The first Alien movie, directed by Ridley Scott, was instantly praised as one of the greatest horror movies — and one of the greatest sci-fi movies — ever made. Then, by switching up genres to action (while still retaining plenty of the terror that made the original great), the second one, James Cameron’s Aliens, managed to remain fresh enough to be hailed as one of the best sequels of all time.
However, that was a number of disappointing sequels ago. So, here are five reasons why the Alien franchise deserves another chance, as well as five why the filmmakers should just let it die.
Updated on October 9th, 2020: Every few months, Ridley Scott comes out of the woodwork to update Alien fans on his plans for the franchise. The box office disappointment of the last movie, Alien: Covenant, has cast doubt over the future of the series, but Scott is determined to continue the Alien legacy. With Halloween fast approaching, horror movie buffs are digging out their old favorites and rewatching them. For many, this includes the Alien saga, or at least the first movie.
LET IT DIE: It Ran Out Of Steam A Long Time Ago
The Alien franchise ran out of steam a long time ago. There are only so many stories that can be told about aliens that feed on human flesh. The Alien universe isn’t like the universes of Marvel or Star Wars. It doesn’t have infinite storytelling possibilities.
There don’t seem to be any more Alien stories worth telling. It might be time for Ridley Scott and co. to just move on to some new stories.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: All It Needs Is A Director With A Unique Take
The first Alien sequel, Aliens, worked so well because the producers found a director with a unique take on the lore to continue the story that Ridley Scott established.
Scott has announced his intentions to direct more Alien movies, but what the franchise might need is a fresh voice. Just like James Cameron did with Aliens, what a new Alien movie needs is a director with their own take on the franchise’s deceptively simplistic premise.
LET IT DIE: Prometheus Marked The Beginning Of The End
Ever since Prometheus asked way more questions than it answered and introduced Alien fans to weird concepts like the Engineers who create life, the franchise has struggled to dig itself out of that hole.
While Ridley Scott did his best to get the franchise back to its roots with Covenant, the continued focus on Prometheus’ questions (and asking a few more) showed that the damage had already been done.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: Ellen Ripley Should Get A Better Ending
In the first two Alien movies, Sigourney Weaver turned Ellen Ripley into one of the most beloved heroines on the silver screen. Unfortunately, she was let down by poor writing and studio interference in the third and fourth movies.
As it stands, Ripley’s arc has a pretty disappointing ending – especially considering how important she is, breaking new ground for women in action movies – so she deserves a better ending in a future sequel.
LET IT DIE: The Xenomorphs’ Origins Don’t Matter
The reason Ridley Scott wants to press on with the Alien franchise and tell new stories in its world is that he wants to explain the backstory of the xenomorphs: how they were created, how they ended up on the fateful planet where the Nostromo’s crew found them, and so on.
But the problem with exploring this storyline is that it doesn’t matter. Where the xenomorphs came from isn’t important; the threat they pose when they show up is what these movies are about.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: Ridley Scott Has More Stories To Tell
When Ridley Scott set out to give the Alien franchise a prequel with Prometheus, he had a vague multi-movie plan that would carry the backstory all the way to the first Alien film. Alien: Covenant is just a small part of that plan.
Depending on the report you read, Scott could have one, two, or even three future sequels in mind before catching up with the events of the original Alien movie. As long as Scott has more stories to tell, then there’s still hope for this franchise.
LET IT DIE: No Sequel Will Ever Be As Great As Alien Or Aliens
Alien is an out-and-out masterpiece, while Aliens is one of the most satisfying sequels in film history. Even in the best-case scenario of a serviceable new sequel, no movie will ever be able to match the gratification of the first two.
With the involvement of Ridley Scott, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant have been a lot stronger than Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection — despite the fact that he seems hellbent on explaining the biological history of the xenomorphs in as much detail as possible — but they still haven’t scraped the greatness of Alien and Aliens.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: Neill Blomkamp’s Sequel To Aliens Sounded Amazing
Before it was canned by the studio, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was working on a sequel to Aliens that would remove the third and fourth movies from canon. Newt and Bishop’s off-screen deaths — which felt like a slap in the face to fans of Aliens — would be undone, and Sigourney Weaver would return to the role of Ellen Ripley.
It could just end up being another Terminator: Dark Fate, which fell into the same pitfalls as the previous Terminator sequels, but it could just as easily be the Alien 3 that fans always wanted — not the Alien 3 that resulted from misguided studio executives meddling in David Fincher’s feature directorial debut.
LET IT DIE: Disney Owns It Now
Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox has led to some exciting prospects, like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it’s also led to some not-so-exciting prospects, like a Home Alone reboot.
Following the Fox acquisition, the Alien franchise now belongs to the Mouse House. Any future sequel or reboot of the franchise will be mounted by Disney, and the studio’s family-friendly brand might hinder the grisly brutality that makes this franchise great.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: H.R. Giger’s Designs Created A World Warranting Endless Revisits
A huge part of what made the original Alien movie work so well was the incredible designs by H.R. Giger. Thanks to Giger’s designs, the world of the Alien franchise feels as unique and fantastical and well-defined as those of Star Wars or Star Trek or Harry Potter.
From the hauntingly inhuman look that Giger gave to the xenomorphs to the cold, bleak environments of the spaceships to the gothic, frightening, organic look of the foreign planets, Giger’s designs have created a world that warrants endless revisits. We need another Alien film if only to go back to that world.
LET IT DIE: The Franchise Defines Diminishing Returns
After Ridley Scott terrorized the crew of the Nostromo with one xenomorph, James Cameron upped the ante by terrorizing the Colonial Marines with hundreds of xenomorphs. After that, there’s really nowhere else to go. Every subsequent Alien sequel has been a painful reminder of the principle of diminishing returns.
From the bitter disappointments (Alien: Resurrection) to even the somewhat enjoyable entries (Alien: Covenant), every post-Aliens Alien movie has fallen short of its potential.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: It Should End On A Better Note Than Covenant
For all intents and purposes, Alien: Covenant wasn’t a bad movie. It had plenty of effective scares,, and Michael Fassbender’s performance as David was as chilling as ever.
But the movie was riddled with plot holes and its action-packed final act felt distractingly forced. After four decades and six movies (two of which are masterpieces), the Alien saga deserves to go out on a stronger note than Covenant.
LET IT DIE: The Xenomorph Has No More Capacity For Surprise
What made the horror of the original Alien film so effective was that we knew nothing about the xenomorphs. When a facehugger attacks Kane, we have no idea what that means until an alien bursts out of his chest.
Essentially, the Alien movies are monster movies. If we know the biology of the monster and we’ve seen swarms of its species crawling through air vents, then eventually it’ll lose its capacity for surprise. After six movies, the xenomorph is spent.
DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE: There Are A Ton Of Unanswered Questions
Who rebuilt David? What happened to Elizabeth Shaw? Why did David kill the Engineers? After Prometheus asked more questions than it answered, and Alien: Covenant’s answers to Prometheus’ questions invited even more questions, Alien fans are left with more unanswered questions than ever.
This was intentional on Ridley Scott’s part as he’s slowly doling out a few movies, after which it will all become clear. Just for peace of mind, we need more Alien movies to fill in the blanks.
LET IT DIE: The Answers Would Probably Be Disappointing
If Ridley Scott somehow plans to connect the end of the Prometheus/Covenant run of Alien films with the beginning of the 1979 original, then the answers to the franchise’s questions would probably be disappointing.
The answers we’ve had so far have failed to satisfy, and if a future film reveals something crazy and contrived like Daniels being Ripley’s mother or David being the Space Jockey from the first movie, then fans would be up in arms.