Warning! This article contains spoilers for Alien Vol. 4 #1 Weyland-Yutani is the ‘evil company’ in the Alien universe that’s had the single-minded goal of capturing a Xenomorph specimen since the very first film, even at the expense of its own employees. Based on that, one would assume that those who have survived an experience with Xenomorphs would be treated in a soulless manner that would only serve to benefit the company – with invasive experimentation and/or indefinite confinement being the first things to come to mind. However, surprisingly enough, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
First and foremost, Weyland-Yutani is a manufacturer and supplier of the latest advancements in technology of practically every sort. From sentient androids called synthetics to space vessels capable of interstellar travel, Weyland-Yutani has its proverbial finger on the future’s pulse, due in part to the fact that the technology produced by the company is quite literally shaping said future. Indeed, the company launched the ‘Building Better Worlds’ campaign before the events of Aliens, boasting terraforming technology accompanying the aforementioned deep space vessels.
Weyland-Yutani has everything – except the Xenomorph. Since Alien, Weyland-Yutani has wanted to find and study the Xenomorph, presumably to expand humanity’s understanding of technology through biological avenues that could be derived from these ‘biomechanoids’ (though the true nature of Weyland-Yutani’s obsession has actually yet to be fully explored). In that effort, the company has encountered a number of people who have lived through experiences with Xenomorphs. Though rather than studying or confining these people, Weyland-Yutani does something arguably less wicked – the company hires them.
Alien’s Weyland-Yutani Hires People Who Have Survived Xenomorphs
In Alien Vol. 4 #1 by Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo, the main character from the previous Alien storyline, Zasha Zahn, is now going by the name Cole, and is leading an expedition funded and overseen by Yutani himself. The moon on which this expedition is being led is the very same world where Zasha was raised, and where her entire family was murdered by Xenomorphs and the new white Xenomorph variant.
When the team comes across a Xenomorph, and Cole isn’t the least bit fazed, she admits that she’s encountered these creatures before. In fact, Cole even specifies that having experience with the Xenomorphs is why she was hired by Yutani in the first place.
Alien’s New Heroine Was Hired By Weyland-Yutani (Just Like The First)
This issue explicitly said that Weyland-Yutani is interested in hiring people who have experience with Xenomorphs, and while that may seem like a bit of a shock (especially given the company’s sinister reputation), it’s actually not the first time this has happened. Ellen Ripley was asked to join a Weyland-Yutani-backed mission on the LV-426 colony of Hadley’s Hope with the Colonial Marines based purely on the fact that she had dealt with a Xenomorph before. And now, Zasha Zahn is filling the role Ripley left vacant (indeed, this storyline does take place roughly thirty years after the events of Aliens and Alien 3).
Weyland-Yutani may be comfortable allowing its employees to die to obtain a valuable asset like a Xenomorph specimen, as well as any number of other horrific things for the sake of the bottom line. But, the big-bad company in Alien would seemingly rather close its doors than waste resources, and hiring survivors of Xenomorph attacks only proves it.
Alien Vol. 4 #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.
