The news that Alien: Romulus will avoid Ridley Scott’s Alien prequels proves that the franchise’s timeline has as many misses as it does hits. The Alien franchise’s story is uneven at best. While director Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979) is a masterpiece of claustrophobic horror, David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992) is an atypically weak effort from the talented filmmaker that feels excessively bleak, too thinly plotted, and, crucially, un-scary. Similarly, while James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) is an action-forward sequel that many reviewers found even better than Scott’s original movie, 1997’s Alien: Resurrection was a pointless sequel that failed to get the franchise back on track.
Now, the news that Disney’s upcoming Alien: Romulus will ignore Scott’s pair of divisive Alien prequels only underlines just how flawed the franchise’s timeline is. Alien: Romulus was already said to be a standalone adventure that had no direct connection to the franchise’s most recent outings, Prometheus (2012) and its 2017 sequel, Alien: Covenant. However, little else was known about director Fede Alvarez’s addition to the franchise canon. Now, the time period that Alien: Romulus is set in has been revealed, and it proves a harsh reality about the response to the prequel plot that Scott established in his two most recent franchise additions.
Alien Movies In Order (Release & Chronological)
From Ridley Scott’s Alien to the sci-fi franchise’s prequel series beginning with Prometheus, here’s how to watch the Alien movies in order.
Alien: Romulus Is Snubbing Later Movies For The Franchise’s Glory Years
Alien: Romulus is set between Alien and Aliens, a move that calls to mind other horror franchise reboots, such as Halloween and The Exorcist, effectively retconning any past sequels that didn’t fare well with most viewers. To be fair, Alien: Romulus isn’t pretending that the lesser sequels and prequels don’t exist, since the other films will still be canon. However, from a marketing perspective, it no longer looks like one of the most exciting things about Alien: Romulus will be a focus on franchise lore by referencing the story of Scott’s prequels. Instead, Disney’s movie appears determined to plant its action firmly in the franchise’s glory era by returning to the period when Alien and Aliens took place.
While it’s long been established that Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection aren’t too popular, this is a bit of a kick in the teeth for Ridley Scott’s later movies. Despite dividing critics and fans alike, Scott’s two prequels were huge hits at the box office. Not only that, but some viewers did enjoy the attempts that these movies made to flesh out the world of the franchise. Prometheus explained where Alien’s mysterious Space Jockey came from, while Alien: Covenant explained the fate of the Engineers, both lingering mysteries that were otherwise unaddressed in the series. That said, Alien: Romulus’s setting is still exciting news for most viewers.
Alien: Romulus’ Timeline Placement Makes The Movie Even More Exciting
The primary appeal of Alvarez directing the next Alien movie was the director’s opportunity to bring his brand of stripped-back, brutal thrills to the series. As epitomized in 2013’s Evil Dead reboot, Alvarez works well when he’s telling simple, scary stories with limited locations and a small cast. As such, the news that Alien: Romulus won’t be a sprawling sci-fi epic, but will instead feel more like Alien and Aliens is a welcome surprise. It might not delight prequel fans, but this does show that Alien: Romulus will return to the original premise that made the Alien franchise so memorable decades ago.
Alien: Romulus
- Release Date:
- 2024-08-16
- Director:
- Fede Alvarez
- Cast:
- Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Spike Fearn
- Writers:
- Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
- Studio(s):
- Scott Free Productions, 20th Century
- Distributor(s):
- 20th Century
- Franchise(s):
- Alien
