The more xenomorphs pop out of people’s bodies, the more complicated Alien canon becomes. In 1979, Ridley Scott took an undercooked screenplay from Dan O’Bannon and turned it into one of the most enduring masterpieces of science fiction. Since then, no two Alien fans can agree as to which sequel, spinoff, prequel or midquel has lived up to the brilliance of the original — though most will admit that James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens is also solid, even if it was a tonal departure from the original. Even Ridley Scott’s prequels, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), changed the chest-bursting game in surprising ways.
The Alien franchise seems to be going in several different directions at once (a new TV show from Noah Hawley set on Earth in the late 21st century, a possible sequel to Alien: Romulus, and maybe a new Alien vs. Predator mash-up) and Ridley Scott loyalists are wondering if we’ll ever return to his weirder prequel world featuring the human-hating robot David (Michael Fassbender) and his evil masterplan. Right now, there’s a glimmer of hope that Uncle Ridley will be able to continue his cooky Alien vision. Maybe.
