Was ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Inspired by the MCU?

Was Blade Runner 2049 inspired by the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Screenwriter Michael Green says yes!

Green penned the sequel to Sir Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult sci-fi classic alongside original Blade Runner scribe Hampton Francher which is itself inspired by Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which came out in 1968.

When he began working on the second Blade Runner film, Green admitted he looked to the separate stories in the MCU for inspiration as he knew it wasn’t enough to expand the fictional universe if he didn’t have a story worth telling on the big screen.

Speaking to ‘Entertainment Weekly’, he said: “So many studios and property rights holders have seen the success of Marvel, which we all adore and wonder how to replicate it. For me, the lesson of Marvel is: you don’t begin by building a universe. You begin by telling a story worth telling. And if it is a great story, directed well and performed brilliantly and stays with people, it will become the black hole around which a galaxy can form. If you begin by trying to build the universe before creating a film worth watching, well, there be dragons. At no point in the creation of this story or script did anyone talk about spin-offs or how might things continue. It was always: what’s our story and make sure you have a story that is worth the title.”

Denis Villeneuve’s sequel takes place three decades after the original movie which is why Harrison Ford, 75, is seen as a much older version of his police operative character, android hunter Rick Deckard.

The impressive cast includes Ryan Gosling – who plays main protagonist, LAPD Officer K – Jared Leto, Lennie James, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Carla Juri, Mackenzie Davis, Barkhad Abdi, David Dastmalchian, Hiam Abbass and Dave Bautista.