Romulus brings the franchise

Director: Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulusreleased on August 16, 2024, is the seventh film in the Foreigner franchise and is intended to reinvigorate the series by going back to basics. It’s the most straightforward horror movie presence, with a group of humans traveling to an abandoned space station only to be attacked by a Xenomorph presence.

Despite Romulus Despite the film being so simple, it introduces new lore and concepts that were not seen in previous Foreigner Movies. In fact, some new elements are simply making their cinematic debut after being canonically seen in the franchise’s comics and video games. These are all the new details Alien: Romulus complements the Foreigner Franchise.

Big story spoilers for Alien: Romulus

8 Independent planets

Ports not under the control of companies

• The Weyland-Yutani Corporation is the second villain of the entire Foreigner Universe.
• Peter Weyland and his daughter Meredith Vickers were the first and last known members of the Weyland family mentioned in canon.
• First appearance of Weyland-Yutani: Aliens (They were known only as “The Company” in Foreigner)

What characterizes the main characters of Alien: Romulus On their journey to Renaissance Station, their desire is to escape from their Weyland-Yutani controlled planet to Yvaga III. Although it is not shown in the film, it is referred to as a sanctuary because it is an independent system not owned by a corporation such as Weyland-Yutani or Seegson.

Foreigner Movies have never really dealt with the major civilizations of canon, aside from the colonies on Weyland-Yutani’s worlds, and have usually focused on teams traveling to other alien planets. The idea of ​​independent planets suggests that perhaps the future of the franchise will be Weyland-Yutani conquering worlds and exploring how freedom fighters might rebel against the corporation.

7 Xenomorphs can survive in space

Sequel to the original film

• Xenomorph, also known as Subject XX121, was created by the android David in his lust for power.
• The Nostromo incident was also followed up in the canonical video game, Alien: Isolation.
• First appearance of Xenomorph: Foreigner

With Alien: Romulus set between Foreigner And AliensIn the official chronological timeline, director Fede Alvarez had the task of telling a story between the stories and making it meaningful. Fortunately, he followed on directly from the original Foreigner by revealing that the original Xenomorph was still alive.

The opening of Alien: Romulus shows Renaissance Station discovering the remains of the Nostromo. Among the wreckage is an organic shell floating in the void, containing the original Xenomorph from the first film. Previous extended canon material has shown Xenomorphs surviving the vacuum of space, such as Alien: Isolationbut this shows that they can remain inactive for long periods of time to protect their hive.

6 Androids of the lower class

Not every Android is a corporate spy

• Androids tend to stray from their programming.
• Androids are a spiritual successor to the replicants in the Blade Runer films that loosely take place in the same universe.
• First appearance of androids: Foreigner

Usually, androids such as Ash, David, Walter, and Bishop are confirmed to possess advanced technologies that are vital to Weyland-Yutani’s operations. Alien: Romulus introduces a new artificial person in the form of Andy, whose main task is to protect the main character Rain. He is confirmed to be a retired synthetic worker for the mining colony they both originate from.

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Andy is essentially destined to be used and disposed of, sacrificed like a canary in a coal mine. As a result, he is shy and soft-spoken, but as the film progresses, he proves to be just as sophisticated as the other android models seen in previous films. Foreigner Movies.

5 X-ray view of the chestburster

The very first look at a Level 2 Xenomorph still inside its host

• Chestbursters, also known as Stage 2 Xenomorphs, mature quickly once inside a host.
• They are small, but have the impressive strength to break through human bones and muscles.
• First appearance of Chestbursters: Foreigner

It has become a tradition that Foreigner Movies try something different with the chestburster sequences with disturbing body horror, and Romulus continues this tradition. The character Navarro stole a portable X-ray machine while exploring Renaissance Station, resulting in a memorable moment that has been featured in many marketing campaigns for Alien: Romulus.

As Bjorn and Navarro try to escape Renaisscance, Navarro senses the creature moving in her chest, so she uses the X-rays on herself, allowing the audience to watch the chestburster in her torso as it tries to break free from its host. It’s disturbing and refreshing, and shows Fede Alvarez’s keen eye for horror.

4 New corporate orders

There is more than one Weyland-Yutani agenda

• The pathogen was used by the enigmatic engineers to create and evolve life.
• David used it to experiment and create the first Xenomorph strain.
• First appearance of the pathogen: Prometheus

From the beginning, the Xenomorph was the goal of the Weyland-Yutani Company to capture it and use it in their bioweapons division. Alien: Romulus reveals a surprising new destination through the direct connection to Prometheus And Alien: Covenantall of which trace back to the pathogen that David originally used to create the Xenomorph.

The Romulus lab on the station has been tasked with using the Xenomorph’s pathogen and the facehuggers to develop a serum that will transform humans into space-faring beings. This revelation not only makes the story a strong continuation of several films in the franchise, but also suggests that the Xenomorphs created by the company have different agendas, perhaps even some that conflict with one another.

3 Facehuggers hunt in packs

Further development of facehuggers

• Facehuggers, also known as Ovomorphs, impregnate their hosts with a Xenomorph embryo.
• Their tails are strong enough to break their host’s neck.
• First appearance of the Facehuggers: Foreigner

In previous Foreigner Movies, there were usually only a few Facehuggers shown, but they were only used to create Xenomorphs, and this goal remains unchanged in Alien: RomulusHowever, the film cleverly makes the Facehuggers a major threat on par with the Xenomorphs by showing several dozen of them stalking the characters.

Not only Alien: Romulus shows that the Facehuggers can operate in packs, but it also shows how the creatures hunt. Without eyes, they rely on sensing the body heat of their potential prey, combined with a keen sensitivity to sound. Even over four decades later, fans are still learning new things about their lore, and never have the Facehuggers been a bigger threat than in Romulus.

2 Weightlessness sequences

Acid Blood has never been so beautiful

• Acidic blood, seen in Xenomorphs and pathogen mutations.
• First appearance of Acid Blood: Foreigner

From the moment the characters enter Renaissance Station, in Alien: Romulusthey are forced to deal with weightlessness. Although the entire franchise takes place in space, Foreigner Amazingly, no film has ever attempted to have anything to do with weightlessness before.

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Weightlessness not only provides some of the best visual effects in Alien: Romulusbut it does result in some extremely creative action sequences. One entire scene involves Rain and Andy fending off a swarm of Xenomorphs in zero gravity to prevent their acid blood from melting through space and depressurizing Renaissance Station.

1 Xenomorph Cocoons

Evolution from Chesterburster and Xenomorph

• The transition from Chestburster to full-grown Xenomorph takes place in a cocoon.
• First appearance of Xenomorph cocoons: Alien: Romulus

The Xenomorph’s life cycle is very rapid after birth, seemingly evolving from a chestburster to a fully grown warrior drone in just a few minutes. Alien: Romulus Not only does it stay true to that time frame, but it also goes into more detail about the creature’s growth by showing how quickly it grows thanks to a cocoon it hides in.

After the creature bursts from Navarro’s chest, Kay and Björn discover the Xenomorph cocooned in a hallway, evolving into its adult stage. This highlights the insect-like nature of the Xenomorph hive and suggests that future films may see other types of Xeno evolution brought to the screen, such as Praetorian Awakening or even the maturation of a Queen.

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