Small Details You Might Have Missed In Alien: Romulus

Contains spoilers for "Alien: Romulus"

"Alien: Romulus" takes the horror/science fiction franchise back to its roots and has seemingly won over plenty of skeptics. Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for "Alien: Romulus" are uniformly positive, with critics praising its sheer terror and a return to form for the series after a couple of divisive installments. However, one of the negative elements that comes up repeatedly in several reviews is that the film relies too heavily on fan service and callbacks to iconic moments from 1979's "Alien" and its sequel, 1986's "Aliens." With such an emphasis on paying homage to the past, it's not surprising that "Alien: Romulus" is jam-packed with small details and references that may be hard to catch on first watch. 

To its credit, the movie begins in a largely different manner from virtually everything else in the franchise. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a synthetic human, work on a dark, polluted mining colony where they seem destined to live out the rest of their days. An opportunity presents itself to seek out a better life elsewhere; Rain's friends just need her and Andy to take a quick trip with them to an abandoned space station. 

But there's something waiting for them on that station, with the ensuing deaths and battles playing out like a "greatest hits" of the "Alien" franchise up to this point. There's plenty to take in, so here's what you may have missed that connects "Alien: Romulus" to real-world mythology, "Alien" video games, and much more. 

After helming the original "Alien," Ridley Scott returned to the franchise for 2012's "Prometheus" and 2017's "Alien: Covenant." Given how divisive those entries were, it's understandable if a different take was required, so while Scott is a producer on "Alien: Romulus," Fede Álvarez has taken over the director's chair. Álvarez is no stranger to the horror genre, as he previously helmed 2013's "Evil Dead" reboot and "Don't Breathe." In fact, when examining the filmmaker's resume, a pattern appears to emerge that shows many of his works following the same basic plot. 

When stripping "Romulus," "Evil Dead," and "Don't Breathe" to their barest of bones, they all follow a small cast of characters who become trapped in an isolated location. These characters must fight off a malevolent force (Xenomorphs, deadites, or a blind man with deadly skills), with many dying in the process, but at least one person gets away. Additionally, all three movies contain either explicit or metaphorical references to sexual assault.

Intentional or not, Álvarez has explored similar ideas across his filmography. He also has writing credits for these three movies, so it would seem these are themes he's concerned with exploring. Since his interests line up with those of the "Alien" franchise, his previous works are almost undoubtedly what landed him the "Romulus" gig in the first place.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Much of "Alien: Romulus" takes place on the Renaissance space station, which contains two modules named Romulus and Remus. One untold truth of "Alien: Romulus" is that the corporation at the center of the franchise — Weyland-Yutani — is heavily influenced by Roman history and mythology, which is precisely where those names come from. Romulus and Remus were brothers and the founders of Rome, according to legend. Romulus ended up killing Remus, and the concept of sibling rivalry and distrust is at the heart of "Alien: Romulus." 

Andy may be a synthetic, but Rain refers to him as her brother. His primary directive at first is to do what's best for Rain no matter what. But his programming receives an upgrade while on the space station, greatly enhancing his intelligence and giving him a new directive: to do what's best for Weyland-Yutani. This leads him into direct conflict with Rain, but fortunately, they're able to avoid the same outcome as the Roman myth, with Rain rebooting Andy back to his more compassionate programming. 

However, the references to Roman mythology don't end there. The most well-known image of Romulus and Remus sees them sucking at the teat of their adoptive wolf mother. At the end of "Alien: Romulus," Kay (Isabela Merced) gives birth to a human/Xenomorph hybrid, which can later be seen receiving similar nourishment from Kay, killing her in the process. 

"Alien: Romulus" pays tribute to the entire "Alien" movie saga, from a digitally-resurrected Ian Holm portraying science officer Rook to the discovery that the scientists on the Renaissance were experimenting with the black ooze that was a major plot point in "Prometheus." However, Fede Álvarez doesn't just honor the film side of things: there's an Easter egg for the 2014 video game, "Alien: Isolation," if you know where to look. 

Álvarez told the "Inside Total Film" podcast that he's a big fan of the game: "I played a few years after it came out," he said. "I was like, 'F***, if I could do anything, I would love to do 'Alien' and scare the audience again with that creature and those environments.'" His wish came true eventually, and he honored the game by incorporating the emergency phones that are used as save points. As tends to be the case with video games, a save point generally means you're about to enter an area with a high probability that your character might die. 

The same concept applies to "Romulus," as Álvarez continued, "The movie is set up in a way [that] every time something bad is about to happen, you will see a phone." The fact that it's an "Alien" movie means something bad is always around the corner, but it's a neat reference for gamers to keep their eyes peeled and to brace themselves for something gnarly occurring.

