The following contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus, now playing in theaters
Summary
Alien: Romulusintroduces a subtle but dark new detail to the series lore, making one group’s actions inAlienseven more villainous. Introduced as the group funding the Nostromo’s work inAlien, the Weyland-Yutani Company has become a consistent element of the franchise as a whole. Many of the plots in the franchise have been set off by the ambitions of their workers, from the skeezy Burke ofAliensto the god complex of Peter Weyland inPrometheus. Much of the bloodshed in the franchise can be traced back to the decisions made by the company.
This is especially relevant to thecharacters inAlien: Romulus, who accidentally discovers the experiments the company was going through between the events ofAlienandAliens. In fact, some of these revelations confirm how much the company has known about the Xenomorphs all along, and how willing they were to put people in danger for the sake of their advancements. It all adds a darker layer tothe lore of theAlienseries, and underscores how the company has always been more dangerous than the titular alien.
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Alien: Romulus brings back one cast member from Ridley Scott’s original 1979 movie – and it’s the last actor I expected to see in Disney’s reboot.
Weyland-Yutani Knew About The Xenomorphs Long Before Aliens
Alien: RomulusProves Weyland-Yutani Knew How Dangerous Xenomorphs Were
The confirmation thatthe Weyland-Yutani company was fully aware of the dangerous potential of the Xenomorphs inAlien: Romulusundercuts their seemingly oblivious attitude about the matter inAliens, proving they’re the series' ultimate villain. One of the big reveals ofAlien: Romulusis the discovery of a space station constructed by the company that serves as a research facility. Their attempts to experiment on the Xenomorph recovered from the remains of the Nostromo resulted in the deaths of everyone onboard and the apparent abandonment of the facility — setting up the plot ofAlien: Romulus.
This proves Weyland-Yutani had confirmed the existence of the Xenomorphs, and was well aware of the dangerous potential the creatures had during the events ofAlien: Romulus, which is set in 2142. However, in the year 2179 during the events ofAliens, the Weyland-Yutani board that confronts Ripley about the events ofAliendismisses her warnings about the creature and even doubts its existence Initially, this seemed like oblivious bureaucracy. However,Alien: Romulusadds a dark layer to that beat now that the company is well aware of the Xenomorph.
Alien: Romulus Retroactively Makes Aliens Darker
The Weyland-Yutani Company Ignoring Ripley’s Warnings InAliensFeels A Lot Darker AfterAlien: Romulus
One of the key elements ofAliensis the revelation that between that film andAlien, the Weyland-Yutani company had established a colony on LV-426, the world where Ripley and her crewmates discovered the Xenomorph. InAliens, this seemed to suggest the company sincerely failed to take Ripley seriously. Although they were still villainous for ordering Burke to take advantage of the ensuing chaos to collect a Xenomorph for study, the company seemed stupid instead of malicious.Alien: Romulusreveals the company had previously confirmed the Xenomorph’s existence, meaning they knowingly built the colony on top of a potential hive.
Year
Prometheus
Peter Weyland’s expedition leads to the Engineer and the Black Goo
2093
Weyland-Yutani android David expeirments on alien life
2104
Weyland-Yutani ship the Nostromo discovers Xenomorph
2122
Hidden Weyland-Yutani experiments on Xenomorph run amok
2142
Burke dies trying to recover alien samples for Weyland-Yutani
2179
Weyland-Yutani tries to recover Alien Queen inside Ripley
2180
Weyland-Yutani clones new Xenomorph/Human hybrids
2379
This makes every death inAliensdirectly the result of Weyland-Yutani’s decisionto try and capture the Xenomorph. It reinforces the revelation fromAliensthat the company had indeed found the spaceship carrying the alien eggs, but adds a grim layer of certainty to their actions. Previously, it could be argued the company wasn’t aware of how dangerous the Xenomorph was. In light ofAlien: Romulus' ret-cons, it’s evident that the company was firmly aware of the monstrous the creature could be, but was willing to sacrifice hundreds of colonists, marines, and civilians to try and restart their experimentations.
How Alien: Romulus' Chestburster Scene Is Different From 1979 Original Movie Explained By Director
Despite sharing many similarities, Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez explains how the chestburster scene differs from the 1979 original movie’s.
Alien: Romulus Proves Weyland-Yutani Are The True Villains Of The Series
The Xenomorph Isn’t As Deadly As A Corporation Run Amok
Alien’s Wayland-Yutani companyhas always been one of the key antagonistic forces in theAlienfranchise. “The company” is an all-encompassing organization that has effectively supplanted traditional society, casually ruining lives and betraying their employees for a remote chance at a profit.Alien: Romulusreinforces how horrifying the company is, highlighting how their hubris got their own research teams wiped out in a bid to evolve their workers for space travel. Their actions inAlien: Romulusprove the company has always been willing to sacrifice lives for their greater goal.
More so than the monstrous Xenomorphs, the mysterious Engineers, or the terrifying hybrids, Weyland-Yutani is the ultimate villain of theAlienfranchise.Alien: Romulusmakes their decisions in other films harsher in hindsight, and undercuts any defense of willful ignorance or unwitting stupidity. The company is the worst excesses of capitalism taken to a cosmic level, unearthing world-ending threats in a bid to increase its bottom line.Alien: Romulus' expansion of the franchise lore highlights how villainous the company is, and proves the biggest threat in the galaxy to humanity is themselves.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
