Coming hot on the heels of the latest installment in the Alien series (
Alien: Romulus) is a new TV series slated for release next year, titled Alien: Earth. I'm holding out hope that it will be good, but making the choice to do a prequel set on Earth doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. It's the same mistake that the Alien vs. Predator movies made. Setting such an early precedent for the presence of xenomorphs on Earth not only undermines the considerable effort to which The Company will later go to procure a specimen at the edge of the galaxy, but also effectively neutralizes the tension created in the original movies, built around the urgent need to keep this threat from reaching our home planet.
"If those things get back here, that will be all. Then you can just kiss it goodbye."
- Ripley, from Aliens
Certainly, you could write a script that keeps the action quarantined, where the monster is eradicated and nobody lives to tell the tale (or at least, nobody believes them). I don't doubt that this strategy would keep production costs down. But why write yourself into a corner, when there are still stories to be adapted that take place in the aftermath of the encounter on LV-426 - when the aliens not only eventually reach Earth, but completely colonize it? Imagine a post-apocalyptic landscape with xenomorphs instead of zombies or marauders! Or, if you'd really prefer to fill in holes, instead of continuing the story, I'm dying to see a depiction of Newt's harrowing ordeal, from the time that Burke orders her parents to investigate the derelict ship, through her survival as the aliens take over Hadley's Hope, until the space marines finally show up. You'd have to find an exceptionally talented young actress to do it, but I've seen a few over the years that could have pulled it off.
This comic is a good start, but it kind of glosses over the best part
in favor of retelling Aliens from Newt's perspective (partly).
Regardless of whether or not you preserve the timeline's continuity, bringing the xenomorphs onto a 21st century Earth erodes their mystique. I'll tell you why. Although I did not dislike Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, they've basically established as canon (as clear as I can figure) that the xenomorphs are an artificially-engineered biological weapon. Speculating from a scientific perspective, this is interesting, but not as captivating in my opinion as the alternate hypothesis that our encounter with these creatures essentially functions as an interstellar equivalent of the fatal mistake that Tolkien's dwarves made when they dug the mines of Moria.
"Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear."
- Glóin, from The Fellowship of the Ring
If you've ever read Wait But Why's discussion of
The Fermi Paradox, you'll be familiar with the concept I am describing. This paradox can be summarized by a simple question: if space is filled with stars, then why is the night sky so dark? Or, more to the point, is there anybody out there? In the vast expanse of the cosmos, shouldn't there be other intelligent lifeforms? Then what's with all the radio silence? Well, one possible explanation is that other beings are smart enough to keep their mouths shut - they don't want to announce their presence, because they know what's out there, and they're afraid it will find them!
As the premise for a cosmic horror story, I love this idea. Rather than a bio weapon, I'd prefer to think of the xenomorphs as an eldritch abomination lurking at the edges of the universe (or at least our galaxy). As our technology advances, and we begin to probe further into the depths of space, searching for more resources to deplete, we may - if we are not careful - encounter this denizen of chaos, birthed from the void, that strikes terror into the hearts of men. Not only does it put our individual lives in jeopardy, it poses an existential threat to our entire species. But if you toss it into our metaphorical backyard without lasting consequence too many times, it begins to lose its teeth (or inner jaws).
While we're on the topic of missteps in the ongoing Alien saga, I have to bring up one of Alien: Resurrection's many sins, because Alien: Romulus veered in the same direction toward its end; it's the only significant criticism I have for that movie. I can understand The Company's desire (however misguided) to harness the xenomorph as a weapon, but creating an alien-human hybrid? What is this, The X-Files? (There's even a black oil involved in the alien's lifecycle now!). The reason this plot point bothers me (aside from the fact that it deviates the monster from H.R. Giger's inspired design) is because it violates the original conception of the xenomorph - as I understood it in my youth - as a parasitic organism that takes on properties of its host. In other words, the typical xenomorph we're used to seeing in these movies is
already the "human form" of the alien!
That's why, in Alien 3, when the creature hatched from a dog, it had more canine characteristics. It's the conceptual basis for the entire line of Alien toys that I collected as a child - which featured bull aliens, snake aliens, gorilla aliens, etc. Part of what makes the xenomorph the "perfect organism" is that it assimilates the genetic code of its host, picking out the most adaptable traits. I guess we saw a little bit of this evolution in Prometheus and its sequel. But if bio-engineered, it's more of a Frankenstein's monster run amok, than a naturally occuring phenomenon - like a cosmic storm, that cannot be effectively fought, only sought shelter from. All that said, I was able to enjoy AvP: Requiem, despite essentially being a suburban slasher set in the unremarkable year of 2004. So all hope is not yet lost!
