When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, there was a lot of talk about how the X-Men and the Fantastic Four would be back under the remit of Marvel Studios, so those characters could join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But those aren’t the only franchises that Disney inherited from Fox; they also picked up Alien, Predator, Home Alone, The Simpsons, Planet of the Apes, and they’ve had mixed success with all those properties.
Alien is a rare example of a franchise that’s actually doing better under Disney than it was under Fox. Under Fox, the third film in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel trilogy was stalled in development hell. But under Disney, Alien: Romulus has made the xenomorphs terrifying again, Alien: Earth has brought the franchise to the small screen (and the story to our human homeworld), and Predator: Badlands has overtly crossed over into Alien lore.
But, while Alien is thriving under Disney, it’s also stagnating a little. Scott’s prequel movies didn’t have a 100% success rate, but at least they were moving beyond the franchise’s established formula and trying something new. Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth both have great moments, and some great performances by their respective casts, but they’re held back by their reverence for previous movies. The cold open of Alien: Earth is practically a stealth remake of the original 1979 movie, and Alien: Romulus shoehorned in a “Get away from her, you b*tch!” reference for no reason other than the member berries.
With Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and the third film that should’ve followed, Scott was bringing the Alien saga into a new era, and a new genre. Prometheus left behind the trappings of horror and action and just went for big, bold, straightforward sci-fi, and despite its flaws, it was an exciting evolution for the franchise.
Prometheus & Alien: Covenant Were A Promising Fresh Start For The Alien Franchise
The back-to-back disappointment of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection left the Alien franchise dead in the water for a decade and a half. It took Ridley Scott himself, the visionary filmmaker who launched the Alien saga in the first place (and in just his second film, no less), to revive the Alien franchise. In 2012, Scott came back to direct Prometheus, a prequel that sought to explain the origin story of the xenomorphs that terrorized Ellen Ripley in the original movies.
One could argue that the xenomorphs didn’t need an origin story, and that their inexplicable nature is what makes them so terrifying, so explaining where they came from and giving rhyme and reason to their existence kinda defeats the point. But Prometheus is such an epic cinematic vision of science fiction, with such lofty ideas about human existence, that I’m more than willing to forgive that. Prometheus isn’t a perfect movie — these supposedly brilliant scientists make very stupid decisions like poking aliens and running lengthways from a falling spaceship — but it was a very promising fresh start for the Alien franchise.
Following the polarized response to Prometheus, Scott caved a bit with the next movie and returned to the franchise’s more traditional haunted-house-in-space roots. Alien: Covenant continued Prometheus’ exploration of life and morality, this time through the battle of wits between a benevolent android and a malevolent one, but it also had plenty of grossout gore and jump scares.
For better or worse, both Prometheus and Covenant were fresh, big-budget sci-fi movies dealing with heavy, philosophical ideas, and we don’t find much of that these days. As Alien’s newest sequels and spinoffs keep playing it safe, Scott’s unfinished prequel trilogy is looking better and better. Hopefully, someday, Disney will let Scott finish this trilogy and finally resolve Covenant’s thrilling cliffhanger.
- Movie(s)
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Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012), Alien: Covenant (2017), Alien: Romulus (2024)
- Video Game(s)
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Alien: Isolation (2014), Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013), Aliens vs. Predator (2010), Aliens vs. Predator 2 (2001), Aliens vs. Predator (1999), Alien 3: The Gun (1993), Alien 3 (1992), Aliens (1990), Aliens: The Computer Game (1986), Alien (1984)