Summary
TheAlienseries continues to be the gift that keeps on giving in sci-fi horror cinema. Romulus is the long-awaited next chapter in the universe after Covenant, set between Ridley Scott’s original 1979 movieand James Cameron’s equally compelling sequel. And as you might imagine, there are many nods to its predecessors throughout.
Like the Xenomorph threat, Alien: Romulus is chock-full of Easter eggs around every corner and scene of the film, so much so that we had to combine multiple entries into one to not make this list stretch out too long. Whether it’s a specific shot, a story connection, a design detail, or a more obscure Easter egg, it’s all covered below.
Major spoilers for Alien: Romulus ahead! Throw yourself out of the airlock now; you’ve been warned!
15Reused Lines From The Classic Films
Alien: Romulus tends to rely on throwing out as many references to one-liners from Alien and Aliens as possible. Here are all the famous ones you’ll encounter:
While some make sense, others may feel very forced and lower your bar for the film. They’re mainly spoken by Rain’s android brother Andy, save for Rook’s line meant as an homage to Ash. And Bill Paxton’s “Game over man!” is a screen appearing on Bjorn’s game when he loses.
14Alien 3’s Infamous Xenomorph Moment And 20th Century Fox Fanfare Intro
Following a riveting zero gravity Xenomorph shootout, gravity starts coming back on as Rain and Andy are in the elevator shaft. Rain ends up plummeting to her death, before being saved by the Xenomorph. Rain then turns her head away and screams as the Xeno’s inner jaw inches closer to her face in a scene ripped from Alien 3.
At least with Ripley, the Xenomorph hesitated because it sensed a Queen growing inside of her chest. We don’t know why the Xenomorph caught Rain with its tail to only then slowly push out its inner jaw, perhaps just for the sake of recreating this moment. Additionally, the 20th Century Fox theme and searchlight banner displayed before the start of the film does the same ominous pause with its music as the 1992 installment and then dissolves.
13Colonial Marine M41A Pulse Rifle Tutorial And A Nod To USCM Andrew Harrison
If the movie’s introduction of the iconic M41A Pulse Rifle used by Colonial Marines in the Alien universe felt a little familiar, that’s because it was almost the same scene as Aliens. In Aliens, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley gets a little lesson on how to handle a pulse rifle from Michael Biehn’s Corporal Hicks.
In a direct parallel, Cailee Spaeny’s Rain gets the same instructions on how to use one from Archie Renaux’s Tyler Harrison. The character Harrison, who’s obsessed with Colonial Marines and reads everything about them in magazines, also can’t help but feel like a callback to Corporal Andrew “Frosty” Harrison. He was the USCM protagonistof 2001’s Alien Versus Predator 2 campaign.
Similarly, in 2012’s Prometheus, Logan Marshall-Green’s character, Dr. Charlie Holloway, shares the same last name as the actor who played James “Sawyer” in Lost – Josh Holloway. The prequel was written by Damon Lindelof, one of the creators of Lost.
12Alien: Isolation Easter Eggs
Director Fede Álvarez has stated in multiple interviews that Alien: Isolation is what inspired Romulus, and he even warned viewers ahead of time to look out forthe Emergency save phones that would be visible in the backgroundof certain scenes to indicate trouble ahead. But the phones aren’t the only element taken from Alien: Isolation.
When Bjorn, Tyler, and Andy enter the Romulus space station, they must pull a lever designed exactly like the one you would pull as Amanda in Isolation. Bjorn also has a stun baton weapon that he zaps Andy with, and which you’ll zap plenty of hostile Seegson Working Joe androids with, even though this weapon first debuted in the original Alien.
11Jackson’s Star Colony Bar, ‘Building Better Worlds’ Sign, Drinking Bird, Aspen Beer, Bjorn’s Red Bandana, And Reebok Shoes
The beginning of Alien: Romulus is set in the dystopian backdrop of Weyland-Yutani’s Jackson’s Star colony. There, you can seea red neon sign indicating a ‘Bar’and a ‘Building Better Worlds’ banner like in Hadley’s Hope from Aliens. Another connection to Aliens is Bjorn’s character wearing a red bandana that feels like a callback to USCM Vasquez from Aliens.
