Prime Video brought the new Blade Runner 2099 trailer to New York Comic Con on October 10, and it is the best look yet at how the franchise moves to the small screen. If you care about how Blade Runner’s rainy, neon-soaked Los Angeles gets built, this one is worth a few careful rewatches, because the effects team behind it includes the studio that won the Oscar for Blade Runner 2049.
The trailer comes from the official Prime Video YouTube channel. All eight episodes premiere together on November 25, 2026, on Prime Video.
50 Years after Blade Runner 2049
The series is set fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, in a Los Angeles that the press material describes as “reborn, but not by humanity.” Hunter Schafer plays Cora, a fugitive who takes on one last identity: a Blade Runner. Michelle Yeoh plays Olwen, a replicant who is days from dying. The two are forced to work together to hunt a runaway hiding a truth that could collapse the city, according to BroadwayWorld.
Silka Luisa is the creator, showrunner and an executive producer. Ridley Scott, who directed the 1982 original, is among the executive producers, alongside Alcon Entertainment’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Jonathan van Tulleken directed the first two episodes. Dimitri Abold and Lewis Gribben are series regulars, and the recurring cast includes Sheila Atim, Tom Burke and Johnny Harris.
At the panel, Luisa framed the show around one big question, as reported by JoBlo: “What happens when our time ends? What happens when we are no longer the dominant species?”
What the trailer shows on the VFX side
This is a world where replicants hold the upper hand, and the trailer leans into the look fans expect. German site Serienjunkies describes neon signs, rain and enormous structures, with a style that stays close to the films. Think haze, light and melancholy rather than clean, shiny sci-fi.
For VFX fans, that tells you a lot about the work involved. A city of giant buildings drenched in rain and fog is almost always a mix of real sets and digital extensions, with layers of atmosphere added in compositing so the practical and CG pieces sit together. Weather is one of the hardest things to get right on screen, because rain has to react to light, characters and camera moves in every shot.
On a rewatch, look at how deep the cityscape goes behind the actors, and whether the light from signs and screens spills believably onto wet surfaces. Those details are where a Blade Runner show lives or dies.
The VFX studios behind Blade Runner 2099
The Art of VFX lists the effects credits for the series. Aleksandar Pejic and Viktor Muller are the production VFX supervisors, with Karen Murphy-Mundell and Barbara Genicoff as production VFX producers. The vendor list includes:
- DNEG, with VFX supervisor Ben Jones and VFX producer June Valle
- UPP
- Rodeo FX
- Territory Studio
- Studio 8
- Company 3
Territory Studio is a name to watch here. The studio is known for screen graphics and interface design, which matters a lot in a franchise full of glowing displays, advertising and holograms.
The link to Blade Runner 2049’s Oscar win
DNEG’s return carries some history. Blade Runner 2049 won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, with the Oscar going to John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover, as Looper reported. DNEG says it was the lead VFX partner on that film, completing 316 shots under VFX supervisor Paul Lambert, including most of the Los Angeles cityscapes, the Joi hologram effects and the seawall chase at the end.
Rodeo FX also worked on 2049, along with Framestore, MPC and others, according to Digital Production. Seeing DNEG and Rodeo FX back in this world gives the series a real thread to the look that won the Oscar.
Where to see more
All eight episodes of Blade Runner 2099 arrive on Prime Video on November 25, 2026. Studios usually release VFX breakdowns some months after a show premieres, so keep an eye on DNEG and Rodeo FX for reels from the series. In the meantime, our Trailers category has more effects-heavy previews, and our guide to VFX-heavy movies to watch in 2026 rounds up other sci-fi worth your time.
Leave a Reply