Summary
- Alien: Romulus pays homage to the entire franchise, featuring references that resonate with fans of all generations.
- The movie seamlessly connects to previous Alien installments, embracing elements from the games, movies, and expanded universe.
- Fusing elements from Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus introduces new ideas while staying true to the iconic Xenomorph franchise.
The seventh Alien movie, Alien: Romulus is directed by Fede Alvarez, who has stated that he is a longtime fan of the entire franchise. That is shown in the final product with it being a faithful sequel to the first Alien, but it also features a plethora of references and callbacks to previous movies and the expanded universe.
Alien: Romulus - 8 New Things It Brings To The Franchise
From new developments regarding the Facehuggers to thrilling zero-gravity scenes, Alien: Romulus boasts new ideas for the iconic Xenomorph franchise.
From small details in the background to major plot points, Alien: Romulus is a love letter to the entire franchise. Even the movies that were divisive or maligned by the fanbase were given a wink or nod, showing how much this franchise has appealed to many generations after over forty-five years.
Major story spoilers ahead for Alien: Romulus
10 Emergency Telephone Stations
Even The Video Games Get Love
- Alien: Isolation was also a sequel to the first Alien, focusing on Amanda Ripley encountering a Xenomorph while searching for her mother Ellen.
- Alien: Isolation was the first game to be considered canon in the franchise.
- Alien: Isolation would even be referenced in another canon video game, Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
The Alien franchise has had almost as much history in gaming as it does in movies, such as the acclaimed Alien: Isolation, which is also a sequel set between Alien and Aliens. In it, the players can only save their progress via telephone stations on walls, which are not easy to come by.
When the characters in Alien: Romulus enter the Renaissance station, it not only has a similar atmosphere as Alien: Isolation, but the telephone stations are seen and ripped straight out of the game and given a Weyland-Yutani redesign. Director Fede Alvarez has even stated that, much like the game, he put the stations in particular scenes to warn the audience of another Xenomorph attack.
9 Remnants Of The Nostromo
Back To The Beginning
- The Nostromo was a hauling ship for minerals and other resources.
- Originally, the ship was going to be named the Snark and Leviathan, but Ridley Scott named it after the hero of the 1904 novel Nostromo
- The shuttle Ripley uses to escape is named the Narcissus.
From the moment Alien: Romulus begins, it lets the viewers know that it is trying to be like the original Alien by having it start with a familiar ship. The Renaissance space station finds the drifting Xenomorph wrapped in an organic shell floating among the destroyed debris of the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo, confirming that the strain infesting Alien: Romulus is a direct continuation of the first movie.
On top of the canon connections, the opening of Alien: Romulus features familiar music scores from the original movie and a twist on the title's reveal. The result is an opening prologue that sets the atmosphere and dark sci-fi vibe of the film but wastes no time to get to what fans came for.
8 The Eerie And Mysterious Arrival
Mixing Alien And Aliens Together
- The planet in Alien: Romulus is never given a name.
- The only other station seen in previous Alien movies is the Gateway Station in Aliens.
- The Renaissance is split into two sections: Romulus and Remus.
Alien: Romulus features the characters arriving at Renaissance station because it is abandoned, and it has what they need to escape their dead-end life in the Weyland-Yutani colony. When they get to the station, it is in shambles with no survivors and the entire facility has seen damage by a previous Xenomorph attack.
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Rather than fighting Xenomorphs, games such as Aliens Vs Predator and Dead By Daylight allow fans to play as the perfect organism.
This is where Fede Alvarez fused bits of Alien and Aliens, with the characters being regular workers akin to the first movie, but them investigating a derelict place of civilization and building up suspense as to what caused all the damage is similar to the colonial marines investigating Hadley's Hope in Aliens.
7 Science Officer Rook
A Familiar Face On A New Character
- Every single Alien movie has featured at least one android character.
- No AI was used to bring Ian Holm's likeness to life again.
- Rook wears the same science officer uniform as Ash.
A surprise reveal aboard the Renaissance station is the android Rook, who is one of the same models as Ash from the first film. Using a digital face replication of the late Ian Holm's face, which was consented to by his family, combined with an impressive impressionist, it is like seeing Ash again in Alien: Romulus.
The nostalgic return of a familiar face is not just for a cameo either, with Rook becoming an essential part of the plot throughout Alien: Romulu s. Similar to Ash, Rook has an agenda with the Xenomorphs for Weyland-Yutani, but it is something new and unexpected, keeping the fans of the franchise on their toes.
6 The Alien's Designation
Fede Alvarez Really Did His Homework
- The name 'Xenomorph' was not introduced until James Cameron's Aliens.
- The Xenomorph strain was created by the android David.
- In Alien: Romulus, the first Xenomorph still has the grappling harpoon in its stomach from fighting Ripley.
Before Alien: Romulus, the titular monster of the franchise has always been referred to as a Xenomorph or an alien. However, expanded material such as comics, books, and video games have given the Xenomorphs an official designation by Weyland-Yutani: Subject XX121.
