Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus promises to be an exciting and much-needed reset for the popular sci-fi horror franchise, yet the movie’s fresh story risks continuing a disappointing franchise trend. Although Alien‘s monster is one of the great science fiction creations of all time, the series’ true strength comes from its characters. In the original series, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley was an iconic ever-present – with the lack of a similar presence explaining why subsequent Alien movies have failed to resonate with audiences. However, while characters are an asset for Alien, they can also cause problems.

Although the exact story is a closely guarded secret, Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus will follow an all-new crew at a hitherto unseen point in the Alien franchise timeline. Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, the movie represents a return to the series’ original chronology, before Ridley Scott’s prequels reshaped the story. Given the divisive reputation of all Alien movies post-James Cameron’s Aliens, this fresh approach is essential. Yet, however necessary it might be, Alien: Romulus‘ new story also risks repeating a well-documented issue with Alien movies.

Alien: Romulus Is Abandoning Great Franchise Characters (Again)

It’s Happened On Multiple Occasions

As a hard reset with a brand new cast and story, Alien: Romulus is deliberately differentiating itself from previous Alien movies. However, in playing down its connection to what’s come before and featuring an all-new cast, the movie risks continuing Alien‘s worst trend of establishing great characters and interesting stories, only to abandon them and leave them unresolved. It’s a problem that, however necessary in this instance, has afflicted the franchise for 32 years.

Just as Alien 3 unceremoniously killed Newt and Hicks off-screen and Alien: Covenant followed David instead of Elizabeth Shaw after her equally gruesome death – wasting their potential stories – Alien: Romulus is opening a new chapter in the Alien saga without fulfilling the story potential of the previous installments. Alien: Covenant ended with both Daniels and David alive, as well as an active mystery around the fate of the Covenant’s colonists. Whatever the movie’s many flaws, this was a tantalizing cliffhanger that will now almost certainly go unaddressed.

Alien 3 And Alien: Covenant Already Proved Alien’s Character Problem

They Made The Same Mistake, 25 Years Apart

In ignoring an interesting character arc from a previous installment, Alien: Covenant repeated the exact same franchise mistake that Alien 3 had made in 1992 with the deaths of Newt and Hicks. Just as with Shaw, Newt and Hicks were key players in the events of Aliens, who, while still playing a supporting role to Ripley, established themselves as fan favorites by Aliens‘ ending. However, their popularity wasn’t enough to save either from an ignominious off-screen death at the start of Alien 3 – a move that prompted extreme criticism from both fans, critics, and filmmakers.

The parallels between Newt and Hicks’ off-screen deaths in Alien 3‘s opening crash sequence and Shaw’s murder by David are clear. Both sets of characters had been central in the previous film (with Shaw playing an even larger role than either Newt or Hicks) and both were seemingly primed for interesting future stories fighting the xenomorph menace. The consequences of all three deaths were also similar, with Alien 3 and Alien: Covenant forced to follow new characters rather than building on the relationships established in previous installments.

It’s telling that, while Covenant and Alien 3 are the most egregious examples of Alien movies abandoning interesting character arcs, they are not the only instances. Except for Ripley herself and David in Prometheus and Covenant, no Alien movie features prominent returning characters – despite several having potentially interesting stories. Alien Resurrection had a whole crew left alive by the movie’s end, while the controversial Alien vs. Predator films also had their share of surviving characters. Although its blank slate approach is understandable, Alien: Romulus is continuing the trend of leaving earlier stories unaddressed – however justifiable this approach may be.

Alien: Romulus’ New Characters Need To Have A Place In The Franchise’s Future

Alien Can’t Keep Ignoring Its Previous Stories

As a gruesome sci-fi horror movie, it’s inevitable that some characters won’t survive the events of Alien: Romulus. Already from the film’s exciting teaser trailer, it’s clear that the new cast faces multiple threats – from explosions in space to an onslaught of multiple facehuggers. However, if the franchise is to avoid a continuation of the trend that has proved so problematic for the past three decades, it’s vital that any surviving characters play some role in whatever Alien story comes next.

Alien 3 and Alien: Covenant both demonstrated that subverting audience expectations around which characters might feature next time around is not an effective approach. Alien: Covenant‘s abandonment of Shaw’s story meant that the movie became less about the search for mankind’s origins and instead transformed into a parable about a killer robot. Likewise, Alien 3‘s bleak opening completely undermined Ripley’s heroics at the end of Aliens‘ – cheapening one of science fiction’s most iconic scenes in the process. In order to avoid similar mistakes, it’s essential that Alien: Romulus‘ new generation play a part in the story to come.

How Alien: Romulus Can Avoid The Franchise’s Worst Mistake

It Must Set Up A Clear Future For Alien

In some ways, Alien: Romulus has already fallen into the trap established by Alien: Covenant and Alien 3. Although anything is possible, it seems highly unlikely at this stage that Romulus will address what happened after Alien: Covenant‘s ending cliffhanger, meaning that David and Daniels’ stories will be just as wasted as those of Shaw, Newt, and Hicks. However, while this aspect of the movie is almost certainly unavoidable, Álvarez’s new future for the Alien series can still insulate itself from the mistakes of the past.

One strategy can be for Romulus to at least acknowledge the events of chronologically earlier Alien stories. This will make the movie feel less like a total reset and more part of a contiguous universe. While this could be difficult, given the extent to which Prometheus and Covenant altered Alien lore, it would at least be a recognition that the previous movies mattered, whilst also acknowledging that the story needed to be reset. Álvarez himself has hinted that he’s open to such an approach, confirming that Alien: Romulus “…is connected to all of (the earlier Alien movies)” (via THR).

A subtle reference to the Covenant and the events of Prometheus could help explain to viewers why that story is no longer the main focal point of the Alien series. Equally, however, the legacy of Alien: Romulus‘ characters will only really be confirmed by whatever story comes next. If a direct sequel follows with Romulus having left one or two characters alive then the franchise will finally have moved beyond its 30-year-old returning character problem. If not, then Alien: Romulus risks becoming another installment with an interesting story and no resolution.