The huge impact that David Bowie had on various artistic fields and subfields is hardly a revelation. His art transcended the limitations of genre classifications and clawed at higher truths about the human condition. Not just that, fascinating discussions about Bowie’s music have also surfaced in the research of scholars with interests in post-humanism.
As someone whose identity was based on his ‘otherness’ and feelings of being an outsider, Bowie’s work was also influential in shaping cyberpunk culture. Others have noted that Bowie took inspiration from cyberpunk themes himself, especially his 1995 album Outside which Bowie once described as “cyber-noir”.
One of the most iconic films which dealt with all the aforementioned subjects was Ridley Scott’s seminal 1982 work Blade Runner, a visually stunning adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel. While stars like Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer immortalised themselves through their performances in the film, some fans have claimed that a lot of it was inspired by Bowie.
After directing the relatively recent sequel Blade Runner 2049, it was Dennis Villeneuve who pointed out just how influential Bowie was during the conceptualisation of the Blade Runner universe. Villeneuve claimed that Ridley Scott was in denial of Bowie’s impact on many of Blade Runner’s elements but it was crystal clear to him.
“The idea of David Bowie came at the beginning,” Villeneuve said in an interview while explaining that Bowie’s persona as well as his art perfectly fit into the unique universe that characters like Rick Deckard inhabited. “I’m sure Ridley Scott would not agree with what I’m saying right now, but for me he was ‘Blade Runner’ before its time.”
According to Villeneuve, Bowie was a sci-fi character himself who belonged to another world. There were other films which provided far greater examples of this, especially Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, but there was a lot of Bowie present in the Scott’s Blade Runner as well – including the unique costume design as well as the iconic character of Roy.
“David Bowie, I felt, for me, was almost, I think, a source of inspiration for the first Blade Runner,” Villeneuve added, substantiating his claim that Scott’s team took inspiration from the pioneer. “When you look at David Bowie—there is so much David Bowie in the first Blade Runner, and I thought it would be beautiful to see him in this world.”
When Villeneuve was working on the sequel, he envisioned Bowie as the perfect person to play “someone that you will believe has no age—that you will not know if he is good or bad—that will be a symbol of ambiguity.” He wanted to cast Bowie as Niander Wallace but the role went to Jared Leto due to Bowie’s tragic demise, leaving millions of fans wondering about the endless possibilities of Bowie starring in a Blade Runner film.
Check out David Bowie’s ‘Blade Runner‘ look below.
