Dave Bautista might be a replicant—possibly in Blade Runner 2

By William Hughes  |  April 2, 2016 | 7:26pm
Aux Features Film

Guardians Of The Galaxy and Spectre star Dave Bautista has been leaving some cryptic, not-wholly satisfying, and thus entirely appropriate hints that he might be appearing in the long-planned Blade Runner 2. Although nothing official has been announced—despite /Film reporting that Warner Bros. clued them in to checking out the social media posts in question—Bautista recently posted the following picture on Twitter, along with a caption reading “I can’t wait to share some really exciting news…”:

And while some wrestling fans are speculating that the former WWE star might simply be about to return to the ring with a new persona (“Ladies and gentleman: The Unicornquistador!”), sci-fi nerds will recognize the origami figure as a key component in the mythology of the original Blade Runner, where it forms the cornerstone of the long-running arguments about the protagonist’s supposedly human nature. Its presence in the photo suggests that Bautista is either a secret robot (in which case, God help us all, because the man is huge), or that he’s been cast in the movie, alongside a returning Harrison Ford and a just-announced Robin Wright. (Alternatively, it could just be a slightly delayed April Fools Day joke courtesy of Edward James Olmos, who we like to imagine spends most of his free time gaslighting people with the possibility that they’re actually short-life-spanned, oddly eloquent machines.)

 
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