WHAT THE — DOES ‘BLADE RUNNER’ EXIST IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS ‘ALIEN?’
A sharp-eyed Redditor discovered this screencap buried deep in the special features of the steelbook version of the Prometheus Blu-ray. It depicts a journal entry from Peter Weyland, head of the corrupt Weyland Corporation, Guy Pearce’s character from Prometheus. Now, if you’re a mega-geek with a strong knowledge of all things Blade Runner, then your eyebrows should perk up at the following excerpt: ”That’s how he ran his corporation, Like a God on top of a pyramid overlooking a city of Angels.” Hmmm…sounds a lot like the pryamid-like Tyrell building looming high above future Los Angeles, doesn’t it?
Yep, this language seems to strongly suggest that the head of the Weyland corporation, and Eldon Tyrell, the creator of the “replicants” in Blade Runner were colleagues, which means that Blade Runner and Prometheus exist in the same universe, and by that same token, so do the Alien films. Is your mind blown yet?
Obviously, we shouldn’t get too excited about this or over-analyze it too much, because it’s only a Blu-ray easter egg stuck in there by Ridley Scott as a lark. As several geeks with far more time to research this stuff than I do have said, the timelines and technology don’t seem to mesh with what’s presented by Peter Weyland here. But what if…just what if Ridley is serious about this? What exactly would that mean? To me, it would mean that the cinematic sci-fi realm just got smaller and a lot more incestuous.
I honestly hope none of this comes to fruition, and that these two worlds remain independent of each other. I also wish Ridley Scott would abandon his renewed desire to go back to the world of replicants. At first I was excited about the prospect of another Blade Runner film, but the more I think about it, the more I wish he would just leave that near-perfect sci-fi/noir masterpiece alone. I’m sure many of you who thought Prometheus was a colossal misstep towards George Lucas territory for Scott will agree with me.
The Prometheus Blu-ray is in stores on Tuesday, October 9.
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