While Prometheus might have divided the Alien franchise’s fan base, Alien: Romulus managed to function as a sequel to Ridley Scott’s controversial prequel and a satisfying standalone movie. Every movie in the Alien franchise is connected, although the widely derided Alien Vs Predator movies were effectively retconned by Alien director Ridley Scott’s 2012 return to the franchise, Prometheus. While the upcoming TV series Alien: Earth might somehow link the two divergent versions of the franchise’s canon, Prometheus offered a backstory for Weyland-Yutani that directly contradicted Alien Vs Predator.

This was no great loss, since the Alien Vs Predator movies are widely viewed as the franchise’s biggest misstep. However, this doesn’t mean that the reception for Prometheus and its 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant was roundly positive. On the contrary, both Scott’s prequel and its sequel were divisive for very different reasons. Prometheus’s detractors accused the prequel of dwelling too much on the lore of the series and not providing enough straightforward thrills, whereas Alien: Covenant was a perfectly pᴀssable Alien movie, but the sequel failed to explain any of the many mysteries left unsolved by Prometheus.

Alien: Romulus Was Technically A Sequel To Prometheus And Alien: Covenant

Alien: Romulus Refused To Ignore The Story Elements Scott’s Prequels Introduced

Luckily, 2024’s Alien: Romulus functioned as a sequel to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well as an interquel set between Alien and Aliens. The story of Alien: Romulus might have been set closer to Alien’s time period, but it is worth noting that Alien is not set that long after Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Moreover, Alien: Romulus worked as a sequel to both prequel movies in terms of its themes and franchise lore, particularly with the comeback of Prometheus’s infamous unexplained Black Goo and the arrival of the latest Xenomorph hybrid, the Offspring.

Technically, every Alien movie could be called a sequel to the prequels, since all of them happen after Prometheus and Alien: Covenant in the franchise timeline. However, Alien: Romulus is the first to have been made after the prequels came out, and this is reflected in its writing. Although director Fede Alvarez promised to return to the simple monster movie thrills of the original series after the talkier, more lore-heavy Prometheus, Alien: Romulus’s story still builds on the prequel lore and incorporates its storylines into the established world of the series.

Alien: Romulus Was A Better Payoff To Prometheus Than Alien: Covenant Ever Was

Alien: Romulus Finally Offered Answers To Prometheus’s Many Mysteries

While Alien: Covenant worked as a classic Alien movie, the outing ended with David about to start his research. David’s Alien franchise story felt distinctly unfinished and many lingering mysteries from Prometheus remained unresolved. By contrast, Alien: Romulus offered viewers a payoff to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant’s shared story as viewers finally got to understand how the Engineer/ Black Goo/ Xenomorph life cycle really works. The Black Goo’s powers remained somewhat mysterious, but the android Rook finally clarified that the substance (now known as Z-01) was being utilized by Weyland-Yutani to create super-resilient humans.

Alien: Romulus managed to incorporate this explanation into the movie’s fast-paced plot as viewers swiftly discovered the problem with Weyland-Yutani’s master plan. Z-01 might have made rat test subjects seemingly invulnerable, but it also led them to birth monstrous hybrids whose mutations were caused by the Black Goo. Kay’s horrific Alien: Romulus‘s death saw her fall victim to this fate when she injected herself with Z-01 and, instead of ensuring her survival, ended up giving birth to the Offspring. This unique new monster offered viewers a new spin on the familiar Xenomorph.

Alien: Romulus’ Black Goo Callback Means Alien Still Has A Mᴀssive Untold Story

Alien: Covenant’s Unfinished Story Remains A Compelling Mystery

Alien: Romulus’s story incorporated many details from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, bridging the gap between the prequels and the original series. The franchise now flows smoothly from one movie’s story to the next thanks to Alvarez’s efforts, but this doesn’t mean there are no lingering questions left behind by the prequels. A follow-up could still explain what exactly happened to David after Alien: Covenant’s ending, whether the corporation ever found his research, and, if so, how they did this.

Alien: Romulus opens up the world of the Alien series by merging the prequels with the original movies, meaning future sequels can continue expanding on this plot. David’s Alien franchise story may not be quite finished yet, particularly when Alien: Earth is set to go even further back in the franchise’s timeline.

While Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were admirably complex and ambitious, neither prequel felt like it fully linked the Alien movies to its storyline. Luckily, 2024’s reboot changed this. Alien: Romulus’s disarmingly simple plot allowed the Alien sequel to follow Prometheus while simultaneously connecting to the plot of the original movies, resulting in a more cohesive and clearer storyline for the series as a whole.