing Blade Runner unit, tasked with location illegal Replicants — and retiring them.
2048: …
2049: When we return to Los Angeles, 30 years after the original movie, climate change has caused the sea level to rise dramatically. A massive Sea Wall has been built along with Sepulveda Pass to protect the Los Angeles basin. Los Angeles is even more uninhabitable than before and filled with poverty and sickness. Humans, who were not well enough to leave for the off-world colonies, are left behind. There is no fresh food, and inhabitants survive on Wallace’s genetically modified food products sold from vending machines at street markets.
