In space, no one can hear you scream. And on Earth, everybody can hear you audibly ponder whether to check out Romulus at the cinema. (You should. You absolutely should.)
When it comes to Alien: Romulus, this is the ninth Alien film in the franchise so understandably you may be wondering if you can just jump right into this one, especially if you’ve never watched an Alien film before. Here’s what you need to know:
Can you just watch Romulus as a stand-alone movie?
Absolutely! The newest Alien movie has been created specifically for newcomers and long-time fans of the franchise alike. Romulus is set between the original movie and the action-packed sequel Aliens, and focuses on a group of youngsters who break into an abandoned space station in order to steal some of its tech. However, they find themselves threatened by the same fate as the inhabitants of the station.
There are lots of Easter eggs and references to the previous movies which fans will absolutely appreciate, but they’re not so overbearing that newcomers will be lost completely.
Technically you don’t need to have watched the other movies to enjoy Romulus. This works as a standalone story within the universe. However, you’ll undoubtedly get more out of it depending on what else you’ve seen.
All the films are also available to watch on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
Where should you start with the Alien films?
The most sensible place to start when it comes to the Alien franchise is with its original, 1975 movie, Alien. This is a claustrophobic and masterfully developed film that has a good deal of scares throughout.
Alien will also give you a lot of information on the xenomorph and the general worldbuilding, along with better understanding the stakes of Romulus. It’ll also give you a better understanding of a certain someone (yes, no spoilers here don’t worry) who pops up, along with more background on the Weyland-Yutani company.
Does Alien: Isolation come before or after Romulus?
We won’t get into the full timeline breakdown here but one important part of Alien lore to consider is that of Alien: Isolation. This fantastic survival horror game is highly regarded as one of the scariest games out there. So naturally, it was panned hard by IGN when it released, gaining a 5.9/10 with the reviewer claiming the game was “too hard” (he played on the hardest difficulty) and “too intelligent” (the game uses a cutting-edge AI so the alien learns your moves and adapts accordingly, forcing you to change your play-style).
Isolation is arguably a more direct sequel to Alien than Romulus is, and it also takes place in 2137, which is a few years before the events of the new 2024 film. Within this game, we follow Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley’s sister, as she tries to find out what happened to her sibling when she disappeared fifteen years prior.
Is there anything in Aliens that links to Romulus?
Given Aliens takes place after the events of Alien, Isolation and Romulus, it’s fair to say it’s not essential viewing to truly understand everything going on in Romulus. In fact, with the exception of maybe one or two worldbuilding references that were only introduced in Aliens, there’s literally nothing here to enhance or reduce your experience of Romulus.
Should you watch Prometheus to understand Alien: Romulus?
Again, you don’t need to watch any of these movies to jump into Romulus but we’d highly recommend giving this one a watch after Alien (or before, if you want the full timeline in order).
Romulus makes reference to a specific plot point in Prometheus that’s pretty big in terms of worldbuilding. You’ll definitely get a lot more enjoyment out of the film if you understand this, and it also foreshadows future events and the implications for the worldbuilding too. It’s certainly a film with a fair few narrative issues (nothing compared to Covenant mind you) but yeah, we’d recommend giving this one a watch.
How does Covenant play into this?
Apart from being a pretty bad film (honestly, who takes off their helmet immediately in a hostile world? Come on guys!) Covenant doesn’t have a whole lot that you’ll need to take with you to Romulus. However, the third act of the film is quite significant to Romulus’ narrative and where the franchise goes and although it’s definitely not a mandatory watch (and I’d certainly not recommend Alien fans watch this one again), if you’re new to the franchise, it can’t hurt but give it a watch.
The Long And Short Of It
You can jump right into Romulus without any knowledge of the franchise and still have a good time. However, to get the most out of this one, we’d recommend watching:
- Prometheus
- Alien Covenant (only for newcomers)
- Alien
If you’ve also got time to kill over the weekend, we’d highly recommend following that up with a playthrough of:
- Alien: Isolation
The rest of the films in the franchise bear no impact on your Romulus watch but these four titles will definitely give you some excellent context to the world and characters.
Have you watched Alien: Romulus? Do you think there are other films or media we need to include for the perfect beginners guide? Let us know in the comments below!