Alien: Romulus' Biggest Promise Means The Franchise Can Finally Break A Deadly 45-Year Trend

Summary Alien: Romulus is heavily hyping up its high death count, deviating from the franchise norm.

Director Fede Álvarez promises plenty of character deaths, setting high audience expectations.

The possibility of no survivors in Alien: Romulus could shake up the franchise and future storylines.

Alien: Romulus continues to hype up its massive death count, and it could mean the franchise is finally going to break a major trend. Throughout the lead-up to Alien: Romulus' release, one thing has become certain: the movie is going to include plenty of character deaths. This is nothing new for the Alien movie franchise, as encounters with Xenomorphs, facehuggers, and chestbursters typically are fatal. Audiences now expect a certain amount of bloodshed and tragedy from each franchise installment, and it would be a daring move for Alien: Romulus to subvert that, which is why it won't.

The expectations of how much death will be in Alien: Romulus continues to climb, though. Whether it is surprising Alien: Romulus trailers that give too much away or comments from the cast and crew, it is clear that the prequel is leaning into the franchise's horror roots under director Fede Álvarez. Terrifying death sequences are sure to come as a result, with some already even becoming spoiled through the marketing campaign. The frequent talk about how deadly Alien: Romulus is surely purposeful in setting audience expectations. It might even mean doing a franchise first.

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Alien: Romulus Promises To Be One Of The Deadliest Alien Movies

The High Death Count Has Been Teased

Audiences are certainly used to seeing characters die in the Alien movies, but there is a chance that Alien: Romulus is going to be on the deadlier side of the franchise. Screen Rant attended the Alien: Romulus panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 and heard all about how much death is coming. Álvarez specifically said, "There's a lot of death in this movie," after joking that someone dying was a spoiler. While he and the cast did not directly compare how deadly Alien: Romulus is versus the rest of the franchise, the director is clearly setting the table for a high death count.

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Even the footage that was shown during the Alien: Romulus SDCC panel reinforced this. While initially stopping when Navarro (Aileen Wu) is attacked by a facehugger, later footage showcased the moment where she discovers that a chestburster is inside her. Alien: Romulus' trailers spoiled this moment before the SDCC panel, but the full clip directly confirms her death. And if the filmmakers were willing to show a character's death in its full capacity before the theatrical release, there is no doubt that the film will make good on killing "a lot" of people.

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Alien: Romulus Could Be The Franchise's First Movie Without Any Survivors

At Least 1 Human Has Always Survived

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One way for Alien: Romulus to make good on its frequent death teases is to be the first Alien movie with no survivors. Every previous film in the main series has had at least one human character remain alive by the end. Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley was the sole survivor of Alien, while she, Newt, and Hicks all survived Aliens. Robert Morse was the sole survivor of Alien 3. Ripley 8, Call, Johner, and Vriess all survive Alien Resurrection. Shaw is the only human survivor in Prometheus, while Daniels and Tennessee are alive when Alien: Covenant ends.

Androids like Bishop and David have also survived previous Alien movies

With every prior Alien movie leaving at least one survivor, there is now a chance for Alien: Romulus to break that trend and solidify its place as the deadliest entry. It is feasible that all the main characters could die aboard the Renaissance space station. With several character deaths already confirmed, there is a dwindling number of people who could live through the prequel's events at this point. The expectations that Alien: Romulus could have a bleak and heartbreaking ending will be realized if Álvarez pulls a franchise first by killing everyone.

Movie Human Survivors Alien Ellen Ripley Aliens Ellen Ripley, Newt, and Dwayne Hicks Alien 3 Robert Morse Alien Resurrection Ripley 8, Annalee Call, Ron Johner, and Dom Vriess Prometheus Elizabeth Shaw Alien: Covenant Daniels and Tennessee

Alien: Romulus Having No Survivors Would Help The Franchise

There Will Be Questions About Their Future

The possibility of Alien: Romulus killing every character could be a blessing for the franchise in disguise. It could be quite tragic to watch so many new characters die facing off against the aliens, but their survivals will raise more questions. Since Alien: Romulus takes place between Alien and Aliens, there will inevitably be some questions about what happened to the survivors and why they never appeared in future installments.

Neither of these questions are viable if there are no survivors when Alien: Romulus ends. The fates of all characters will be known, and the lack of connections they have to future storylines will be easily explained. It would eliminate the chances of Alien: Romulus sequels featuring some of the new characters, but it would also potentially benefit future installments with audiences now knowing there is a chance that not everyone will survive.