10 Best Movie Sequels That Took Decades To Arrive - Ranked

by Danny Meegan

1. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blade Runner 2049
Warner Bros.

The Previous Film: Blade Runner (1982)

One of 2017's most prolific box-office duds, Blade Runner 2049's lacklustre financial earnings are in no way reflective of its overall quality - this is one of the finest sequels ever made.

Its sumptuous cinematography, excellent performances (Harrison Ford being a particular standout), complex, satisfying story and mesmerising score are just a few of the factors that make this sequel a superior effort to Ridley Scott's cult-classic original, a high bar that 2049 didn't just hit - it knocked it away.

Still, this very much feels like a Blade Runner movie, which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your affinity for the original. If you didn't like it, then 2049 will probably prove just as lacklustre for you - this is not an easy watch, by any means.

But if we're judging the movie on its own merits, then we're just going to call it what it is - a masterpiece.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!