Summary

• Alien: Romulus could retcon Ridley Scott's prequels and make Alien vs. Predator part of the franchise's canon.
• Alien vs. Predator's version of events fits more easily into the timeline of the Alien series than Prometheus.
• Alien: Romulus shouldn't feel obligated to reinstate the plot of Alien vs. Predator, but should focus on telling its own self-contained story.

While Alien: Romulus can make one largely forgotten franchise outing canon again, this isn’t necessarily the best way of retconning Ridley Scott’s divisive prequels. The Alien franchise has a complicated timeline that has only grown knottier as the series progresses. The heroine of Alien and Aliens, Ellen Ripley, died at the end of Alien 3 only for her to be revived as a clone in Alien: Resurrection. As if this weren’t complicated enough, 2004’s Alien vs. Predator and original Alien director Ridley Scott’s later prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant proceeded to offer two contradictory backstories for the franchise’s Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

Now, the Alien: Romulus looks like it will reset the entire franchise’s timeline with a standalone story. Director Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus has been described as a standalone movie that is not connected to the storyline established in Scott’s prequels, although star Cailee Spaeny did say that the movie will be set between Alien and Aliens. This means that Alien: Romulus occupies a divisive space in the franchise’s story, and the movie could end up legitimizing one earlier film’s storyline while retconning another alternative version of events. Only time will tell which origin story Alien: Romulus goes with.

Alien: Romulus releases in theaters on August 16, 2024.

Alien: Romulus Can Make AVP Canon At The Expense Of Prometheus & Covenant

Following AVP’s Story Means Retconning Ridley Scott’s Prequels

Alien vs. Predator’s story took viewers back to a time when Weyland-Yutani was still just Weyand Industries. The company’s founder, Charles Weyland, took an expedition to Antarctica to study the Xenomorphs and the Predators, a plot that was completely overwritten by Scott’s later Alien prequels. Prometheus retconned Alien vs. Predator by introducing Peter Weyland, an alternative founder of Weyland Industries. This character stowed away on a space mission that was intended to establish with the Engineers, an alien race who created humanity eons ago. Peter’s plan ended with his death, as did Charles Weyland’s expedition in Alien vs. Predator.

While Alien vs. Predator offered a backstory for Weyland Industries and explained that their founder was aware of Xenomorphs back in 2004, the futuristic Prometheus revised this when its story revealed that Weyland’s founder didn’t even discover the Engineers until 2089. These contradictory versions of events can’t be simultaneously true as both movies depict their version of Weyland as the company’s founder. While Alien 3’s biggest mistake could be retconned by bringing Ripley back to life, Alien: Romulus can’t make both Prometheus and Alien vs. Predator part of the franchise’s canon. As such, the movie will likely retcon Scott’s story.

How Alien Vs. Predator Fits Into Alien's Timeline

Alien Vs. Predator Takes Place Long Before The Original Alien’s Events

Of the two backstories, Alien vs. Predator’s version of events slots into the Alien franchise’s timeline more easily. It is not clear what year 1979’s original Alien is set in, but it is far into the future. While Prometheus takes place in 2089, Alien vs. Predator seemingly takes place in 2004 around the time the movie was released. As such, it makes sense that the founder of Weyland Industries could have known about the Xenomorph’s existence before anyone else, and it adds up that he would have invested in an expedition designed to capture and contain the potential bioweapon.

In contrast, Prometheus doesn’t fit into the timeline of the Alien series quite so comfortably. While it is good that Prometheus didn’t bring the Alien movies to Earth again, the aesthetic of the movie’s 2089 setting seems more technologically advanced than the world of Alien. As Noah Hawley, the showrunner of Disney’s Alien series put it, the original movie has a retro-futuristic world filled with “Giant computer monitors” and “Weird keyboards.” In contrast, the 2089 of Prometheus has a sleek, hyper-modern look that seems to imply Weyland-Yutani’s workspaces somehow went back in time as the series progressed.

Why Alien: Romulus Shouldn't Reinstate AVP After 20 Years

AVP’s Plot Is A Worse Franchise Backstory Than Scott’s Prequels

While Alien vs. Predator’s backstory fits the Alien timeline better, this doesn’t mean that Alien: Romulus should necessarily reinstate the movie’s plot as part of the franchise’s canon. The Alien vs. Predator movies are some of the weakest installments in the series and, although their Charles Weyland origin story makes sense, it is not necessary content for Alien: Romulus viewers. If Álvarez’s movie truly will be a standalone piece, then Alien: Romulus doesn’t necessarily need to address the events of Alien vs. Predator or Scott’s prequel movies. Instead, the new movie can simply tell its own self-contained story.

Hawley’s comments make it clear that Scott’s Alien prequels will be retconned by the franchise’s future sooner or later. However, what the Alien movies need more than anything is a simple scary installment that doesn’t get bogged down in the franchise’s byzantine lore. Álvarez is an accomplished director of lone-location horror stories and Alien: Romulus could be a fun, scary addition to the series as long as the movie is more concerned with its own story than retconning earlier entries into the complex franchise.