As we wait for the October release of the highly anticipated Blade Runner 2049, we have a good bit of time to ponder the replicant development, the future LA and the 30-year gap in between the first cult film (released in 1988, set in 2019) and the upcoming sequel.

Released over on Collider, the first of three short films chronicles a part of those three decades – 2036: Nexus Dawn builds on the timeline revealed to audiences at Comic-Con in San Diego recently. It zones in on the deadly, destructive mission of Niander Wallace, the new super villain played by Jared Leto, and it’s also directed by Luke Scott, known for Morgan, who also happens to be Ridley Scott’s son.

In the short, Wallace unveils his line of “perfected” replicants, named Nexus 9. It details that he’s aiming to have the replicant prohibition repealed, something that will definitely be a major part of the plot in Blade Runner 2049. As detailed in the timeline that chronicles the events after the original film, it was in 2023 that an indefinite ban was imposed on replicant production. This was after a huge EMP exploded on the West Coast, which was blamed on replicants.

A recent trailer for the forthcoming production gave more of an insight into the disturbing aims of Wallace, who intends on the destruction of humanity with an obedient replicant army underneath him.

Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve and staring Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Sylvia Hoeks, Ana de Armas and more, will open in cinemas October 6.