Summary
The seventhAlienmovie,Alien: Romulusis 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 firstAlien, but it also features a plethora of references and callbacks to previous movies and the expanded universe.
From small details in the background to major plot points,Alien: Romulusis 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
10Emergency Telephone Stations
Even The Video Games Get Love
TheAlienfranchise has had almost as much history in gaming as it does in movies, such as the acclaimedAlien: Isolation,which is also a sequelset betweenAlienandAliens. In it, the players can only save their progress via telephone stations on walls, which are not easy to come by.
When the characters inAlien: Romulusenter the Renaissance station, it not only has a similar atmosphere asAlien: 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.
9Remnants Of The Nostromo
Back To The Beginning
From the momentAlien: Romulusbegins, it lets the viewers know that it is trying to be like the originalAlienby 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 infestingAlien: Romulusis a direct continuation of the first movie.
On top of the canon connections, the opening ofAlien: Romulusfeatures 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 anddark sci-fi vibe of the filmbut wastes no time to get to what fans came for.
8The Eerie And Mysterious Arrival
Mixing Alien And Aliens Together
Alien: Romulusfeatures 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.
This is where Fede Alvarez fused bits ofAlienandAliens, 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 inAliens.
7Science Officer Rook
A Familiar Face On A New Character
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 inAlien: Romulus.
The nostalgic return of a familiar face is not just for a cameo either, with Rook becoming an essential part of the plot throughoutAlien: Romulus. 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.
6The Alien’s Designation
Fede Alvarez Really Did His Homework
BeforeAlien: 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 callthe deadly and terrifying Xenomorphsby 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.
5The Pathogen Returns
Small Beginnings Have Come Full Circle
BothPrometheusandAlien: Covenantdivided fans down the middle, so it is a shock thatAlien: Romulusnot only confirms thatthey 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 turningAlien: Romulusinto a sequel toAlien,Prometheus, andAlien: 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.”
4Prototype Pulse Rifle Training
Iconic Weapons For An Iconic Franchise
Since the events ofAlien: Romulustakes 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 intothe iconic weapon of the series.
Tyler even trains Rain to use the Pulse Rifle similar to how Hicks trained Ripley inAliens. 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 inAliens, making the best of both in one weapon.
3"Get Away From Her…"
Andy Has The Best Quotes In Romulus
There are a few quotes from pastAlienmovies lifted straight intoAlien: 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.
ThroughoutAlien: 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 inAliens, but in the best way.
2Human And Xenomorph Hybrid
The Creature That Succeeded Where Resurrection Failed
The compound created by Rook finds itself injected into Kay, who was revealed to be pregnant earlier. As a result, the final act ofAlien: Romulusthrows 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: Romulustook a very controversial twist fromAlien: Resurrectionwhich resulted in the Newborn, another human/Xeno hybrid, but simply did it betterto fit the cosmic horror of this universe. The last ten to fifteen minutes ofAlien: Romulusfeature Rain battling the Offspring which gave more terror than the Newborn ever did, while still paying homage toAlien: Resurrection.
1Final Fight In A Space Suit
Ellen Ripley Would Be Proud
The final battle ofAlien: Romulusaboard the Corbelan IV against the Offspring is very similar to the firstAlienwhen 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 creatureinto 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 toAlien: Resurrection, and like many things inAlien: Romulus, it is familiar but fresh at the same time.
