How Alien Romulus Fixes The Most Controversial Xenomorph In The Franchise

Warning: Major spoilers for Alien: Romulus below!

The ending of Alien: Romulus fixes one of the franchise’s biggest monster blunders almost three decades later. The Alien movie franchise wasn’t in great shape following the critical and commercial underperformance of Ridley Scott’s Covenant. Romulus was intended to wipe the slate clean, offering new heroes and creatures while getting back to the horror roots of the saga. Based on Alien: Romulus‘ box office numbers, this soft reboot tactic has been successful and the future of the titular Xenomorph is looking bright again.

There are many talking points surrounding the sequel, including the surprise return of a certain Android model. It’s Alien: Romulus‘ ending that is really generating discussion since it introduces the “Offspring” Xenomorph to the series. Played by the 7ft 7in Robert Bobroczkyi, this hybrid between human and Xeno DNA is the final antagonist and is an intensely unsettling mix between the Engineers and the H.R. Giger Xenomorphs.

Alien: Romulus Corrects The Newborn Design Mistake Resurrection Made

Fede Alvarez hadn’t “processed” the similarities between his Offspring and the Newborn

The Offspring scene calls two other movies to mind. The first is Fede Alvarez’s own remake of Evil Dead, which features a finale where Jane Levy’s Mia has an unexpected battle with a new deadite creature dubbed “The Abomination.” The second film it calls to mind is Alien Resurrection, which features an ending where a human/Xeno hybrid called the Newborn chases after Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). On paper, the Newborn is a cool concept, but the actual design leaves much to be desired.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s take on the monster is that of an albino humanoid who lacks the biomechanical design typical of the creatures. The Newborn also had a much more human-looking face and could be sweet and docile one moment, before becoming murderously enraged the next. The issue with Alien Resurrection’s Newborn design is that is utterly unfrightening and even borderline comical.

Screenwriter Joss Whedon once described the design as “A withered, granny-lookin’, Pumpkinhead-kinda-thing…,” (via /Film) which deviated greatly from what he had in mind in his original screenplay. Alien: Romulus’ Offspring creature wasn’t intended to redeem the Newborn by any stretch, with Alvarez telling Variety that he “hadn’t really processed” that a comparison would be drawn between the creatures until his son pointed it out after watching the sequel.

Still, the Offspring is a much more disturbing take on the human/Xeno concept. The Offspring is an uncanny mashup between a man, an Engineer and a Giger Alien all in one. The monster even seems to recognize its mother, but although the Newborn has some human traits, it’s utterly lacking in mercy or sympathy. In short, Alien: Romulus‘ Offspring feels like a more successful second pass at the same idea.

The Newborn’s Design Was Almost More Offputting In Alien Resurrection

“Even for a Frenchman, it was too much!”

In the comprehensive DVD documentary “One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection,” there is a deep dive into the design process for the Newborn. This reveals that as designed and filmed, the Newborn had a mixture of male and female sex organs, which jutted out prominently in every scene. According to special effects artist Alec Gillis in the doc, the studio heads at 20th Century Fox were always uncomfortable with this design, but Jeunet insisted this aspect remain.

It was only when Alien Resurrection was in post-production that he had a change of heart, with Gillis paraphrasing the director stating “Even for a Frenchman, it was too much!” That’s why the Newborn is largely filmed in close-up or medium shots since every wide angle had to digitally erase below the Xeno’s waist. Since Resurrection’s creature was intended to be half-human, it’s easy to see why Jeunet felt this was an interesting concept. Considering the cast and crew were giggling at the distracting design during the shoot though, it was an idea best left on the concept art board.

Joss Whedon Intended Alien Resurrection’s Newborn To Be Something Very Different

No wonder Resurrection’s screenwriter hated the final product

When Joss Whedon was hired to pen Alien Resurrection, the sequel would have followed a cloned Newt from the second movie instead of Ripley. The studio loved the pitch but insisted the movie needed Sigourney Weaver back. Whedon has often slammed Resurrection since its release, claiming he wrote a great screenplay that was spoiled by bad casting and direction. He wasn’t fond of the sequel’s handling of the Newborn either, with Whedon having intended the monster to be an eyeless, pale white spider-like monster.

It was very much intended to have the Giger Xenomorph design too, just with more of an insect-inspired look. Instead of using its inner jaw to punch holes in its prey like the other creatures do, this jaw was used to drain its victims of blood. In short, Whedon pictured a terrifying, showstopping new monster to close Alien Resurrection on, with a fight to rival that of Ripley vs the Alien Queen.

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Unfortunately for him, Jeunet had a very different notion in mind. While many of Whedon’s Resurrection complaints don’t make much sense, his disappointment with the Newborn is understandable. As written the monster had the potential to rival the Alien Queen herself in terms of being petrifying; as executed, it became an underwhelming “Pumpkinhead-kinda-thing.”

Why Alien: Romulus’ Offspring Xenomorph Is Genuinely Unsettling

Romulus pulls the same fourth act trick the original movie did

The original film essentially has a fourth act, thanks to Ripley’s showdown with the title beast inside the escape shuttle. A regular film would have ended with Ripley blowing up the creature on the ship and escaping, but in the final battle with the Xenomorph, she has one last fight to conquer. Other entries in the franchise have borrowed this fourth act twist, including James Cameron’s Aliens and Scott’s own Covenant from 2017. Since Romulus feels like an extended homage to the property, it has its own fourth act with the Offspring attack.

Alvarez has already shown with Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe that he has a gift for squirm-inducing horror setpieces, and he dives into the psycho-sexual elements of the Alien series with glee. The moment Isabela Merced’s Kay announces she’s pregnant in Romulus‘ first act, fans of the director already know something bad is coming. Since the chest-bursting scene in the original was essentially the most violent act of childbirth imaginable, it was a natural step to see what would happen if Alien DNA mixed with a child in the womb.

What makes Alien: Romulus‘ Offspring so eerie is that, despite its large thin form and biomechanical body, there’s something very human and expressive about it that none of the other Xeno designs have had. It doesn’t have the classic elongated head of the Xenomorphs and it’s pulled off almost entirely with practical makeup. This gives the monster a nightmarish, menacing edge that makes it one of the most unique designs of the series.

Source: /Film, Variety

Alien: Romulus

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.

Director

Fede Alvarez

Release Date

August 16, 2024

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Writers

Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett

Runtime

119 Minutes

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