Warning: Major spoilers for Alien: Romulus below!
Summary
Alien: Romulushas a well-hidden easter egg involving Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley - and one that makes her cryosleep journey between the first and second films even more impressive. Nobody involved withthe originalAlienmovieexpected it to become a franchise. Director Ridley Scott even wanted to include an ending where Ripley was killed by the titular Star Beast, which would then send a distress signal using the voice of Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt). Instead, the ending ofAliensaw Ripley and her cat Jonesy going into hypersleep and hoping for rescue.
Aliensrevealed Ripley was drifting in space for 57 years, and that her daughter Amanda died in the interim. Weaver’s Ripley has become one of the most iconic characters in sci-fi cinema, though the actress has ruled out any kind of return for a future entry. This extends to Fede Álvarez’sAlien: Romulus, which nevertheless features numerous easter egg nods toAlien,Prometheusand other entries in the series.Romuluseven brings back Ian Holm as new android Rook, via the use of AI techn.
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Alien: Romulus
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Álvarez is a self-confessed fan of the whole series, so it’s not a shocker to learn he buried various nods within his film. One of the most shocking reveals is thatRipley’s Narcissus shuttle can be seen drifting away from the Renaissance station as it is being destroyed duringAlien: Romulus' ending. This shuttle can also be spotted in the background of a scene where Isabela Merced’s Kay is trying to get away from a rampaging Xenomoprh. Thisreference confirms that instead of just floating in space for decades, Ripley’s shuttlewasrecovered by Weyland-Yutani.
Sigourney Weaver’s final time (to date) playing Ripley was voicing the role for 2014’s acclaimedAlien: Isolationvideo game.
The company also recovered “Big Chap” fromAlien, with the creature’s offscreen resurrection having kickedRomulus’story into motion. It makes sense that if they could recover the creature itself, they could have tracked down Ripley’s escape shuttle too. It should be underlined this is a well-hidden, background detail in the movie, soviewers are given no hint as to when the Narcissus was recovered, what Weyland-Yutani’s intentions were with the shuttle or if they attempted to wake Ripleyfrom her hypersleep.
Alien: Romulus' Ripley Easter Eggs Mean She Almost Died Multiple Times Before Aliens
Ripley is even luckier when taking the events of Romulus into account
Pulling “Big Chap” from the Nostromo’s wreckage and studying him would have been the research station’s number one directive, while Ripley was left in her shuttle until the company decided what to do with her.
Ripley being discovered between the events ofAlienandAliensimplies a lot. Presumably, after they recovered her pod she wasn’t considered any kind of priority by Weyland-Yutani. Pulling “Big Chap” from the Nostromo’s wreckage and studying him would have been the research station’s number one directive, while Ripley was left in her shuttle until the company decided what to do with her. There’s a version of that story where they just killed Ripley in her sleep to cover up the events ofAlientoo.
Ripley Easter Egg In Alien: Romulus Confirmed (& It Changes Her Story Before Aliens)
VFX Supervisor Daniel Macarin confirms two major Ripley Easter eggs featured in Alien: Romulus, and it changes her story before Aliens.
Luckily for her, this didn’t come to pass. However, consideringAlien: Romulus’Renaissance station itself became infested with Xenos, one of them could have discovered Ripley sleeping and either killed her in the pod, or yanked her out to be used in the nest. Finally,Ripley could have also been killed when the space station crashed into the planetary rings during the finaletoo.
Laying it out like that, it’s almost a comedy of errors that Ripley survived her stay in the Renaissance station. Be it by Weyland-Yutani’s hands or the station being destroyed, there are many ways she could have met her end. Instead,Romulussuggests Ripley had a brief pitstop while gliding through the vastness of space, before detaching and floating away again in the chaos of the station being destroyed.
Ripley’s Survival In Aliens Is A True Miracle Thanks To Alien: Romulus
As Burke said, the chances of being found were “One in a thousand”
After Ripley’s shuttle floats away inAlien: Romulus, she essentially spends the next three decades drifting before a recovery team comes across her. When the smarmy Burke (Paul Reiser) breaks the news about how long she was in hypersleep, he highlights just how miraculous her rescue was and that the odds were “One in a thousand.“Factoring Ripley’s short stay at the ill-fated Weyland-Yutani research outpost, this makes her survival all the more impressivereally.
Given that he went to some length to add the Ripley easter egg, the next question is did, Álvarez have something in mind for the character? During a post-screening Q&A forRomulus(viaFilm Stories),the director stated “…I even take the novels as canon and the comics. I always had [Xenopedia] open on my laptop when I was writing.” Whereas most filmmakers approaching a new entry in a famous franchise might only count the movies as canon, Álvarez’s comments suggest a higher level of respect when it comes toAlien’sexpanded universe.
If he is thinking of the novels, there is a 2014 book calledOut of the Shadowsby Tim Lebbon that detailedanotherRipley adventure between the first and second films. This is set 37 years after the first movie, where she is awoken onboard a mining vessel amid another Xenomorph outbreak and discovers Ash’s AI consciousness survived in the shuttle’s computer. The book’s ending explains why she doesn’t remember any of this inAliens, so perhaps Álvarez is thinking ofOut of the Shadowsas a possibleAlien: Romulusfollow-up.
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
