Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner contains several secret connections to two other sci-fi franchises. At the time it was released in 1986, Scott’s dystopian film noir continued the director’s streak of intriguing world-building within the genre as it followed blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) hunting down synthetic humanoids known as replicants. While it wasn’t appreciated for being groundbreaking in the same way Scott’s Alien was, it was connected to the director’s 1979 opus that changed the sci-fi and horror genres.
Along with sharing connections to Alien, Blade Runner was also connected to a film released over a decade later called Soldier. Released in 1998 and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, it starred Kurt Russell as a genetically altered super soldier abandoned on an inhospitable planet and forced to survive before his younger and more relentless replacement arrives to finish him off. Written by David Peoples, who co-wrote Blade Runner, it didn’t just feature Easter eggs and references but more direct tie-ins that place it, along with Alien, into the same universe.
How Blade Runner Is Connected To 1998’s Soldier
The Shoulder Of Orion Battle Is In Todd’s Combat Record
Soldier takes place in 2036, 15 years after the events of Blade Runner, yet Todd’s combat record lists the “Shoulder of Orion” battle that is mentioned after Roy Batty saves Deckard. Given that Batty only has a 6-year life span, the battle would have happened in 2015 or so, when Todd was around 20 years old and in peak fighting condition to test the ruthlessness of the military training program he entered as an orphan in 1996. It’s possible that Tyrell Corporation was endeavoring to see whether combat replicants like Batty were superior to genetically modified soldiers like Todd.
It’s telling that both Batty and Todd are abandoned by their creators when they’ve outlived their usefulness. When Todd is made irrelevant with the creation of a superior model of soldier, he’s sent to an inhospitable planet to die, and while encountering a colony of refugee citizens, a defunct Blade Runner spinner, one of the coolest flying cars in sci-fi movies, can be seen nearby. Just like Batty, Todd has to learn how to be human when all he’s known is following a strict military program devoid of empathy or compassion.
Blade Runner & Alien Are In The Same Universe
The Two Quintessential Sci-Fi Franchises Have Many Links
Alien and Blade Runner’s shared universe was confirmed in the ’90s as far as fans of the Alien vs Predator comics are concerned, but there are more concrete cinematic signs in the movies themselves. Blade Runner begins with Officer Gaff getting into his spinner and starting the engines while a blue screen turns into a red “purge” screen, just like the one seen when Lt. Ripley gets into the escape pod at the end of Alien. Blade Runner is set in 2019 and Alien takes place in 2122, indicating that the In-Universe explanation for this connection is the Nostromo’s advanced technological age.
One of the most evident examples of their interconnection can be found in the ship’s dossier, accessible as an extra feature on the 20th anniversary Alien DVD from 1999, which includes the files of all the crew, and mentions Dallas performing duties for the Tyrell Corporation. It’s tempting to dismiss this as an Easter egg without contemplating the core ways the two largest megacorps in the films share similarities.
It makes sense that Tyrell Corporation, involved with the evolution of technology and genetics, would still be active in the same universe (and partner) with Weyland Yutani Corporation, which specializes in ship manufacturing and synthetic life forms.
How Canon Soldier & Alien Really Are In Blade Runner’s Universe
The Links Are There But Remain Unexplored
Given the fact that both Weyland Yutani has a bioweapons division, the fact that Tyrell Corporation made combat models of its synthetics, and the fact that both specialize in the advancement of technology and genetic mutation, it’s not difficult to see how Soldier and Alien fit into Blade Runner’s universe from a narrative point of view. Weyland Yutani had several industrial clients, perhaps even Tyrell Corp, and combat replicants like Roy Batty could have been created to fight in battles like the Shoulder of Orion alongside genetically modified soldiers like Todd who, in Soldier, is proficient with the Colonial marines smartgun seen in Aliens.
Both Ridley Scott and Paul W. S. Anderson chose to tackle concepts of artificial intelligence and how its advancement will affect what it means to be human. The universe they share is gritty, compassionless places that highlight the dangers of creation, as well as the impunity of huge companies like Weyland Yutani and Tyrell Corporation that conflate the advancements of the industrial complex with the progress of humankind. It’s appropriate then that Blade Runner, released between Alien and Soldier, acts as both a connective tether and an indication of the callousness of humanity’s future when empathy is sacrificed for profit.
What Does This Mean For The Future Of These Franchises?
So Far The Shared Universe Remains Contained To Easter Eggs
While it’s certainly exciting to think of the Blade Runner franchise as taking place in the same universe as the Alien movies and 1998’s Soldier, so far there’s been little done with any of the franchises involved to capitalize on this shared universe. With Soldier this is understandable to an extent, since there was never a sequel to the 1998 original. However, Soldier screenwriter David Peoples, who also co-wrote 1982’s Blade Runner, has often said he sees Soldier as a “spin-off sidequel”.
This means that Soldier can be considered as an unofficial addition to the wider Blade Runner franchise rather than a separate property in a shared universe, and many fans include it when watching all the Blade Runner movies in order. The key question many fans of Blade Runner and Alien have is, of course, if there’ll ever be a crossover.
Unfortunately, there have so far been no plans for a movie that brings Xenomorphs to the world of Blade Runner. There are also no plans for replicants to appear in any Alien movies, although it does have its own proto-replicants with androids like David in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. While a movie crossover would be ambitious, there’s still scope for a series of graphic novels that combine the two sci-fi franchises in a similar fashion to the Alien vs. Predator comics that came before the 2004 movie.
Sadly, even on this front there is no news of any plans to make the Blade Runner connections to Alien the foundation for a crossover. So far, these nods to one-another haven’t impacted either franchise much — though that doesn’t mean there will never be a project that capitalizes on them in the future.
Blade Runner
The Blade Runner franchise is a cyberpunk science fiction series originating from the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The franchise began with the 1982 film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, which, although initially underappreciated, has since become a seminal work in science fiction cinema. The franchise explores complex themes of humanity, identity, and artificial intelligence, set in a dystopian future where bioengineered beings known as replicants are hunted by special agents called Blade Runners. The franchise has expanded to include a sequel film, several short films, an anime series, upcoming TV series, video games, and comics, all of which continue to explore the rich and complex world of Blade Runner.
- Character(s)
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Rick Deckard
, Roy Batty
, Rachael
, Pris
, Niander Wallace
, Joi
, Luv
Summary
The Blade Runner franchise is a cyberpunk science fiction series originating from the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The franchise began with the 1982 film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, which, although initially underappreciated, has since become a seminal work in science fiction cinema. The franchise explores complex themes of humanity, identity, and artificial intelligence, set in a dystopian future where bioengineered beings known as replicants are hunted by special agents called Blade Runners. The franchise has expanded to include a sequel film, several short films, an anime series, upcoming TV series, video games, and comics, all of which continue to explore the rich and complex world of Blade Runner.
