Blade Runner Origins First Look Released

In the decades since its initial debut, Blade Runner has become a sort of gold standard for science-fiction storytelling, something that has only increased as the franchise has grown in recent years. In addition to an official movie sequel and a tie-in anime, Blade Runner has been treated to multiple comic adaptations — and we have the first look at what the latest one will entail. On Thursday, Titan Comics and Alcon Media Group debuted (via Entertainment Weekly) the first official look at Blade Runner Origins, a prequel comic that is set to be released in February of 2021. You can check out the cover for the series’ first issue below.

Set in 2009 – ten years before the event of the current Blade Runner 2019 comic – Origins is set to provide a unique insight into the overall Blade Runner universe. In Blade Runner Origins, a senior bioengineer for the Tyrell Corp is found hanging in her sealed laboratory, the victim of an apparent suicide. LAPD Detective Cal Moreaux — a veteran of the bloody Off-world conflict known as Kalanthia, as depicted in the Blackout 2022 anime — is sent to write it up, quickly, quietly, and with the minimum of fuss. But something doesn’t sit right with the detective, and it soon becomes apparent that this is anything but a “normal” suicide. Did the scientist’s ground-breaking research on Nexus-model Replicants somehow contribute to her death? And is the apparent disappearance of a prototype Nexus unit also connected to the case? Det. Moreaux’s investigation will draw him into a dark conspiracy behind Dr. Tyrell’s Replicant empire.

The series will be written by Blade Runner 2019 co-writer Mike Johnson (Supergirl, Star Trek), K. Perkins (Batwoman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl), and screenwriter Mellow Brown (American Gods, Calls). Artwork on the series will be from Fernando Dagnino (Justice League, Suicide Squad), with variant covers from Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Peach Momoko, and Robert Hack.

Will you be checking out Blade Runner Origins? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Blade Runner Origins #1 will be released on February 24, 2021.