Alien Franchise Is Better Off Without Its So-Called Creator

When Alien kicked off the franchise in 1979 it was a small, claustrophobic, horror film that relied heavily on the unknown. The characters are as in the dark about the space jockey and the Xenomorph as the audience is, raising more questions than the plot answers.

Its themes are also handled with some degree of subtlety with its sexual and birth themes being subtextual, even if the visual language makes that subtext easy to pick up.  

Thematically, Ridley’s later work in the Alien franchise is less nuanced and much bigger than his original film. Religion and existentialism become central themes, which is impossible to miss as characters spend much of the movie discussing those themes explicitly.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach but it feels completely separate from the primal terror that made Ridley’s original film a masterpiece. 

While Prometheus and Alien: Covenant aren’t executed as poorly as Alien Ressurection they feel more like a betrayal of the franchise. In exploring the mythology he created in his first movie, Ridley Scott over-explains the details of his universe making them less frightening as a result.

Part of what made Xenomorphs scary was their unknown origins, delving into their creation and the true nature of the space jockey makes everything less frightening. 

I don’t think Ridley Scott is a worse director than he was in 1979, I just think his creative style has grown in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the Alien franchise.

His filmography used to be fairly balanced between epics like Gladiator and smaller, more character-driven stories like Thelma and Louise. That balance has shifted over time, with Scott now making mostly large-scale epics that seek to explore big historical themes like Napolean and Gladiator 2. 

With two new entries in the Alien franchise coming helmed by new creators, I’m excited about the universe again. Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus is being presented as a return to the horror-forward approach of the first movie, a perfect fit for his horror background.

On the small screen, Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley will be helming Alien: Earth which remains a massive unknown in terms of plot and tone, which is almost as exciting. 

I’m eternally grateful to Ridley Scott for making Alien but I think the further he’s kept from the franchise the better off it will be. The gritty, dark, mysterious world he created seems fundamentally at odds with the style he’s grown into and I’m glad to see him pass the reigns to a new generation of creators.

There’s no guarantee these new versions of the universe will be great, or even good, but at least it’s trying something new and that’s enough to get me excited about seeing Xenomorphs again.