25 years after the original Blade Runner captivated a nation, science fiction fans (and Harrison Ford fans) are finally getting a sequel. It's something that has been discussed almost since the release of the first film, but now it feels like the fates have aligned to give everyone a reason worth the wait: The addition of three badass women.
The first installment of the futuristic thriller, which followed Harrison as he chased down four replicants after they stole a ship in space in order to return to Earth to find their creator, came out during a time when gender parity wasn't exactly at the forefront of industry debate. In 2017, however, film studios know that if they're going to touch a classic they're going to have to make it a little more representative—at least if they don't want to get (well-deserved) flak.
When Warner Brothers set out to start preparations for Blade Runner 2049, which reprises Ford's role but sees Arrival's Denis Villeneuve taking over Scott's directorial gig, they identified three key female characters. Those coveted spots went to Robin Wright and relative newcomers Ana de Armas (who played Miles Teller's girlfriend in War Dogs) and Dutch actress Syliva Hoeks. And, of course, Ryan Gosling is in the starring role as a young blade runner in the LAPD who uncovers a decades-old secret.
Much of the movie's plot is being kept under wraps, and fans will notice that the trailers raise more questions than they answer. But we know a few things about these women and their contributions to the remake. To start, Wright plays Lieutenant Joshi, the boss of Gosling—she's in charge of all the blade runners in Los Angeles and leads the charge on Gosling's search for Harrison Ford's character.
De Armas gets the lucky role of Gosling's love interest who is probably also a replicant (no spoilers, here, that's just an educated guess based on the trailer) and Hoeks plays a bounty hunter whose job seems to be to hunt down errant replicants.
Everything else is going to remain a very complicated mystery, but be rest assured that all three of this characters are very bad ass. Hoeks seems to have been given the bulk of the fight scenes (expect several shootouts from her), but seeing as this is a movie that relies almost entirely on its action scenes, everyone's going to be pitching in to the craziness.
Of course, it won't all be shoot-'em-up style: Every movie needs some sort of human connection to ground it back in reality, and Blade Runner 2049 is going to rely on the romance between de Armas and Gosling for that. At this summer's Comic Con red carpet the actress gave us a small tease into what we can expect, telling E! News that her character plays Gosling's "best friend, lover and cheerleader" and that she is "very important in his life."
And yes, there will be love scenes. De Armas wouldn't cop to what exactly you would see between her character and Gosling's, but we can take a hint when we get one. Blade Runner hits theaters on October 6.