Other things you may notice in the beginning moments of the film are the characters drinking Weyland-Yutani’s Aspen beer like the crew of the Nostromo as well as the infamous drinking bird toy from the Nostromo, which can also be found in Isolation and other Alien universe projects. The characters are also once again wearing their signature Reebok shoes.
10The Blue Laser Mist From The Original Alien Egg Chamber In The Romulus Nest
One of the most peculiar things about the original Alien was the blue laser screen going over the mist of the egg chamber in the derelict ship on LV-426. It wasn’t really clear whether it was some form of sensor technology or just there to add more futuristic flair to the scene.
Fede Álvarez brings this blue field back to the franchise in Alien: Romulus during the scene where Rain and the other remaining survivors find the Xenomorph nest, and you’re still left scratching your head as to what exactly it’s supposed to mean. Andy glitches out when he’s in it, but then the Xenomorphs also seem to sense that someone infiltrated their nest and are summoned in droves.
9New Facehugger Characteristics With A Suspenseful Don’t Breathe-Inspired Scene
Before unleashing the horrors of Alien: Romulus, director Fede Álvarez was known for 2013’s Evil Dead and 2016’s Don’t Breathe. The latter film is where a lot of the inspiration comes from during a particular Facehugger sequence that showcases a new behavior.
In Don’t Breathe, a team of robbers invade a blind man’s home, who turns out to be far more lethal and sinister than they initially thought and must now stealthily evade him.
The premise of Alien: Romulus begins almost the same, with an unsuspecting young band of thieves stealing a derelict station’s cryo pods, only to be met with the fury of Facehuggers, Xenomorphs, and AI.They learn that Facehuggers can’t see their hostsand identify them based on heat and stress levels. In a tense scene, Andy dials up the heat so that the room matches the body temperature of Rain and Tyler, and they must stealthily walk among a swarm of Facehuggers.
8Romulus And Remus Station With A Mother System Is A Nod To Raised By Wolves
While the film might be called Alien: Romulus, the full name of the space station the story is set in is Renaissance Station, with its dual research sectors called Romulus and Remus.In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin sons of Mars raised by a she-wolf (represented on the lab’s logo). And like the Nostromo vessel, this station also uses the Mother computer system.
This is significant because Ridley Scott continued exploring stories about synthetic androids in an HBO show titled Raised by Wolves, where androids called Mother and Father care for human children on an alien planet.This show was unfortunately canceled in 2022 with only two seasons, but it still lives on here in spirit.
Alien: The Cold Forge isa 2018 novel by author Alex Whitethat comes right after the events of Aliens, and you’re able to see how certain plot elements in Romulus were inspired by it. The novel is set on a space station called RB-232, or the ‘Cold Forge,’ a site where secret Weyland-Yutani research is being conducted on Xenomorphs to weaponize them.
The novel makes it clear that the Facehuggers are releasing a black fluid known as the “Plagiarus Praepotens” into their hosts, which will alter the DNA and create a chestburster. In Romulus, when the main characters are attempting to remove a Facehugger from Aileen Wu’s Navarro, Rook mentions that it’s already likely the parasite released its “Plagiarus Praepotens,” referencing The Cold Forge’s scientific classification.
Furthermore, the ship Rain and her scavenger friends fly to the space station in Alien: Romulus is called the Corbelan IV, which continues the trend of referencing Joseph Conrad’s 1904 book Nostromo.
Father Corbelanis a Catholic priest in the novel, and Ripley’s ship, the Nostromo, is named after the title of the book. The USS Sulaco in Aliens is named after the fictional South American town in which Nostromo is set in.
6A New Phase In The Xenomorph Life Cycle
Probably one of the coolest new reveals about Xenomorphs in Alien: Romulus isthe next stage of their life cycleafter the chestburster phase. When Bjorn and Navarro run off with the ship and leave their friends behind on Renaissance, Aileen Wu’s character gives a gory birth to a chestburster, which remains on the ship as it comes crashing back to the space station.
At that time, it already cocooned itself to a wall and started growing into an adult Xenomorph. Bjorn tries to kill it by zapping it with his stun baton while it’s still inside the sac but pays the price when it stabs him with its tail and drips acid on him. The Xenomorph is already born and then slowly emerges from its cocoon, and it’s never been shown until now.
