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Do not watch this final Blade Runner 2049 trailer

Do not watch this final Blade Runner 2049 trailer

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Not unless you’re cool with spoilers

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Image: Alcon Entertainment

The team behind Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has done an excellent job of not revealing to audiences what Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 is actually about. Sure, everybody knows Harrison Ford is back, and Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto are in it, and replicants are involved in some way, shape, or form. But other than that, it’s pretty much been radio silence — so much so that we decided to make our initial review a totally spoiler-free zone.

So I was a little surprised to see this latest trailer, which… spoils some things. And not in a minor, Oh now I can infer what this person wants from a plot perspective kind of way. (Although there’s plenty of that, too.) This trailer spoils a specific moment that had my entire theater murmuring with approval. When a film is this ambitious and beautiful, there are bound to be several moments like that, but throwing this one away in a pre-release trailer seems like an odd choice, simply because I don’t see what value it brings. The movie opens in two days, and at this point, potential moviegoers have most likely decided whether they want to go. And if not, this kind of tease probably won’t change their minds. Even more bizarre is the fact that dozens of film critics were specifically asked to not share this same moment in pre-release reviews, so audiences could enjoy the movie fresh for themselves.

Frankly, this trailer is inexplicable. If you’re thinking that getting to the point is taking me a lot of words, you’re right! That’s because I want you to really think before you watch this trailer. If you’ve seen the movie already, go for it, full steam ahead. But if you haven’t, maybe just bookmark this post and come back later to see what I was talking about. It’s taken 35 years for a Blade Runner sequel to be released, and waiting a couple of extra days to preserve a minor-but-nevertheless-cool moment is worth it. But hey, if you’re spoiler-obsessed, or you just want to watch the world burn, you can do that, too.

Did I mention some minor spoilers for Blade Runner 2049 are included in the trailer below? Because there are.