The Biggest Compliment We Can Give Blade Runner 2099's Trailer Is Kind Of Sad

Prime Video

Can you tell we're still firmly in the middle of the Streaming Era, for better or worse? Whatever trajectory that platforms like Netflix already put us on was only exacerbated by the pandemic, when entire studios changed strategies overnight (never forget Warner Bros. and the disastrous decision to scuttle theatrical releases with "Project Popcorn") and rushed headlong into a brave new digital world. That inevitably led to some seriously funky decision-making, where any possible IP that could be exploited for cheap-looking streaming TV, well, was. (Looking at you, House of Mouse and your Disney+ craze.)

Now, it's up to "Blade Runner 2099" to either reverse this troubling trend or succumb to it ... and our initial reaction is as telling as it gets. Prime Video dropped the first teaser trailer for the upcoming series during San Diego Comic-Con, which will be a sequel to both the Ridley Scott classic and Denis Villenueve's 2017 follow-up film while depicting the aftermath of a Replicant uprising. The show has a killer premise, a cast that's to die for, and all the money that Jeff Bezos could possibly throw at it. So how does the reality match up to our expectations?

It could've been worse, I suppose. No, seriously, we mean that as a compliment. While that may sound like damning with faint praise, there was always a possibility that "Blade Runner 2099" could've failed to live up to the high standards of its predecessors. What if this stylish sci-fi world ended up looking ugly and plain on the small screen? Might these characters have seemed like attempts at cosplay when filtered through streaming? Worst of all, don't even think about whether a story with such an epic scope could have ended up looking and feeling cheap. Fortunately, we may have dodged that bullet.

Prime Video

There's something fitting about a franchise like "Blade Runner" ultimately representing a tipping point between the past and the future. When the Prime Video series was first announced back in 2022, the prevailing sense was that it could go in either direction: a shameless cash-grab that completely dilutes one of the most influential sci-fi franchises ever created, or a worthy successor to the lofty themes and thought-provoking ambitions of the source material. It's still too soon to tell exactly where "Blade Runner 2099" will fall in the grand scheme of things, but at least we now have some real, tangible reason to hope. Of course, potential can only go so far; showrunner Silka Luisa ("Shining Girls") will have her work cut out for her to turn possibility into the genuine article.

Thankfully, we appear to be off to a good start. The visuals look as stunning and dramatic as ever, depicting a hellish future where Los Angeles is plagued by traffic and police brutality and polluted skies galore. (Hmm, are we sure this shouldn't be called "Blade Runner 2026"? Heyo!) Both Michelle Yeoh's Replicant Olwen and Hunter Schafer's human Cora look like forces to be reckoned with, giving us two worthy leads to follow in the footsteps of Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. And, naturally, it wouldn't be "Blade Runner" without asking existential questions about our place in the food chain.

Everything is set up for "Blade Runner 2099" to showcase why streaming television need not be the boogeyman that it's made out to be. All that's left is proving us skeptics wrong. All eight episodes will premiere November 25, 2026 on Prime Video.