After 35 years, the Blade Runner world is finally being revisited later in 2017 in Blade Runner 2049, but longtime fans of the 1982 original shouldn't expect to see a lot of familiar faces. Aside from Harrison Ford reprising Rick Deckard, all of the characters in the sequel's cast are brand new. Or at least that's what we believed until today, because Edward James Olmos dropped the news that he'll be back to play the mysterious Gaff.
Edward James Olmos revealed that he'll show up in Blade Runner 2049 while appearing on The Trend Talk Show, saying that he's had to keep his mouth shut for months about his involvement in the sequel. He stated:
I signed a seven page non-disclosure contract. I did, my manager did, my agent did, everybody did. I couldn't talk about it. I couldn't talk about it to anybody about it. Guess what? This is the first time that I'm telling everybody and telling the world now, that yes, I am going to be Gaff in Blade Runner 2049.
Kudos to Edward James Olmos for not saying a word about his Blade Runner 2049 appearance. Of all the characters besides Rick Deckard who could return for the follow-up, Gaff is one of the more intriguing choices. Gaff didn't say a lot in the original Blade Runner movie, but he left a memorable impression for his distinctive clothing and enigmatic demeanor. A fellow member of the Los Angeles Police Department, Gaff gave a "compulsory invitation" to Deckard in the Cityspeak lingo early in the story. His most notable moment comes towards the end of the movie, when he says to Deckard (referring to the replicant Rachael), "It's too bad she won't live. But then again, who does?" Gaff was actually killed in the line of duty before the events of author K.W. Peters' novel Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human, but since Blade Runner 2049 now takes precedence as the official Blade Runner sequel, those events from the printed page can be ignored.
Edward James Olmos also mentioned that although he's reprising Gaff for Blade Runner 2049, moviegoers won't see him for very long. As the actor put it:
Well, it's not about Gaff, but it's about someone who is going to try to find out certain things about us back then. They come to me; I am now retired... Just know that my role is like it was in the original. I only had four scenes, I think in this I only have one. But again, it's a poignant little scene.
Plot-wise, all that's been revealed about Blade Runner 2049 so far is that Ryan Gosling's K, the new blade runner protagonist, will discover a "dark secret that might bring an end to humanity." How exactly Gaff fits into such a tale is unclear, but perhaps K will seek Gaff's assistance at some point, only to learn that Gaff's ambiguous comments haven't become any less frustrating with age.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 hits theaters on October 6.
