Alien: Romulus Final Trailer Leans Into Its Original Horror Roots
Summary
Viewers do not necessarily need to watch every single movie in the franchise before diving intoAlien: Romulus. The new installment is the ninth overall feature in theAlienfranchise, which kicked off with the 1979 Ridley Scott classic of the same name and has since gone on to spawn a variety of sequels, prequels, crossovers, and an upcoming FX television series set on Earth. The multimedia franchise, which generally focuses on various groups of humans - especially those including Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - encountering ravenous alien monsters known as Xenomorphs, also includes comic books, novels, and video games.
TheupcomingAlien: Romuluswas directed and co-written by Fede Álvarez, who has previously dabbled in franchise filmmaking with titles includingEvil Dead(2013) andThe Girl in the Spider’s Web, though he has also helmed the notable original horror movieDon’t Breathe, which spawned its own sequel. The cast ofRomulus, which is led by up-and-coming star Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla,Civil War,Mare of Easttown), also includes David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Spike Fearn (Tell Me Everything), and newcomer Aileen Wu.
What Alien: Romulus' Title Really Means In The New Movie
While Alien: Romulus’s title has been a mystery for some time, the Alien movie’s new trailer finally reveals how the title ties into its story.
You Should Watch Alien & Aliens Before Romulus
The Original Classics Provide Vital Context
While not everything has been revealed about theAlien: Romulustimeline, the movie is set to be aninterquel taking place between the original 1979 movieAlienand its 1986 sequelAliens. Thus, it is massively important to view the original movie before seeingRomulus. In addition to the movie being a well-respected classic that is worth seeing in general, there may be direct plot lines that feed intoRomulus. Even if that is not the case, the interquel plays on the overall aesthetic and universe of the original movie, so a watch would be necessary for providing vital context.
Greg and Colin Strause
Alien: Romulus(2024)
Fede Álvarez
WhileRomulustakes place before the 1986 sequel, which is set 57 years after the original movie, it would likely be important for prospective viewers to see both of the first twoAlienmovies. Because the prequel toAliensis being made with the full knowledge that viewers have likely seen that 1986 movie,it will probably feature call-forwards that explain plot elementsthat have already appeared in the James Cameron feature. This could include behind-the-scenes goings-on at Weyland-Yutani, the corrupt corporation that is a primary antagonistic force throughout the franchise.
Many Weyland-Yutani executives and employees have been seen throughout the franchise, including the founder of Weyland, who has alternately been played by Lance Henriksen and Guy Pearce.
Alien 3 & Alien: Resurrection Could Be Skipped
Both Sequels Come Far Too Late In The Timeline
The latterAlienmoviesin the main branch of the series are likely much safer to skip. WhileAlien 3takes place in the same year asAliensand thus is more of a direct continuation,Resurrectionoperates more like a legacy sequeland is set more than 200 years later, though Ripley is able to appear due to her character being cloned. It seems unlikely that the plot threads set up inRomuluswill extend so much down the franchise timeline that an intimate knowledge of the plots of either film would be necessary.
Sigourney Weaver reprised the role of Ellen Ripley in all four of the originalAlienmovies, though she hasn’t returned to the franchise sinceResurrectionin 1997.
In addition to taking place far enough down the timeline,neither movie has been particularly well-received. The Fincher movie has 48% from critics and 46% from audiences on the review aggregator service Rotten Tomatoes, while its follow-up has 55% and 39% respectively. WhileAlien 3has had something of a critical evaluation in recent years, especially in the wake of the alternative Assembly Cut, which was released in 2003, it is possible that the filmmakers behindRomuluswould want to avoid drawing comparisons to either of the more divisive sequels.
Prometheus & Covenant Are Unlikely To Connect To Romulus But Are Still Worth Watching
The Alien Prequels Occupy A Unique Place In The Franchise
Those who have time to watch theAlienprequelsPrometheusandAlien: Covenantcan certainly do so, as they do take place before the events ofRomulusin addition to adding interesting texture to the universe. The movies areboth unique visions that see original filmmaker Ridley Scott returningto the franchise after having largely been uninvolved in its sequels for more than 30 years. They are also the highest-rated movies of the entire franchise on Rotten Tomatoes since 1986, withPrometheusearning 73% andCovenantearning 65%. See a breakdown of the critic scores for the entire franchise below:
93%
98%
48%
55%
22%
12%
73%
65%
TBD
However, it ultimately seemsunlikely that either movie will connect directly toAlien: Romulus. In fact,Prometheusis so indirectly connected toAlienitself that it became a particularly divisive installment, something that may have resulted in the Xenomorph being placed front and center inCovenant, even though that movie also featured the return of corePrometheusstorylines and the character David (Michael Fassbender). GivenRomulus' seemingly more direct connection to the 1979 movie, most of the prequels' worldbuilding will likely not play into its story.
In addition toAlien: Covenantfocusing on the Xenomorph, the movie’s title reasserting its connection to the overall franchise may speak to executive uncertainty about the reaction toPrometheus.
You Can Definitely Skip The Alien vs. Predator Movies
The Canon Of The Crossover Spinoffs Is Dubious
One of the most unusualAliensubfranchises is the duology of crossovers with thePredatormovies. Both movies take place more or less concurrently with the years in which they were released, placing their settings in the mid-2000s. This makes themthe earliest installments in the chronological timeline of the entire franchise, as evenPrometheustakes place primarily in 2089, more than six decades after the year it was released. However, it seems entirely unlikely thatAlien: Romuluswill have any direct connection to either movie.
Are The Alien & Predator Movies Set In The Same Universe? Timeline, Canon, & Retcons Explained
The Alien and Predator franchises have had crossovers before, but the question of whether they share a universe and timeline is a complicated one.
For one thing, involving thePredatormovies would likely include renegotiating a complicated licensing agreement, as well as canonical complications considering the fact that the rival franchise has continued on its own since 2007 with installments including 2010’sPredators, 2018’sThe Predator, and 2022’sPrey. For another, the movies arethe two worst-reviewed installments in the entire franchise. This placement in the overall canon has always been questionable, but those factors combined will likely result in them being completely ignored byAlien: Romulus.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
