Alien: Romulus Looks Great, But This Is My Most Anticipated Upcoming Alien Project

Summary Alien: Romulus looks promising for fans of the series, while Alien: Earth offers a unique exploration of the franchise's universe.

The upcoming projects show a hopeful future for the Alien franchise, with Romulus focusing on horror roots and Earth on expanding lore.

Fans are in for a treat with both Romulus and Earth, as they promise to redeem past missteps and offer new depths to the iconic series.

Although I’m excited about Alien: Romulus, Alien: Earth is the upcoming Alien project that truly has my heart. The Alien franchise’s many movies are a mixed bag, and I say this as a massive fan of the series. I love Alien and Aliens, and I’m even willing to admit that Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection aren’t as awful as many critics claim. That said, I have a harder time finding much value in the Alien Vs Predator movies, and Ridley Scott’s prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant left me cold. Fortunately, 2024’s upcoming reboot Alien: Romulus looks amazing.

Coming from the director of Evil Dead’s 2013 reboot and Don’t Breathe, Alien: Romulus is a standalone story set between Alien and Aliens. As befits its setting, the movie looks set to reignite my faith in the series. Alien: Romulus borrows Don’t Breathe’s simple setup, sending some young, morally ambiguous antiheroes into an abandoned location to steal what they can and leaving them to encounter a monster they are ill-equipped to fight. This straightforward story sounds like a great way to get back to the claustrophobic horror of the original movie, but another Alien project sounds even more exciting.

Alien: Earth Sounds Unlike Anything The Franchise Has Done

Noah Hawley’s Alien Show Is A Major Departure For The Franchise

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Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley’s Alien TV show Alien: Earth has been in development for so long that I almost forgot it existed until recent updates. However, these updates confirmed that Alien: Earth is the most exciting upcoming project in the Alien franchise. While Alien: Romulus looks like an effective combination of the first two movies in the series, it doesn’t provide viewers with anything that they haven’t seen before. I can’t wait for the reboot but, by design, it will be more nostalgic than innovative. In contrast, Alien: Earth sounds to me like it will redefine the franchise.

Alien: Earth’s story will be set in the future and will finally outline what is happening on Earth during the events of the series.

Set to be released in 2025, Alien: Earth will star Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, and Essie Davis. Alien: Earth’s story will be set in the future and will finally outline what is happening on Earth during the events of the series. The human homeworld of the Alien movies is glimpsed in the trailer for Alien: Romulus, but the movie’s title alone proves it won’t be the plot's main focus. Like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Alien Romulus is named after a location. Namely, Romulus is the abandoned space station the movie’s heroes explore. Thus, Earth won’t be the movie’s main focus.

Alien: Romulus Looks Great, But An Alien Show Is Just So Exciting

Alien: Earth Can Expand The Alien Franchise’s Universe

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I’m excited to see Alien: Romulus wring as much tension and terror out of its self-contained story as possible, but I can’t wait to see Hawley’s show expand the Alien franchise’s universe. I’ve always wondered what humanity was up to on Earth while the Alien movies took place and, with a plot that focuses on the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Alien: Earth can finally answer this mystery. Alien: Earth’s move to the small screen is uniquely suited to exploring the franchise’s fictional world since the show will have much more screen time to expand on themes glimpsed in the movies.

Alien: Earth can afford to spend much more time exploring the internal machinations of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

Thanks to its brief runtime, Alien: Romulus can't copy Alien's pacing. The reboot must get to the titular setting fast and introduce its Xeonomorph to the story early on, since the movie has only two hours to explore its fictional world. In contrast, Alien: Earth can afford to spend much more time exploring the internal machinations of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. I’ve always been curious about what the shady company is up to behind the scenes, but there has never been sufficient screen time for the series to delve into these questions until now. This makes Alien: Earth truly exciting.

It’s A Great Time To Be An Alien Fan

Alien: Earth And Alien: Romulus Both Bode Well For The Franchise’s Future

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That said, my enthusiasm for Alien: Earth doesn't make Alien: Romulus any less exciting, and the fact that there are two upcoming projects in the franchise is great news. It is a great time to be an Alien fan, as Alien: Romulus promises to redeem Ridley Scott's prequels while Alien: Earth takes on questions that even Prometheus didn’t have the scope to explore. After decades spent floundering on ambitious but misguided projects, the Alien movies seem to finally have a future that viewers can believe in.

Alien: Earth shows that the franchise is more than just another horror series.

I’m excited to see Alien: Romulus bring the series back to its horror roots while, simultaneously, Alien: Earth shows that the franchise is more than just another horror series. I can’t wait to finally find out the history of Weyland-Yutani but, at the same time, I’m glad that Alien: Romulus isn’t trying to tackle this question in its limited runtime. Ultimately, I’m glad that Alien: Romulus’s mistakes can be mollified by Alien: Earth, while its strengths can make up for Alien: Earth’s weaknesses. This proves the Alien franchise has a promising future thanks to both Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth alike.