Sigourney Weaver was a guest at the New York Comic-Con 2025, and she made an interesting statement about possibly returning to the Alien franchise that sounds perfect. In her panel discussion on the main stage, Weaver left the door open for her to return to the franchise as Ripley and revealed what needed to happen.

In the panel discussion, Sigourney Weaver said that Alien franchise producer Walter Hill has written 50 pages of a script that catches up with a now older Ripley. She then called that script “a very strong first 50 pages.” She said she doesn’t know if Alien 5 will happen, but she does have a meeting set up with Disney about the possibility.

Walter Hill’s New Alien Idea Can Explain Ripley’s Fate After Alien: Resurrection’s Ending

The Alien franchise has moved on since Ellen Ripley’s last appearance in Alien: Resurrection. The films with Ripley in the lead ran the character through a lot, with even Sigourney Weaver saying that the franchise should “let her rest, let her recover.” However, the new Walter Hill script could go a long way in explaining her fate.

The first Alien movie saw Ripley as the sole survivor, with her cat, and the second saw her teaming with the Colonial Marines to battle the aliens in a new setting. Alien 3 once again saw Ripley as the sole survivor, with her allies dying off-screen after the second movie, and she finally sacrificed herself in this film.

By the time Alien: Resurrection rolled around, Ripley was back from the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ as a clone, 200 years after her sacrificial death. By the end of this movie, the new Ripley 8 survived with Call, Johner, and Vriess, and they considered what was next for them, with new adventures seemingly ahead.

This was the last anyone had heard from Ripley, as the next Alien movies were the Predator crossovers, and then Ridley Scott returned with prequels to the series. The most recent movie, Alien: Romulus, took place between Alien and Aliens, and this means the franchise has never had a chance to bring Ripley back.

Alien: Earth Just Proved A Society-Led Alien Movie Could Be Great

Alien has roared back to life, first with the Alien: Romulus movie, and more specifically, with the highly praised, critically acclaimed Alien: Earth streaming series from Noah Hawley. If anything, Alien: Earth provides proof that a society-led Alien movie could work out even better than the more horrific survival films from the past.

One thing Alien: Earth did was slightly retcon someplot points from Ridley Scott’s prequels, including Prometheus, and completely retconned Alien vs. Predator. The new series showed that Weyland-Yutani wasn’t the monopolistic corporation that ruled everything, and that five different companies ran parts of Earth.

It was also a world where society, under these companies’ rule, had a significant say in what happened, and this was very different from the more dictatorial rule of Weyland-Yutani in the films. As a result, this could also deliver some great opportunities for Ripley’s return, and even set up the return of one villain.

Alien Already Has The Perfect Villain For Sigourney Weaver’s Return

While Alien: Earth has largely ignored what happened in Prometheus, that doesn’t mean one of the prequel series’ best characters shouldn’t return. Since Ripley was a clone when Alien: Resurrection ended, she will live a long time. Likewise, as long as David still exists in this world, he will also last seemingly forever.

Michael Fᴀssbender’s David could have survived and taken control of Earth. This way, the franchise could offer some closure to the Prometheus-Covenant arc, rather than ignore them. This would also let the franchise show what his actual goals were, since the story ended before revealing the effects of David’s master plan.

This would also be a perfect way to bring the xenomorphs into the story, while giving fans a new battle between Ripley and David. The xenomorphs have been villains for a long time, but Weyland-Yutani was always the actual antagonist of the Alien franchise, and maybe David could be their face in the end.

There is no reason to bring Ripley back to face another xenomorph queen, or even a mutated new version of the aliens. This is old and boring. The best possible option has always been to have Ripley face human villains (or androids/clones), and having David as her next big bad could allow both stories to finally wrap up nicely.

Sigourney Weaver’s New Alien Pitch Could Be The Perfect Way To End The Franchise

When Sigourney Weaver spoke about the possible return of Ripley to the Alien franchise, she shared some ideas about what would interest her in the opportunity. It wasn’t about fighting xenomorphs again, or even having an ultimate battle with someone like David. It was about Ripley being the catalyst for change.

Weaver said that Walter Hill’s script raised interesting ideas about the world in Alien and the society that lived in it. She mentioned that the story is about “a society who would incarcerate someone who’s tried to help mankind, but she’s a problem for them.“

This sounds like Ripley is someone who fights for change in a society that prefers complacency, even at the expense of their own well-being. That is a fascinating story, especially in today’s real-life society. The best sci-fi turns a mirror on the real world and shows how things could end up really bad, really fast.

Alien and Ripley’s return could do that perfectly. If the new Alien movie is about Ripley not fighting aliens but fighting a corrupt and complacent society, maybe even one led by David, it could finally wrap up this amazing character’s journey in the best possible way.