On board the Renaissance, Rain and her friends discover and reactivate the top half of science officer Rook's body, which provides much of the exposition while he tries to complete his mission of getting the black ooze back to Weyland-Yutani. "Alien" fans will recognize the visage as that of Ian Holm, who portrayed the android Ash in the first "Alien" movie. Holm died in 2020, one of many "Alien" actors who have passed away over the years, so it's natural for fans to wonder how he's back playing a different synthetic in "Alien: Romulus."

The specifics of how the imagery of a young Holm appears in "Romulus" haven't been divulged yet, although given the discourse that's begun online, the creative team may need to address this sooner or later. On X (formerly known as Twitter), user @Overmayor wrote, "I really need the AI Ian Holm stuff not to be true, I need this movie to be good." However, while it's a digital recreation, it may not technically be AI. Daniel Betts is credited with doing the facial and vocal performance of Rook, with Holm's voice and face credited as a reference.

It's likely akin to how the late Peter Cushing was resurrected as Grand Moff Tarkin in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" through motion capture and CGI. It might still be considered bad taste, but at least it wouldn't be fully AI, which would be hypocritical considering how the "Alien" movies typically portray androids as malevolent corporate lackeys. 

There's one thing that tends to happen at the end of "Alien" movies that "Romulus" adheres to as well. For some reason, these films' giant monsters are incredibly stealthy and can stow away on a ship without anyone realizing at first. In "Alien," Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) gets onto a shuttle as the Nostromo self-destructs, but a Xenomorph is also on board that she has to jettison through an airlock. "Aliens" follows a similar trajectory, as a small group escapes on a dropship before the main station explodes; however, they're joined by the queen, who's hiding in the landing gear.

"Alien: Romulus" has its own fakeout ending, with Rain, Kay, and Andy escaping the space station just as it's about to hit the ring surrounding the planet. They think they're in the clear, but a new antagonist manages to stow away in a far more subtle manner than the larger aliens. Kay has injected herself with the black goo, likely believing it would save herself and her baby, but all it does is mutate the embryo to where she gives birth to a pod containing a human/Xenomorph hybrid. An "Alien" movie once again ends with the audience believing that the characters are safe, but there's one more fight ahead of them. 

From "Terminator" to "Halloween," it's pretty common for certain franchises to simply ignore previous entries that maybe weren't received all that well. As an entirely separate installment from anything that's come before, one might naturally assume "Alien: Romulus" would focus more on honoring "Alien" and "Aliens" as opposed to something like "Prometheus," which had a more mixed reception from critics and audiences. However, "Romulus" dives headfirst into the mythology established in "Prometheus," even including a nod to something called the "Prometheus file" in the movie. 

Rain and her cohorts learn that Weyland-Yutani wishes to harvest the black goo, first introduced in "Prometheus," for its own nefarious corporate plans. The goal is to manipulate the ooze so that it helps employees recover from diseases faster and continue working for the company longer. This black ooze was established in the opening scene of "Prometheus," where an Engineer consumes it. His body breaks apart as he falls over a waterfall, seemingly bringing life to Earth. 

So far, the compound seems to either kill whatever it comes into contact with or create horrible monsters. Kay, who injects herself with it, winds up giving birth to the latter. Perhaps that is Rook's plan all along: smuggle a monster onboard a fleeing ship so that Weyland-Yutani could proceed to experiment on it. 

One could reasonably argue that "Aliens" is a sci-fi sequel that's even better than the original, taking the central concept of "Alien" and giving it the glossy veneer of an action flick with a Vietnam War allegory. It amps up the tension and dread and brings in a host of Xenomorphs instead of just one. The basic structure of "Alien: Romulus" is similar to "Alien," as far as being primarily stuck in one location, but the film still manages to reference the James Cameron-directed sequel in more ways than one. 

The humans can't do much against Xenomorphs in hand-to-hand combat, so Rain gets outfitted with an F44A pulse rifle. Tyler even shows her how to use the lock-on feature and arm support for maximum efficiency. There's even a reference to this rifle being the same type used by "Colonial Marines," calling to mind the team Ripley joins in "Aliens."

Granted, it's not the exact same rifle. The weapon of choice in "Aliens" is technically an M41A pulse rifle, so it makes sense that the two would be different to a degree. Also, "Alien: Romulus" takes place in the year 2142, while "Aliens" occurs in 2179. Think about how far technology has come over the course of 30 years in the real world. Firearms would definitely be upgraded throughout that time, but it's clear Rain's pulse rifle is meant to call the Marines to mind. 

