Traits of the franchise

123Engineer
MemberFacehuggerMarch 07, 2019Hello members of Scified,
It's been a while since I opened a discussion.
The Alien franchise is marked with this year an anniversary. 40 years ago, the first film in the series was released. With a potential TV series in production and other releases such as comic and book releases this year, I want to discuss with you the traits of the film franchise.
Maybe a look back at the franchise might give us a hint to whats coming.
- secondary characters don't survive
e.g. Newt, Hicks, E. Shaw, crew of the Nostromo and so on
- films show just glimpse of whats going on
e.g. Prometheus, Aliens, Alien
- films are made with a gap of several years
- new alien design with every film
- new alien life form with every film
e.g. Prometheus (Deacon, Hammerpede, Trilobyte), Alien Covenant (Neomorph, Baby Neomorph), Aliens (Alien Queen), Alien 3 (Alien Dog), Alien Resurrection (Hybrid)
- end of the films with scope for freedom
- new crew/ team with every film
e.g. marines, colonists, truckers, prisoners, ...
- new android type with every film
(Ash, Bishop, Call, David, Walter)
- repeating motives
(e.g. distress call, androids, strong female characters, haunted house setting)
Thinking about these traits over the last days, I think we can expect a sequel to Covenant. Fox's new films franchises like planet of the apes did come to an end two years ago and it is possible that the X-Men film might come to an end too.
Regarding the sequel, I think it is very likely that we see a new crew, maybe a new android (or Walter) and different life forms again.
Even though Alien Covenant was not a huge financial success, the studio's revenue is made not only through the film itself, but over the years what is connected to it e.g. comics, books, dvd/blurays, ..
Please let me know in the comments, if you know more unique characteristics.