Alien: Romulus‘ latest sequel update alludes to the same challenge the franchise faced 39 years ago. Alien: Romulus gained commercial and critical acclaim when it was released in 2024, introducing a new younger cast of characters, and following the long-established tradition of final girls in the Alien franchise. The newest Alien movie grossed $350 million at the box office worldwide, placing itself just under 2012’s Prometheus, and has an 80% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Ranking as one of the highest-earning Alien movies, it therefore comes as no surprise that an Alien: Romulus sequel has been discussed by director, Fede Álvarez.

Alien: Romulus soft-rebooted the Alien franchise with a brand-new story, following Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) as she journeys alongside friends to a nearby abandoned Weyland-Yutani station. The group encounters a few surprises on the vessel as they try to steal cryostasis equipment to help them leave their rundown system. While Alien: Romulus has been somewhat criticized for rehashing previous concepts and scenes seen in previous Alien movies, a recent Fede Álvarez update on Alien: Romulus’ sequel hinted at the film being vastly different from its predecessor, mirroring what Aliens did in 1986.

Alien: Romulus’ Director Is Promising The Sequel Will Go In A Different Direction

Álvarez Wants To Focus On Things Alien’s Franchise Has Never Seen Before

In an interview with Empire, Alien: Romulus’ director Fede Álvarez stated “Wherever we go now, we can go into uncharted waters,” hinting at a new direction for a possible sequel. Yet, although the director has promised a departure from the premise of his 2024 movie, Álvarez has confirmed that Alien: Romulus characters Rain and Andy will be making a reappearance, saying, “I think it’ll be so exciting to go with characters you know from this movie, to a place in the Alien franchise that we’ve never been before, and to discover things that you’ve never seen before.”

With a new direction promised for Alien: Romulus’ sequel, it is exciting to think about what may lie ahead in the franchise. Alien: Romulus introduced the Offspring at the end of the movie, a creature that has not been seen before, although its concept was somewhat established in Alien Resurrection. The movie also connected itself to the Alien prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, through its inclusion of the mysterious black goo. Therefore, Alien: Romulus’ sequel could introduce more new creatures and expand on the connections to the wider Alien lore, while keeping with the Alien franchise’s movie traditions, such as being female-led.

Aliens Is A Famous Example Of A Sequel Being Very Different To Its Predecessor

Aliens’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Proves The Movie Worked

Another example of a sequel being very different from its original movie is the 1986 film, Aliens. Directed by James Cameron, Aliens is the second movie in the franchise and follows Ellen Ripley as she is recovered by Weyland-Yutani and then sent back to LV-426 to investigate their terraforming colony’s radio silence, along with a unit of Colonel Marines. Surprisingly, despite the 1979 original movie being hailed as a classic, Aliens is actually the best movie in the franchise according to Rotten Tomatoes ratings, further illustrating how the sequel’s move away from the premise of Alien was a good idea.

Sigourney Weaver returning as Ripley in Alien’s second movie started the franchise’s tradition of always following a female lead. However, having already battled the Xenomorph in the first movie, Aliens needed to bring something different to the table if there was any hope of succeeding. The sequel did this by changing the tone; instead of repeating Alien’s sci-fi horror, the introduction of the Marines made Aliens feel more like an action movie. With both audiences and Ripley having experience with Xenomorphs, Aliens doesn’t focus on their mysteries and instead launches into an action-packed sci-fi adventure.

Alien: Romulus Not Repeating The First Movie Is Its Best Hope Of Success

A New Story Is Needed To Avoid Callbacks To Previous Films

Alien: Romulus’ sequel faces a similar problem to 1986’s Aliens in that it needs to change things up for it to succeed. Sci-fi audiences are already familiar with the Xenomorph in all stages of its life, from its birth to its acidic death, and hybrids have also featured in the franchise. Therefore, Fede Álvarez is right to be cautious about an Alien: Romulus sequel, stressing the importance of “trying to find a story that is worthy of everyone’s time and is worthy of the тιтle,” instead of making a sequel just because the first one was successful.

Furthermore, Alien: Romulus’ countless references to previous moments in the franchise led to some criticism. The inclusion of the late Ian Holm via digital and animatronic effects was particularly controversial, and some felt the repeated lines and scene setups were tiresome. This makes Fede Álvarez’s update even more important, as it means there is a chance to improve upon this criticism, moving away from concepts that have been done before. Alien: Romulus’ sequel should focus on new ideas as the Alien franchise journeys into those “uncharted waters.“

Sources: Empire