(SPOILERS) Alien: Romulus final act
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-15-2024 12:21 PMSpoilers below
At the end of the film, Kay after being injected with the pathogen, gives birth to a strange acidic alien egg, from which emerges a humanoid abomination that’s referred to as the Offspring on IMDb. Thoughts on it?
When I first saw it, it reminded me of the mutants from Pandorum (2009), with a hint of Pluto from The Hills Have Eyes (1977). It also resembled a hybrid of a Neomorph and an Engineer. It was pretty damn tall too, maybe 9 feet tall or more. When Rain found it consuming Kay, its tail was growing in the process.
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-15-2024 12:29 PM
The size of that fucker
Neomorph
MemberChestbursterAug-15-2024 12:54 PMIt reminded me a lot of Alien Resurrection and the Newborn. Both final surprise ending acts in the crew's ship, tall pale curious humanoid monster, and it being sucked out into the vacuum of space.
MonsterZero
MemberXenomorphAug-15-2024 6:36 PMOffspring was cool.
Not sure I would have sucked it into space....Probably I'd have just released the cargo bed with him in it and watch as it slammed into the belt maybe ejecting him so the Offspring would stay alive in the asteroid belt and haunt future ice collectors.
It's supposed to be the perfect breed and be able to survive in space?
MonsterZero
MemberXenomorphAug-16-2024 5:00 AMI'm sure the Offspring has Engineer DNA, I think they made it clear: they found the black goo ampules on LV-223.
Chris
AdminEngineerAug-17-2024 10:44 AMAs one of the most self professed Prometheus lovers on this forum (lol) even I have to say the attempt at an Engineer / Xenomorph / Human hybrid abomination was a BAD move... Creepy, yes, but ultimately fell short. I loved the Black Goo callbacks and the soundbites from the original Prometheus soundtrack but yikes... that thing was Newborn level bad.
Chris
AdminEngineerAug-17-2024 11:38 AMI will admit that shot was the best shot of the whole sequence, it was extremely creepy.
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-17-2024 12:46 PM
Oh hell to the no
Neomorph
MemberChestbursterAug-17-2024 12:58 PMLol I'll happily defend the newborn design! Who's with me??
* crickets*
Xenotaris
MemberPraetorianAug-17-2024 9:28 PMI liked the offspring alot more than the Newborn, the Newborn was just down right ugly even for a xenomorph
MonsterZero
MemberXenomorphAug-18-2024 5:56 AMI loved the newborn, It felt like a humanoid baby......and we still don't know if it was fully formed, maybe after a month ( year?) it would look completely different.
Maybe an artist can use AI (or their imagination ) to show what the newborn would look like fully formed ( living in Ripley's basement....."Did you clean your room yet?", "Cripes no mom! leave me alone!")
But I'm also good with the Offspring. it's a Toss up for me.
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-22-2024 12:06 PM
Retro Alien: Romulus illustration featuring the Offspring, by Swangzhel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-9NKi6irxy?img_index=1
NECA figures when?
Xenotaris
MemberPraetorianAug-22-2024 11:22 PMI would imagine the newborn would develop a diarrhea brown carapace or retain having human-like skin vulnerable to sun burns and the vacuum of space depending which genes are more dominate
MonsterZero
MemberXenomorphAug-23-2024 11:10 AMCool! I wish Dark Horse would make something like this.
Thoughts_Dreams
MemberNeomorphAug-25-2024 4:01 AMI was totally fine with the Engineer being there, the Engineers are the best part of the prequels. Hopefully they will be used in later movies, let's see.
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-25-2024 7:38 PM
Collider interview with Fede Alvarez
https://collider.com/alien-romulus-spoilers-fede-alverez/
About the Offspring, Fede wanted to avoid making a CG creature and had to find the right person for it. He then found out about Robert Bobroczkyi and sent him an email asking him if he would like to be in an Alien movie, and Robert was like “Fuck yesss”. The Offspring was mostly done using make-up, except for the tail which was CG.
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-25-2024 8:22 PM
Alien: Romulus poster featuring the Offspring cocoon, created by Eidorian Art.
Xenotaris
MemberPraetorianAug-25-2024 8:59 PMI'm curious what other sorts of abominations will the company make with the accelerant?
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-30-2024 2:06 PMXenotaris
MemberPraetorianAug-30-2024 6:15 PMWait the Offspring is just a dude in a costume? I thought he was CGI monster!
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphAug-30-2024 6:50 PM
Nope, they hired an actual alien. They wanted to find a really tall human for the role, but Fede is such a perfectionist so he insisted on hiring an actual alien.
(Dramatic sound effect)
Xenotaris
MemberPraetorianAug-31-2024 3:18 PMlol good one, but seriously I didn't know that was practical effects since I'm so used to CGI for almost everything now days
Chris
AdminEngineerSep-01-2024 7:09 AMCan you imagine how creepy it would've been to be on set with that! So much better than CGI.
Xenotaris
MemberPraetorianSep-01-2024 8:49 AMYeah, I think I would of had nightmares for real. Practical Effects FTW
Jonesy
MemberFacehuggerSep-01-2024 11:34 AMseriously it's so amazing to know that OffSpring is not CGI. I love this movie more and more
Dark Nebula
StaffNeomorphSep-02-2024 1:17 PMThe_Foxcatcher
MemberOvomorphSep-03-2024 2:11 AMThe birth of an Engineer-Xenomorph Hybrid Baby was a flawed inclusion and felt like a desperate attempt to tie the film with Prometheus. Where the hell does an Engineer DNA come from?
The Black Goo does not contain Engineer DNA. It was originally manufactured by the Engineers on LV_223 as a bio-weapon, using the DNA of the Protomorph (the creature depicted on the mural). The Black Goo mutates infected hosts, imbuing them with the Protomorph's predatory attributes.
The Protomorph is the original creature with the same life cycle: Egg, Facehugger, Chestburster, Adult (as illustrated on the mural), and is the progenitor from which other creatures, like the Xenomorph, evolved. Every time a Facehugger impregnates a host, the resulting embryo adapts to the DNA of the host, carrying some of its characteristics—like the Runner in Alien 3 adapting to the DNA of a dog.
In Alien: Covenant, David used the same Black Goo to mutate cross-bred insect eggs, eventually creating the Xenomorph. The Black Goo also mutated fungi into spore-producing mushrooms, which impregnated hosts with Neomorph embryos.
And now, in Alien: Romulus, we have Rook deriving Black Goo from Facehugger blood, which then infects a pregnant woman, resulting in an Engineer Hybrid!
It's simply laughable—if not downright ridiculous!
I see it as a lost opportunity. A version of the Ultramorph (a concept designed for an early draft of Prometheus) or the adult version of the Deacon could have been far more consistent and logical, while still being terrifying and unique.
Chris
AdminEngineerSep-03-2024 5:25 AMWell thought out response. The_Foxcatcher! You raise a great point - the Engineer DNA being absent from the origin material. I hadn't considered this yet but now that you bring it up it does make the Offspring's Engineer like appearance all the more confusing.
I feel like the next film should revisit Prometheus and draw inspiration / direction from the concepts presented there. People can knock Ridley all they want (never understood why) but at least his concepts were coherent and flowed - open-ended sure, but not so convoluted they made no sense.
Ultramorph would've been sweet... that's one beast that continues to elude us. That and a film adaptation of a Praetorian.