Romulus just changed the story of Aliens & Ripley with grim new details

The following contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus, in theaters now

Alien: Romulus introduces a subtle but dark new detail to the series’ story by depicting the actions of a group in Aliens even more evil. Introduced as the group that financed the work of the Nostromo in ForeignerThe Weyland-Yutani Company has become an integral part of the entire franchise. Many of the plots in the franchise were triggered by the ambitions of its workers, from the sleazy Burke of Aliens to Peter Weyland’s God complex in PrometheusMuch of the bloodshed within the franchise is due to corporate decisions.

This is especially true for the characters in Alien: Romuluswho accidentally discovers the experiments the company conducted between the events of Foreigner And Aliens. In fact, some of these revelations confirm how much the company has always known about the Xenomorphs and how willing they were to put humans in danger for their advancements. All of this adds to the lore of the Foreigner series and underlines that the company has always been more dangerous than the titular alien.

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Weyland-Yutani knew about the Xenomorphs long before the aliens

Alien: Romulus Proves that Weyland-Yutani knew how dangerous Xenomorphs were

The confirmation that The Weyland-Yutani company was aware of the dangerous potential of the Xenomorphs in Alien: Romulus undermines their seemingly indifferent attitude towards the matter in Alienswhich proves that they are the ultimate villain of the series. One of the big revelations of Alien: Romulus is the discovery of a space station built by the company that serves as a research facility. Their attempts to experiment on the Xenomorph recovered from the remains of the Nostromo resulted in the death of everyone on board and the apparent abandonment of the facility – which sets up the plot of Alien: Romulus.

This proves that Weyland-Yutani had confirmed the existence of the Xenomorphsand was aware of the dangerous potential of these creatures during the events of Alien: Romuluswhich takes place in the year 2142. But in the year 2179, during the events of Aliensthe Weyland-Yutani board that confronts Ripley with the events of Foreigner ignores their warnings about the creature and even doubts its existence. At first this seemed to be a superficial bureaucracy. But Alien: Romulus adds a darker layer to this beat as the company is now aware of the Xenomorph.

Alien: Romulus retroactively makes aliens darker

The Weyland-Yutani Company ignores Ripley’s warnings in Aliens Feels much darker afterwards Alien: Romulus

One of the key elements of Aliens is the revelation that between this film and ForeignerThe Weyland-Yutani Corporation had established a colony on LV-426, the world where Ripley and her crew discovered the Xenomorph. In Aliensthis seemed to indicate that the company really didn’t take Ripley seriously. While they were still evil for ordering Burke to take advantage of the ensuing chaos to collect a Xenomorph for study, the company seemed more stupid than evil. Alien: Romulus revealed that the company had previously confirmed the existence of the Xenomorphwhich means they knowingly built the colony on a potential hive.

This makes every death in Aliens the direct result of Weyland-Yutani’s decision to try to capture the Xenomorph. It reinforces the revelation of Aliens that the company had actually found the spaceship with the alien eggs, however, lends a grim certainty to their actions. Previously, one could argue that the company was unaware of how dangerous the Xenomorph was. Given Alien: Romulus‘ Retcons make it obvious that the Company was well aware of the monstrosity of this creature, but was willing to sacrifice hundreds of colonists, marines, and civilians to resume the experiments.

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Alien: Romulus proves that Weyland-Yutani are the real villains of the series

The Xenomorph is not as deadly as an out-of-control corporation

ForeignerThe Wayland-Yutani Society has always been one of the main antagonistic forces in the Foreigner franchise. “The Corporation” is an all-encompassing organization that has effectively supplanted traditional society by ruining lives and betraying its employees for a slim chance of profit. Alien: Romulus highlights how terrible the company is and shows how their hubris led to their own research teams being wiped out in order to develop their employees for space travel. Their actions in Alien: Romulus prove that the company was always willing to sacrifice lives for its higher purpose.

Even more than the monstrous Xenomorphs, the mysterious Engineers or the terrifying Hybrids, Weyland-Yutani is the ultimate villain of the Foreigner Franchise. Alien: Romulus makes her decisions in other films harder in retrospectand undermines any defense of willful ignorance or unwitting stupidity. The company embodies the worst excesses of capitalism on a cosmic scale, unearthing world-destroying threats to increase its profits. Alien: RomulusThe expansion of the franchise lore underscores how evil the corporation is and proves that the greatest threat to humanity in the galaxy is themselves.

Alien: Romulus

3.5

Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien series. The film was directed by Fede Álvarez and focuses on a new group of young characters facing the fearsome Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a standalone film and is set in a time not yet explored in the Alien series.

director

Fede Alvarez

Release date

16 August 2024

Authors

Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues, Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett