Blade Runner 2036: Nexus Dawn, Wallace's Nexus-9 Prequel

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2036: Nexus Dawn was a live-action short film directed by Luke Scott and released in August 2017. It was one of three prequel shorts made for Blade Runner 2049, along with the anime Blade Runner Black Out 2022 and 2048: Nowhere to Run. Set in Los Angeles in 2036, it showed Niander Wallace, played by Jared Leto, at a hearing before a group of lawmakers. Wallace wanted the ban on replicant production lifted, and to prove that his new models were safe, he ordered a Nexus-9 replicant to hurt himself and then to choose between his own life and Wallace's.

Plot

The Hearing

A dim concrete chamber with a long lit wall, shelves and a huge glowing chandelier above a desk in 2036: Nexus Dawn

After a glitching montage and a woman's voice saying that the records from the time were damaged in the Blackout, a caption placed the story in Los Angeles in 2036. In a dim concrete chamber under a huge circular chandelier, four lawmakers waited behind a semi-circular desk, led by a magistrate played by Benedict Wong. Niander Wallace entered with milky, blind eyes, followed by a tall, blond Nexus-9 replicant in a dark grey coat. The lawmakers told him that they had granted the meeting only out of deference to his patents, the synthetic farming that held off hunger around the world.

The Argument For Repeal

Niander Wallace speaking to the lawmakers in close-up with red and white lights behind him in 2036: Nexus Dawn

Wallace said that he believed in life, but that it was dying. The lawmakers answered that the prohibition of replicant technology was not subject to debate, nor was its repeal, and Wallace replied, "And yet we are debating." He argued that humanity had survived only by crushing the Earth, and that the thriving Off-world colonies were not enough for its survival. The lawmakers reminded him that the Nexus-8 models had been unreliable and that too many people had died. Wallace promised that his replicants would live as long or as short as a customer paid for, would never rebel and would simply obey.

The Demonstration

An extreme close-up of the Nexus-9 replicant's eye with a green serial number glowing in it in 2036: Nexus Dawn

To prove it, Wallace ordered the replicant to smash a drinking glass and pick up a shard. On command, a green NX-9 serial number glowed in the replicant's right eye, and he cut down his own cheek, admitting that it hurt. As a lawmaker shouted that Wallace was committing a crime, Wallace told the replicant to choose between his own life and Wallace's. The replicant drove the glass into his neck and collapsed, dying, while the lawmakers watched in horror. Unmoved, Wallace told them that their decision would "polish or crack the firmament," asked, "Which shall it be?", and the film cut to black.

Characters

Wallace's tall blond Nexus-9 replicant in a high-collared dark grey coat facing the camera in 2036: Nexus Dawn
  • Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) was the blind industrialist whose farming patents held off hunger. He came to the hearing to have the ban on replicants repealed. To prove that his Nexus-9 models would obey, he ordered one to cut itself and then to kill itself.
  • Nexus-9 replicant (Set Sjöstrand) was the tall, blond replicant in a dark grey coat who followed Wallace into the hearing. He showed his NX-9 serial, cut his own cheek and then drove a glass shard into his neck when Wallace told him to choose.
  • Lawmaker (Benedict Wong) led the hearing and recorded Wallace's testimony to the magistrate sectors. He and the other lawmakers told Wallace that the prohibition was not open to debate.
  • Other lawmakers (Ned Dennehy, Ade Sapara and Ania Marson) joined Wong's lawmaker at the semi-circular desk. They argued that the laws stopped bloodshed in the streets and were horrified by Wallace's demonstration.

Connection To Blade Runner 2049

Nexus Dawn filled the gap between the Blackout and the world of 2049. In Black Out 2022, closing text said that it took more than a decade for the Wallace Corporation to win approval for a new breed of replicants. This short showed the hearing where Wallace pushed for that approval. By the time of Blade Runner 2049, the ban had been lifted, Wallace owned what was left of Tyrell and his obedient Nexus-9 models served humans, including the blade runner K. The events also fit into the Blade Runner timeline thirteen years before the main film.

Behind The Scenes

Luke Scott, the son of Ridley Scott, directed the short, and it was written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, the writers of Blade Runner 2049. It was released on 30 August 2017, about five weeks before the feature, and ran about six minutes. Denis Villeneuve chose three filmmakers to make short films about events between the two features, and this was the first of them. Jared Leto played Wallace, Benedict Wong was credited as Lawmaker and Set Sjöstrand played the Nexus-9 replicant. The music was by Blitz//Berlin, and the studios included Alcon Entertainment, Columbia Pictures and Scott Free Productions.

Conclusion

2036: Nexus Dawn was a short, cold film built around a single scene. In about six minutes, it showed how far Niander Wallace would go to bring replicants back, and it made his Nexus-9 models frightening in a new way. Where the replicants of the earlier films fought to live longer, this one gave up his life on command. Jared Leto's calm performance and the shocking demonstration set up the Wallace of Blade Runner 2049, a man who saw replicants only as tools and who was ready to use any of them to win.

Tag Categories: Blade Runner Short Films | Blade Runner Lore