Summary

• Alien: Romulus unites the entire Alien franchise for the first time, bridging the gap between the original series and the prequels.
• By connecting elements from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Alien: Romulus improves the cohesion of the entire franchise storyline.
• The success of Alien: Romulus in uniting the franchise opens up new possibilities for future Alien sequels to explore unresolved storylines.

The Alien franchise has been divided for years now, but every other Alien movie has been fairly divisive, with the franchise constantly having to change plans in order to please audiences. This is why the cliffhanger endings of Alien: Resurrection and Alien: Covenant were never resolved, which was a big disappointment for some. However, Alien: Romulus has surprisingly found the perfect balance between each Alien saga, managing to fit everything together in a fantastic way.

Alien: Romulus is finally out, and the newest Alien sequel has a lot more franchise and lore surprises than many viewers initially guessed. Throughout Alien: Romulus' marketing, the film seemed like a return to tradition for the Alien franchise, with it being closer to Ridley Scott's 1979 original than anything else. This seemed as if it was a response to the mixed reception and box office disappointments of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. However, Alien: Romulus' unique place in the Alien timeline allowed for the film to pull off one major trick, uniting the entire Alien franchise for the first time.

Alien: Romulus Directly Links Ridley Scott's Prequels To The Original Movies

Through The Return Of The Black Goo

Upon the release of Prometheus, Ridley Scott promised a multi-movie prequel series that would eventually link up to the original Alien's point in the timeline. While Alien: Covenant did continue this plan, connecting more Prometheus elements to the original Alien, the 2017 film was still set years before the 1979 movie and focused on entirely different characters. With the announcement that Alien: Romulus would depart from these Prometheus plans, it seemed as if Alien: Covenant's cliffhanger ending would never be solved. However, this wasn't entirely the case, with Alien: Romulus bringing back a big Prometheus storyline.

Despite Alien: Romulus taking place between Alien and Aliens, the film brings back the black goo from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. The film reveals Weyland-Yutani discovered the black goo while experimenting on the Xenomorph from the original Alien, with the company hoping to use it to evolve humanity. This is incredibly similar to David's plan from Alien: Covenant, and while it doesn't feature any of the characters from the Prometheus saga, the use of this Prometheus story proves that Alien: Romulus has definitively linked the prequels to the original franchise.

Alien: Romulus' Connections To Other Alien Movies Improves The Franchise

Prometheus Feels More Connected Now

Although Alien: Romulus carrying on plot points from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant may be controversial to some, these connections actually improve the franchise. For years now, the Alien franchise has felt segmented, with the original series and the prequel series having two entirely different tones, stories, and bits of lore. While the Prometheus movies are good, they just didn't feel like the original Alien, mostly due to how different things like the black goo and David's villain arc were.

By taking Prometheus elements and directly inserting them later in the Alien timeline, Alien: Romulus has made the entire franchise seem like a more cohesive whole. Alien: Romulus directly explains how the black goo affected the events of the first Alien and its sequels, making Prometheus seem as if it had more of an impact. While there are still some lingering questions, Alien: Romulus makes the Alien franchise seem like a more complete saga, which is the best thing that it could have done.

Alien: Romulus Uniting The Franchise Is Great For Alien's Future

Other Alien Storylines Could Come Back

Alien: Romulus' decision to unite the franchise is great, as it could have positive impacts on the future of the Alien series. Bringing back the Prometheus story element means that future Alien sequels could do the same thing for other less-well-received Alien films. Things like the prison from Alien 3 or the cliffhanger ending from Alien: Resurrection could return, further ironing out the wrinkles in the Alien franchise.

On top of that, an Alien: Romulus sequel could continue building on the story of the Prometheus prequels. One of the biggest disappointments of the prequel series was that Alien: Covenant's cliffhanger ending was left unresolved. However, Michael Fassbender's David and his evil plan to create the original Xenomorph could be further explored in an Alien: Romulus sequel, with Weyland-Yutani attempting to discover the origins of the black goo. There is all kinds of potential for the future now, and it is all thanks to Alien: Romulus' attempts to unite the franchise.