- Alien: Romulus subtly ties back to Prometheus through transformative liquid.
- Kay’s use of Xenomorph liquid accelerates the birth of a human-alien hybrid.
- Álvarez expands on Ridley Scott’s bio-experiments from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
In Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez revives a subtle but significant narrative thread from Ridley Scott’s prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
The film‘s use of liquid extracted from a Xenomorph, which accelerates the hybrid birth of Kay’s baby, mirrors the dangerous black substance from Prometheus.
Bioengineering and Legacy: Alien: Romulus’ Link to Prometheus
By connecting these themes, Álvarez bridges the gap between the original Alien series and Scott’s prequels. The human-alien hybrid birth recalls the terrifying bio-experiments in Prometheus, demonstrating how dangerous life forms evolve when tampered with by human hands. This evolution not only expands the Alien lore but deepens the mythology surrounding the origins of these hybrid species.
The liquid plays a dual role in Romulus, acting as both a healing agent and a catalyst for mutation. In Prometheus, the black substance was designed as a weapon by the Engineers, capable of creating deadly life forms. In Romulus, Álvarez uses it to show the unpredictable results of merging human biology with alien properties, producing a hybrid being that is both fascinating and horrifying.
This connection deepens the mythology that Ridley Scott began exploring in Prometheus, where the Engineers’ experiments became the genesis of the Xenomorph species. Álvarez’s use of similar concepts bridges the timeline between Scott’s prequels and the original Alien films, presenting an ever-expanding universe that explores the origins and evolution of these creatures. The hybrid birth in Romulus embodies this ongoing evolution, blending human and alien DNA in a way that feels both inevitable and terrifying.
As Romulus advances the overarching narrative of the Alien franchise, it solidifies the continuation of Scott’s bioengineering themes. By linking back to Prometheus, Álvarez reinforces the franchise’s dark reflections on creation, survival, and the deadly consequences of human interference in alien life. This enduring theme remains one of the franchise’s most compelling elements.
Álvarez’s subtle connections between Alien: Romulus and Prometheus show that the legacy of bioengineering and experimentation continues to drive the evolution of the franchise, creating terrifying consequences and expanding its lore.
“Big things have small beginnings.” – David, Prometheus (2012)
