Ever since Ridley Scott first changed science fiction and horror forever with his 1979 masterwork Alien, the Xenomorph and the legacy it leaves behind have been pretty inescapable on-screen. The 80s gave us James Cameron’s beloved action-heavy sequel Aliens, the 90s gave us the studio-manipulated (but bold swings nonetheless) missteps of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection, and while not official canon entries, the 2000s gave us the surprisingly fun B-movie Alien vs Predator and its much darker (literally) and reviled sequel AvP: Requiem.
The series persists to this day, carried throughout the 2010s by a long-gestating prequel series by Ridley Scott before 20th Century Fox’s acquisition by Disney resulted in 2024’s relatively safe Greatest Hits installment Alien: Romulus. While the film was undoubtedly a success (grossing $350 million on an $80 million budget), and Scott’s second prequel, Alien: Covenant, underperformed at the box office, it’s a shame that such an intriguing (albeit initially unwanted) and subversive take on the franchise’s origins was sidelined the way it was. But if Scott’s recent comments are to be believed, there might still be hope yet for a third movie to cap off the trilogy – and to resolve the story of one of the series’ most fascinating characters.
