Alien: Romulus has been a big hit for the sci-fi saga, but it continued a character trend that needs to be re-examined. Ridley Scott’s Alien is a genre landmark, but his two prequel movies proved hugely divisive. Prometheus was a mix of high-minded science fiction tale and silly B-movie, while Covenant attempted to merge a Prometheus follow-up with an Alien sequel with messy results. Despite their faults, they were both ambitious outings that attempted to evolve the franchise.

Alien: Romulus has been a box-office smash and received largely positive reviews, but it was less an evolution of the property than a celebration. Romulus is loaded with Alien easter eggs and references and is trying to remind audiences why they enjoyed the original films in the first place. A big highlight for many was the character of Andy, a malfunctioning android played by David Jonsson. Andy’s role in Romulus and his evolution are the most fascinating part of the 2024 sequel, and will hopefully spell big things for Jonsson in future.

Alien: Romulus Proves The Franchise Is Way More Interested In Its Android Characters

Romulus continues a trend that began with Prometheus

Andy is given the best arc, but while the rest of the ensemble does good work, it can’t be denied that Alien: Romulus‘ human cast of characters are undercooked in comparison. Cailee Spaeny is great as Rain but she feels like the latest in a line of heroes that are attempting to emulate Ripley, while the rest of the supporting players are largely two-dimensional. In general, the most recent Alien movies are way more interested in their android characters, such as Michael Fassbender in both Prometheus and Covenant.

Michael Fassbender’s David and David Jonsson’s Andy are the most nuanced, complex characters of the last three Alien outings, especially compared to their human counterparts.

Fassbender’s David emerged as the main villain throughout Scott’s prequel duology, with his second Covenant android Walter being David’s moral opposite. In the same way Jonsson was considered Romulus‘ strongest asset, even those who didn’t like Scott’s prequels cited Fassbender as the absolute highlight. David is one of the most fascinating anti-heroes of the entire series, where his contempt for his creators and desire to create his own “perfect” lifeform drives him to greater acts of malice.

David and Andy are the most nuanced, complex characters of the last three outings, especially compared to their human counterparts. That’s not to say Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw wasn’t a compelling protagonist, but it’s telling Scott ultimately decided to drop her journey in favor of following David for future entires instead. With Romulus, the saga’s growing fascination with “artificial persons” has only been underlined.

Alien: Covenant
suggests that David himself was responsible for the creation of Xenomorphs, despite most of the franchise canon conflicting with this notion.

Ridley Scott Wanted To Replace The Xenomorph With Michael Fassbender’s David

The filmmaker had big plans in mind for Alien’s future

Romulus is being seen as course correction following the underperformance of Scott’s second prequel. Alien: Covenant’s ending teased that Fassbender’s David had terrifying plans in mind for the crew of the titular colony ship and that his story was very much in progress. When Scott first returned to the property, he controversially stated (via IndieWire) “The beast is done. Cooked.” Scott felt the Giger Xenomorph had become too overexposed and was incapable of frightening viewers, so he wanted to replace the creature with David as the new villain.

Scott feels the rise of AI and androids is far more frightening than any slimy monster, and this is a theme he first explored in Blade Runner. It’s unlikely the studio supported this notion, however, even if Scott believed in it. The Xenomorph is inextricably tied to the Alien films and is something viewers expect to see each time around. Again, it’s telling that Scott was positioning his android character as the undisputed star, even to the extent of trying to push the “beast” out of its own franchise.

The Next Alien Film Needs To Put The Focus Back On Its Human Characters

Time to put the humanity back into the Alien saga

Time will tell where the story will go next, or if Andy or Rain will return. In truth, it feels like their story is already told, and it might be a stretch for them to run into further Xenomorph trouble. It would be nice for the next installment to put the spotlight back on its human protagonists once again, or at least provide more of a balance between man and machine.

The movies should continue to explore the rise of artificial intelligence, but the core of the series has always been about the future of humanity itself. The next Alien needs a fleshed-out human character to front the story, and hopefully one whose arc isn’t just reheating the likes of Ripley or Shaw. Maybe Noah Hawley’s upcoming Alien: Earth TV series is already going about righting the ship in this regard.

Source: IndieWire