This post contains spoilers for “Alien: Romulus.”
Director Fede Alvarez has successfully revived the “Alien” franchise with his new film “Alien: Romulus.” Marketed largely as a back-to-basics, scary space adventure with lots of practical Xenomorphs, Disney was able to get moviegoers to buy into what Alvarez was selling. It was in some ways a bait and switch, as the third act of the film takes a very big swing, bringing to life a horrific human/Xenomorph/Engineer hybrid known as “The Offspring,” played by Tom Woodruff Jr. Disney, being a historically family-friendly company that isn’t used to such R-rated shenanigans, somewhat understandably pushed back against this.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Alvarez went into spoiler territory with the outlet, breaking down “Romulus” and even revealing plans for a potential sequel (albeit one that would possibly be years away from actually happening). The director, whose previous credits include films like “Don’t Breathe” and the famously extreme “Evil Dead” remake, also revealed that Disney thought The Offspring might be a bit much. But Alvarez convinced them that it wasn’t:
“They did [push back] at the beginning [with regard to The Offspring], but not because they didn’t like it. They just thought, ‘Is it too much? Do we really have to go there?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, now that you said that we shouldn’t, I know that I will.’ So that’s exactly what we did here. If you’re given an Alien movie by a corporation that is owned by Disney and they immediately say, ‘Yeah, let’s make it,’ then you are failing somehow. So we really pushed it to the limit, and I’m glad we did.”
While The Offspring may be a bit divisive, it’s the inclusion of a CGI android named Rook, meant to look like the late Ian Holm’s Ash from “Alien,” that has generated the most controversy. Disney didn’t seem to have any issues with that choice; the studio was more concerned about a gross, horrifying hybrid creature.
This isn’t the first time Disney brought an actor back to life
It is interesting to see what a company like Disney will and won’t push back on. Narratively, The Offspring is backed up within the “Alien” franchise by Ridley Scott’s prequels. This has historically been an R-rated series that includes violent, unholy creatures. At the same time, the studio has demonstrated several times that it’s willing to use expensive, imperfect technology to revive actors who are no longer with us rather than just recasting the character or go in a new direction.
Alvarez explained his reasoning for including an android using Holm’s likeness saying, “Ridley [Scott] and I felt like the one that has never been back was the best one of them all, the original model played by Ian Holm.” Most recently in the film series, Michael Fassbender playing both David and Walter in “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant.” Holm now represents both Ash and Rook in the “Alien” franchise.
The issue is that it further sets a precedent of using technology, such as AI, to revive the dead, which opens a host of questions. For what it’s worth, Disney did something similar with 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” by digitally recreating Grand Moff Tarkin. In both cases, the end result was divisive and raised questions about the future of cinema. But in the end, this simply isn’t something that Disney seems to have an issue with, but the Mouse House is still a bit squeamish when it comes to monstrosities created by alien spores and a would-be human baby.
“Alien: Romulus” is in theaters now.
