Harrison Ford Confirms The Biggest Blade Runner Mystery
Harrison Ford says that in the original Blade Runner, Deckard is a replicant.
Great science fiction makes people ask questions, but Harrison Ford has come forward with some answers. Ford has long maintained that his Blade Runner character, Rick Deckard, was a human being. Screen Rant reported that the actor finally admitted that Deckard was actually an android replicant after all.
The uncertainty of Rick Deckard’s humanity has plagued science fiction fans for decades. Different edits of Blade Runner have been released over the years, muddying the waters even further. The film does not offer definitive answers, but when discussing the film, Harrison Ford and director Ridley Scott have butted heads on the issue for quite some time.
Ridley Scott has long subscribed to the theory that Deckard was a replicant, while Harrison Ford has argued that the character was human. According to Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve, watching Ford and Scott debate was quite amusing.
Harrison Ford changed his tune, finally siding with Ridley Scott on the matter. While promoting his latest film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Ford told Esquire, “I always knew that I was a replicant. I just wanted to push back against it though. I think a replicant would want to believe that they’re human. At least this one did.”
Ford’s explanation speaks to the duty of an actor; he found Deckard’s deepest desire and clung to it with all he had. Whether Harrison Ford was really experiencing residual effects of his character work or he was stirring the pot all these years is a mystery all its own. All fans can do at this point is take the actor at his word.
Though the disagreement between Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott is seemingly over, the discrepancy speaks to the power of a good story. Blade Runner is great science fiction because it poses more questions than answers. The debate between the filmmakers also begs the question: who gets to decide the fate of a character in an ambiguous movie?
Regardless of what Harrison Ford or Ridley Scott say about Rick Deckard, Blade Runner and its sequel invite audiences to engage and draw individual conclusions. But after 40 years of being asked the same question, it is no wonder why the filmmakers have finally given their own perspectives on the matter.
Blade Runner is not the only Harrison Ford classic the actor is revisiting these days. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens June 30, marking the fifth installment in the adventure franchise and the first not to have Steven Spielberg at the helm.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to lukewarm reviews, but audiences will have to wait and see if director James Mangold can bring enough fun, substance, and nostalgia to the table to deliver a satisfying legacy sequel.
Harrison Ford is set to take over for the late William Hurt as General Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with next year’s Captain America: New World Order. He is also expected to return for a second season of the Yellowstone spin-off 1923.
At 80 years old, Harrison Ford is still cranking out high-caliber work. As he revives old franchises and joins new ones, the actor cements his status as a Hollywood legend ever deeper. Rick Deckard may have been a replicant, but Harrison Ford will forever and always be the man.
