--- title: "Elon Musk Thinks the Main Character in “Blade Runner” Was Named “Bladerunner”" description: "In a recent tweet, Musk promised that the Cybertruck will be \"what Bladerunner would have driven.\" But there is no \"Bladerunner\" character." date: "2023-11-01" modified: "2023-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-main-character-blade-runner" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "blade runner" - "cybertruck" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Thinks the Main Character in “Blade Runner” Was Named “Bladerunner” ![In a recent tweet, Musk promised that the Cybertruck will be "what Bladerunner would have driven." But there is no "Bladerunner" character.]() *\Image: Warner Bros.\* ## The Bladerunning Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long claimed to be obsessed with science fiction. From reusable rockets to dreams of making humanity live on Mars, the mercurial CEO has made the genre his entire business model, for better or for worse. But when it comes to his knowledge of some of the more seminal pieces of science fiction, the cracks — or [panel gaps](), if you will — quickly start to show. In a [recent tweet](), Musk promised that his EV maker's upcoming Cybertruck will be an "armored personnel carrier from the future — what Bladerunner would have driven." Unfortunately for him, there never was a character named "Bladerunner" — or "Blade Runner," for that matter — in the iconic franchise of that name. ## Electric Dreams Ridley Scott's 1982 cyberpunk film, which is loosely based on Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", tells the story of a former police officer named Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, tasked with hunting down and "retiring" androids known as "replicants." His title? A "blade runner." In other words, there simply *isn't* a character named "Bladerunner" that could've driven a Cybertruck. It's more of a job description. The slip-up highlights Musk's original intention with the pickup, a highly divisive design that harkens back to 1980s sci-fi, an era of books and movies Musk grew up reading and watching. But whether it'll live up to the dreams of Tesla's loyal fanbase remains to be seen. We've already seen plenty of instances of [janky fit and finish](), broken-down trucks that [can't charge their batteries](), and plenty of [scuffs](), [grime, fingerprints](), and even [bullet holes](). Then again, those qualities may not be so out-of-place in the grimy dystopian future portrayed in "Blade Runner." The film is set in the year 2019 in Los Angeles, after all — the same time and place as Musk's [initial unveiling]() of the truck. **More on the truck:** *[Joe Rogan Shoots Cybertruck With Bow and Arrow, Possibly Mistaking It for Metal Mammoth]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()