Alien moving forward

I gotta say it's been a surprisingly busy year for Alien. Normally I'm used to the series being kept on life support by books, comics, the rpg and the occasional game. In 2024 alone we not only had a return to form with Alien Romulus, we've also had the reveal of Aliens Rogue Incursion, confirmation that Alien Isolation 2 is finally(!!!!) Happening, a brief teaser for Noah Hawley's tv series set for next year, as well as A Romulus sequel greenlite. Also rumors of Aliens Fireteam Elite 2, the possibility of a new AvP movie, and the (unlikely) possibility of Ridley Scott returning to direct another alien movie. Hell even predator's future is bright. Of course there's still the frequent releases of books and comics. 

For starters let me just get this out of the way: Romulus was a disappointment for me. I was never 100% sold on this one which is quite the opposite of Covenant where my hype was through the roof. While I largely contribute initial disappointments with Covenant due to my own unrealistic expectations, Romulus barely passed my lowest expectations. As of now it's easily my least favorite Alien movie to date barring the AvPs. Taking my ego out of the equation though I'm very happy for the movies box office success. Early on in the year I didn't expect to movie to perform any better than Covenant. Never ever did I expect it to become the highest grossing film in the franchise after Prometheus. This is great. For the first time in decades Alien has a clear path moving forward and I can only hope it gets better from here. Personally I'd prefer something different moving forward but Andy and Rain have obviously been too much of a winning combo to leave behind and to be honest they were among the strongest aspects of Romulus. Especially Andy in the respect. I felt Walter and David absolutely carried Covenant. This goes double for Andy. I hope with whatever happens next we can leave the callbacks behind, definitely leave the cgi necromancy out of the picture and come up with a more compelling plot with a stronger cast. Either way I'm looking forward to it. I think or at least hope Fedé Alvarez has learned a thing or two from this experience. I feel a follow can be truly special.

Alien Earth still has me concerned but it's growing on me. I'm hoping this turns out to be like Andor, the project that no one was really betting on but turned out to be the one we deserved. Only time will tell. I'm certain it'll be good at least. 

As far as Ridley Scott goes...I'd trade a Romulus sequel in a heartbeat for a Covenant follow up. This isn't going to happen. Ridley said he's working on a new Alien movie. He's likely referring to Romulus 2. I could be wrong. Never would have guessed that there would be two Predator movies releasing in the next year. Ridley isn't getting any younger and already has his next few projects lined up. As much as I'd like to see David's story concluded I don't see it happening. Maybe he can appear in the Romulus sequel...

Now is definitely the time for an AvP reboot. If you ask me just put that allegedly completed anime out. If it's anything like the recent Terminator 0 this'll be F'ing incredible. The timing Is most certainly perfect for a movie regardless. After The Predator came out in 2018 I wrote Predator off as dead. Prey Resurrected the franchise in a big way, and it was just a streaming movie. Holy shit. It was such a surprise it guaranteed Romulus a theatrical release and Predator Badlands is sending the iconic hunter back to the big screen. The time is certainly now. At least start with a new game I say. Yet again I'm on board with this idea. I prefer the universes to be separate but when done right AvP is great. 

Last but most certainly not least is Alien Isolation 2. Pardon my Language but it's about fucking time. What ever happens with Romulus, Earth, AvP etc. Isolation 2 is most certainly at the top for me. After being demoted to a mobile game spin off, comics and books I figured the chances of seeing Amanda Ripley getting a proper sequel were pretty slim. And to be fair Isolation 2 may not be about her. Even if this is the case I'm still excited. It's still Creative Assembly. It's still Al Hope leading the project. Recent Alien games have been remarkably solid, especially Aliens Dark Descent. They've been lower budget niche games to be fair. I'm glad to see Alien is doing well enough for a bigger budget game being given the greenlight.

After all that Aliens Rogue Incursion is around the corner. Books and comics keep coming. I never thought this would happen but it's actually a great time to be an Alien fan. Even Star Wars can't claim that.