Like many other similar iconic anime and its predecessor Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 masterfully uses its neo-noir and cyberpunk elements to create a very detailed world with engaging characters and an intricate story that brings up eternal themes.
Blade Runner 2049 is that one rare example of a great sequel that is just as good as the original. It even has references to it, which is why here are 10 Hidden Details You Never Noticed In The Blade Runner 2049 Poster.
Teal and Orange
The first thing you will notice when looking at the poster is that it uses a distinct orange and teal color combination. This is one of the most popular combinations currently used in Hollywood for posters because of the status of these two colors as complementary ones.
Unfortunately, despite it looking very beautiful, this combination is being overused nowadays. Just look at the posters to the movies of the past few years and you will notice that every other poster is done in teal and orange.
Stylized Title Changed To Teal
One of the main elements of any movie poster that usually catches the attention of viewers right after the main image is the title of the movie. Here, it is placed at the bottom which is the most regular position it could have.
The title is stylized in the same font as the original movie poster had and gives off a modern vibe. But unlike the original, the title is colored in teal while the former one was done in red (probably because the two main colors on the original movie poster were black and red).
Joi Being Human
In the movie, Joi is the main protagonist’s Officer K’s holographic AI girlfriend. Because she is holographic, she never really appeared entirely opaque in the movie despite looking just like a human being. However, if you look at the poster, you will notice that there is not even a hint of her being a little transparent.
Perhaps, this is not something important and she was simply made opaque on the poster to make it look more visually appealing. But if you look more into it, this can be recognized as another theme from the film where Joi is trying to become more like a human being and her boyfriend even wants to get her a body.
Yellow Light
Even though the two main colors on Blade Runner’s poster are black and red and Blade Runner 2049’s poster are teal and orange, there is another color present on both of them. It looks like a yellow light shining from above or from the side.
In the original’s poster, it is located in the top left corner, but in the sequel’s poster, it is seen directly on Joi, highlighting her silhouette against the background. Yellow light was also present in both movies usually coming from the cities full of technology.
Futuristic Buildings
At the bottom of the poster on both sides from the title, you can see futuristic buildings from the cities that serve as the main locations in the two films. Even though they are very small on the posters, they have a lot of meaning for the story.
The world of Blade Runner is made up of urban areas and deserted rural areas with no flora or fauna. Despite these cities being bright with lights and ads as well as populated with people of all races, the main characters and the viewers can’t help but feel alienated. Consequently, one of the main themes is alienation.
Fire and Rain
Just above the buildings, you can see hints of rain pouring down on them. In the part colored in orange, the rain looks like fire, but it is still probably rain because that is the kind of weather mostly seen throughout the two movies.
A peculiar detail is that this rain should have been the source of life but it ends up being a premise for sorrow that reinforces the feeling of loneliness. Rainy weather should have made plants grow in rural areas, but instead, we only see deserts.
Antagonist
Unlike the poster for the first movie, the poster to Blade Runner 2049 has its main antagonist on it. Jared Leto’s Niander Wallace is placed right under Joi and above the title of the movie. If you think about it, both movies don’t actually have very active antagonists.
This is why placing the antagonist on the poster didn’t make much sense, but Jared Leto is a prominent actor which is probably why he got onto the poster. Nevertheless, both films mostly aim to explore certain themes rather than tell the story of the struggle between two characters.
Walls on the Sides
One of the things you notice almost immediately is that the background is made up of two walls on the sides of the characters. This looks like one of the locations from the movie which is significant to the plot.
The walls also look like they are trapping Gosling’s and Ford’s characters between them. This is a theme that also runs through the two movies. The cities make the protagonists feel trapped adding that to their dissatisfaction with their lives and their jobs (they are burned out).
Officer K and Rick Deckard Holding Guns
On the original movie poster, the protagonist Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is holding a gun next to his face, ready to use it. One the sequel movie poster, both Deckard and Officer K (played by Ryan Gosling) are holding guns.
The guns are their preferred weapons. The guns also signify their positions as officers and law representatives. The two are ready to engage in combat and will use their weapons if needed.
Old and New
Perhaps the most important observation of all is that the poster just like the movie is about the old and the new. Everything on the poster that is lit with warm colors is “new” while everything in cold colors is “old”.
This way, K, Joi, and Wallace are all “new” while Deckard is “old”. The buildings, the guns, and the rain are present on the poster both as the old and as the new. However, in Blade Runner 2049, rain changes to snow at the very end.