Other than its amazing action, "Aliens" is also known for having quite a few quotable lines, such as "Game over, man!" But the most iconic one-liner might just belong to Ripley, who gets into a P-5000 powered work loader to save Newt (Carrie Henn) from the queen, saying, "Get away from her, you b****!" The events of "Aliens" haven't even occurred by the time "Alien: Romulus" takes place, but apparently that's a pretty common line in this universe, as Andy saves Rain from an encroaching Xenomorph and says the exact same thing. 

Callback lines are to be expected in any sequel to a major franchise. "Deadpool and Wolverine" leaned into this heavily, with Blade (Wesley Snipes) saying his infamous line from the first "Blade" movie: "Some motherf***ers are always trying to ice skate uphill." It's generally good for making the audience cheer, but one does have to wonder how the line makes sense within the film's context. 

It seems as though the line may have been a step too far for some, as Redditor u/North_Star8764 commented in an "Alien: Romulus" thread: "The fan service lines were cute n all but actually detract a bit because it makes the movie come off as derivative and a fan movie. It was a bit on the nose by the time Andy said 'get away from her, you b****!'" With a line that cool, maybe it's okay to get a tad indulgent. 

Throughout the "Alien: Romulus" press tour, Fede Álvarez has been outspoken about wanting to use as many practical effects as possible. The filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter, "What's important to me is what I think is important for the audience, and I think the masses out there in the audience that love these movies, particularly, they really prefer to see the practical effects." To make that happen, the team collaborated with Tippett Studio for a specific moment. 

Phil Tippett is a master of practical effects, and his studio has worked on the biggest franchises around, from "Star Wars" to "Jurassic Park." For "Alien: Romulus," the team was enlisted to create an effect involving a lab rat that dies but then regenerates. That sequence was achieved through stop-motion animation, which has been a specialty of the studio. 

A rodent was far from the studio's only practical effect, as the team also designed Xenomorph puppets the actors could perform with. Cailee Spaeny spoke with The News Movement about how exciting that was: "Actually acting off of it was quite terrifying ... Such an amazing honor, you know, getting to act against that instead of a green screen or a tennis ball." CGI artists absolutely do incredible work, but having a Xenomorph physically there sounds like a horrifyingly visceral experience, leading to a more genuine performance from Spaeny. 

"Alien: Romulus" has numerous references to previous "Alien" movies, even channeling a bit of "Alien Resurrection" with the introduction of the human/Xenomorph offspring in the finale. Kay gives birth to a creature that rapidly matures into a bipedal entity that has aspects of a Xenomorph but is somewhat human in appearance. In fact, looking at its pasty white skin and dark eyes, it almost looks like an Engineer from "Prometheus," whom we know little about but are integral to the mythos surrounding the franchise.

The exact biological mechanics of what happens in the ending of "Romulus" are up in the air, but when Kay injects herself with the black compound, it likely fuses with the DNA within her embryo. This expedites the reproduction cycle, so she gives birth right then and there, and we're left with a creature that probably has both Xenomorph and human DNA. But why does it look like an Engineer instead of having Kay's characteristics?

"Prometheus" likely holds the answers, as the film's beginning shows an Engineer sacrifice itself to create life on Earth. Through subsequent evolution, one can surmise that all humans hold at least part of the genetic structure of Engineers. Therefore, the black substance may reawaken that part of humanity's DNA within Kay's womb, resulting in a monstrosity that's sure to haunt people's nightmares.

As we've noted, "Alien: Romulus" contains imagery and lines of dialogue ripped straight from other "Alien" movies. But there's also a familiar needle drop that should sound familiar, too. As revealed in the end credits, Richard Wagner's "The Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla" plays in "Romulus," a significant music cue going back to "Alien: Covenant." 

The classical music piece bookends "Covenant," as David (Michael Fassbender) plays the song for Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) in the prologue. By the end, David requests the Covenant ship to play the same song as he smuggles Facehugger embryos onboard. David has a god complex in the film, desiring to create the perfect organism, so the song choice symbolizes David's own perceived ascension into a higher plane. As a synthetic, he came into this world a mere creation of someone else, but through the Xenomorphs, David seeks to create his own life and become a god.

It's appropriate that "The Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla" appears again in "Alien: Romulus," as those themes of ascending into godhood remain present. The space station's doomed crew also attempts to play god by trying to manipulate the black compound into something that can heal people and keeping Facehuggers in stasis. Hubris remains a prime theme in "Alien: Romulus," as humans (and synthetics) continue trying to control these perfect organisms. With more films almost inevitably to come, audiences will likely continue seeing people suffer the consequences of such actions for a long time.