While Alien: Romulus continues to earn a respectable return at the global box office this week, the film has left the Alien fanbase once again divided. One major controversial aspect of the film was its final act and the creature it revealed. We're of course talking about the Offspring - the Xenomorph / Engineer / Human hybrid Kay gives birth to near the end of the film.
Unsurprisingly, it's come to light that Disney was not originally keen on the idea, but despite fans initially assuming the Offspring was a Ridley Scott note, it appears Fede Alvarez was the one eager and adamant to include the creature.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, director Fede Alvarez addresses the choice to include the Offspring, despite Disney's initial attempts to push back against it:
As one might expect, Álvarez received some respectful opposition to this unsettling choice from 20th Century and Disney, but that’s precisely when he knew he was on the right course. After all, he’d been through similar situations on Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016).
“They did [push back] at the beginning [with regard to the Offspring], but not because they didn’t like it. They just thought, ‘Is it too much? Do we really have to go there?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, now that you said that we shouldn’t, I know that I will,’” Álvarez reveals. “If you’re given an Alien movie by a corporation that is owned by Disney and they immediately say, ‘Yeah, let’s make it,’ then you are failing somehow. So we really pushed it to the limit, and I’m glad we did.”
The Offspring is arguably the most controversial addition to Alien lore so far, many fans likening it to the Newborn Alien from Alien: Resurrection. However, it does solidify a link and inspire more intrigue for the expanse of the Alien mythology Ridley Scott attempted to do with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. An expansion many are now finding a new appreciation for as time goes on.
Do you think the Offspring added to the Alien: Romulus story? Or do you think the film would have been better without it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
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