Fede Alvarez shows his love for the franchise by having Rook officially call the deadly and terrifying Xenomorphs by their Weyland-Yutani designation for the first time in the movies. This showcases the kind of effort and dedication that happens when fans of a particular franchise are given the chance to direct a movie.
5 The Pathogen Returns
Small Beginnings Have Come Full Circle
- The Pathogen was created by the Engineers and it possibly created human life.
- The Pathogen once created a different breed of monsters known only as Neomorphs.
- The Pathogen is a major threat to the colonial marines in Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
Both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant divided fans down the middle, so it is a shock that Alien: Romulus not only confirms that they are canon to the timeline, but directly connects to them without retconning anything. Thanks to the guidance of Rook, the characters discover the Romulus laboratory where scientists had been experimenting on Xenomorphs.
Rook was tasked with extracting the black goo-like substance known as The Pathogen from Xenomorphs and Facehuggers, thus turning Alien: Romulus into a sequel to Alien, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant. Rook even refers to Peter Weyland and then reveals the name of the project to create a compound from the Pathogen as the "Prometheus file."
4 Prototype Pulse Rifle Training
Iconic Weapons For An Iconic Franchise
- The Pulse Rifle was first introduced in James Cameron's Aliens.
- The Pulse Rifle in Aliens was made from three different real-world firearms.
- The Pulse Rifle in Alien: Romulus maintains the famous sound of the original, which James Cameron spent two days making.
Since the events of Alien: Romulus takes place thirty-seven years before the events of Aliens, audiences are gifted with the prototype version of the iconic Pulse Rifle. The design is not as refined, but fans of the franchise will see that the weapons Rain and Tyler use will eventually evolve into the iconic weapon of the series.
Tyler even trains Rain to use the Pulse Rifle similar to how Hicks trained Ripley in Aliens. Tyler even name-drops the Colonial Marines, claiming it is the standard issue even in their time. As a bonus, this version of the Pulse Rifle has the aim-assisting computer that the Smartguns featured in Aliens, making the best of both in one weapon.
3 "Get Away From Her..."
Andy Has The Best Quotes In Romulus
- Sigourney Weaver originally spoke the line in James Cameron's Aliens.
- Andy is the first android in the movies to kill a Xenomorph.
- Andy features many of the same human-like qualities that Walter had in Alien: Covenant.
There are a few quotes from past Alien movies lifted straight into Alien: Romulus, some coming from Rook, but the best comes from the new android: Andy. Most are subtle enough that fans will smile or giggle, but one was so on-the-nose that it made audiences laugh with joy.
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Throughout Alien: Romulus, Andy's main directive is to do what is right for Rain, whom he considers a sister. Well, he also displays a tendency to tell corny jokes, which comes into play when he saves Rain from a Xenomorph by gunning it down before saying, "Get away from her, you bitch." His stutter and timid tone contrast with when Ripley said it in Aliens, but in the best way.
2 Human And Xenomorph Hybrid
The Creature That Succeeded Where Resurrection Failed
- The Offspring feeds off Kay because of the Pathogen in her system, making it grow a tail like a Xenomorph.
- The Offspring was a mix of practical and digital effects and was portrayed by 7'7" actor Robert Bobroczkyi.
- The Offspring design is similar to the creatures seen in H.R. Giger's famous artwork.
The compound created by Rook finds itself injected into Kay, who was revealed to be pregnant earlier. As a result, the final act of Alien: Romulus throws a curveball at fans by having Kay give birth to a new monster known as The Offspring. It is a terrifying creature with the characteristics of a human and a Xenomorph, but also an Engineer from the prequels.
In a way, Alien: Romulus took a very controversial twist from Alien: Resurrection which resulted in the Newborn, another human/Xeno hybrid, but simply did it better to fit the cosmic horror of this universe. The last ten to fifteen minutes of Alien: Romulus feature Rain battling the Offspring which gave more terror than the Newborn ever did, while still paying homage to Alien: Resurrection.
1 Final Fight In A Space Suit
Ellen Ripley Would Be Proud
- Ellen Ripley's helmet at the end of Alien is the same as Lambert's but painted white for reuse.
- The style of the suit was never seen again in future movies, but was featured in Alien: Isolation.
- The suit in Alien: Romulus can withstand cryogenic freezing.
The final battle of Alien: Romulus aboard the Corbelan IV against the Offspring is very similar to the first Alien when Ripley battled the Xenomorph on the escape shuttle. To survive against the ship filling with coolant, Rain even dons a space suit akin to what Ellen Ripley wore when she jettisoned the creature into the vastness of space.
Rain's final battle is a bit wilder given the Offspring's more powerful nature compared to a standard Xenomorph. She chooses to melt a hole into space via acid to suck the creature out, which is another reference to Alien: Resurrection, and like many things in Alien: Romulus, it is familiar but fresh at the same time.
Alien: Romulus
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- August 16, 2024
- Runtime
- 119 Minutes
- Director
- Fede Alvarez
