The Next Alien Movie Risks Wasting The Best Main Character Change In The Franchise’s History

The Alien franchise has taken several unexpected twists and turns through its decades of storytelling, and plans for the next film in the series may be getting rid of the best character that the series has debuted since 1979. Beginning with the first Alien movie and throughout its run, the science fiction horror series remains essential to pop culture.

The series has had several ups and downs through its long run. While the first film is an undeniable classic, and the second is among the best sequels ever made, the series lost its steam in the following years. Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection had strengths, but each failed to live up to the high standards of the original films.

Things became worse with the Alien vs. Predator films that followed. Each of those used the iconic Xenomorphs as disposable horrors, matching them up for senseless violence against another iconic science fiction creature. Fortunately, Ridley Scott’s return to the series with Prometheus helped the franchise to get back on track, at least for a while.

Since then, Alien has received two more films, as well as a television series, and each of them has had merits and weaknesses. However, one of those projects did something especially refreshing with the series, introducing a fantastic new character to the franchise. And important details for that hero’s future now look to be in question.

The Next Alien Movie May Turn Attention Back To Michael Fassbender’s David

Another Alien sequel has recently been discussed, with director Ridley Scott revealing his plan to return to the series. While this project is still in the early stages, it appears likely to be the next Alien movie made. Writer Aaron Guzikowski, known for his work on Prisoners, is writing the script, and Scott intends to direct.

Rather than continuing the story from the most recent Alien: Romulus, however, this new project looks to change the main character to David, Michael Fassbender’s Android character that debuted in Prometheus. The character served as a link from that film to Alien: Covenant, and now looks to be the central focus of Scott’s next sequel.

Speaking with the French outlet AlloCiné, Scott revealed his plan for the film, which is to “[pick] up where we left off in Covenant with Micheal Fassbender, who now thinks he’s Ozymandias.” There is certainly vst possibility for resonant stories about artificial intelligence today, and this could be a good move for the series.

The issue is that it suggests a return to storytelling from nearly a decade ago, directly following up on Alien: Covenant‘s story with David. All of this comes off as surprising when considering the discussions that occurred between 2024 and 2025 about an Alien: Romulus sequel.

Alien: Romulus 2’s Status Remains Unclear

Despite being a decent hit upon its release in 2024, plans for an Alien: Romulus sequel have not yet come together.

The director of the first film, Fede Álvarez, did confirm that he had completed work on a sequel script with Rodo Sayagues in 2025, but also announced at the same time that he would not be directing the follow-up film and would only stay on as a producer.

Since then, there has been no real momentum on another installment, which is intended to bring back the main characters of the last film. Initially developed for streaming before shifting to a theatrical release, Alien: Romulus carried a budget of $80 million, and went on to earn more than $350 million, making it the second highest-grossing film in the franchise.

This puts the film just behind Prometheus, which earned more than $400 million upon its release in 2012. With that considered, it makes sense that discussion for the next film has become complicated, with the franchise producers forced to decide between making a new Romulus chapter or a new Prometheus follow-up as the next produced story in the series.

Romulus Was The Best Alien Movie Since Aliens, And Had The Best Main Character Since Ripley

Alien has had a few great protagonists over the years, beginning with Ellen Ripley, who was introduced in the first film. However, it wasn’t until 2024 that a new face of the franchise would debut who was arguably as strong as Ripley, and easily the best main character the series had seen since the original film.

Rain Carradine, played by the fantastic Cailee Spaeny, is a revelation in Alien: Romulus. She is the heart and soul of the film, as well as its emotional core, driven by her desire to escape her circumstances and build a new life. She is vulnerable, certainly, but finds enormous strength within when circumstances require it of her.

Seeing Rain’s fantastic balance throughout Romulus was tremendous. She had the skills and strength of an action hero, but also seemed genuinely human and relatable.

Paired up with Marvel’s excellent new Black Panther star David Jonsson as her Android Andy, and the two made a charismatic pair that served as the perfect humane balance against the disturbing horrors of the Xenomorphs.

This is what helped Romulus to work so effectively. Not just a fantastic science fiction horror film, with a pared-down scale that really amped up the tension, the film was also built around strong and likable characters. Because of this, Romulus did everything that an Alien movie should, and it would be very disappointing if it never received a sequel.

Alien: Romulus 2 Is More Exciting Than A Covenant Follow-Up, But There Should Be Room For Both

While a sequel to Romulus might be the most desirable option for the Alien franchise, a sequel to Alien: Covenant from one of the all-time greatest filmmakers, as well as the original director behind the series, Ridley Scott, is also a fascinating possibility. Fortunately, there does not seem to be any reason why both of these could not happen.

Alien continues to grow, and additional stories from the franchise have been told on FX, with the fascinating series Alien: Earth, which just wrapped filming on its second season. Meanwhile, allusions to Alien appeared in Predator: Badlands, showing the potential for an even larger universe.

If Alien can live on in both television and in multiple franchises concurrently, there should also be enough room for two very different kinds of Alien movies to co-exist.

Scott’s next film should look to capture the enormous science fiction scale and big ideas of Prometheus. Simultaneously, another film with Rain and Andy could provide a tense and tight thriller that looks to explore the larger reaches of the universe and encounter its deeper horrors.

The vast universe of Alien is a terrifying and exciting place, and each of these possible projects remains incredibly exciting, as long as they don’t come at the cost of losing Rain Carradine altogether.