ALIEN: ROMULUS Director Talks About That Wild Creature Design and PROMETHEUS Connection
Alien: Romulus was a great Alien film that went full-on sci-fi horror, and I loved it for that! I was so happy with how this movie turned out and it had one hell of a killer ending!
I’ve seen the movie twice so far and I love hearing the gasp from the audience members during one particular moment near the end of the film with the introduction of a twisted Xenomorph creature.
Before we go any further, I have to warn that I do get into some spoiler territory.
The creature isn’t like anything we’ve seen in the Alien franchise, as it is a monstrous creature that is part-human, part-Xenomorph, and part-Engineer.
It’s such a wild design and the reaction it gets from the audiences when it’s revealed is so cool. This was also an unexpected connection to Ridley Scott’s prequel films originating with Prometheus.
A black substance was introduced in in those prequel films that was going to enhance humanity and make them more suited for space colonization.
In Romulus, Isabela Merced’s character Kay, who is pregnant, is on the verge of dying after being attacked by a Xenomorph. To save herself and her baby, she injects herself with the back substance and in the climax of the the film gives birth to the terrifying creature.
During a recent interview with Variety, the director was asked about the similarities to the humanoid Xenomorph seen in 1997's Alien Resurrection, and Fede Álvarez said:
"[My son] had recently watched with a buddy of his all of the 'Alien' movies, and when the offspring comes out, he goes, 'It’s like in 'Resurrection.’ I hadn’t really processed that that way - but it’s true, it’s this abomination that comes out."
He added: "I was hoping that people picked up the whole Engineer part of it. The black goo is the root of the whole thing that was introduced in 'Prometheus.' It’s the root of all life, but also particularly the xenomorphs come out of that thing, which means it has to be inside them. It’s the xenomorphs’ semen, almost."
"So we thought, if it affects your DNA, and the Engineers clearly came out of the same root of life, it made complete sense to me that [the offspring of a human and a xenomorph] was going to look like that."
Elsewhere in the interview, Alvarez acknowledged that this creature's introduction is, for now, likely to raise more questions than answers.
He said: "It’s probably a new species, because that mix never happened before.”
I imagine if a sequel ends up being made, this new species will be explored more. I wouldn’t be surprised if a sequel gets made. The movie is being received well and it looks like it’s going to have a solid box office run. I’m excited to see what comes of this franchise as it continues.