For those who ask my colleague, Eric Eisenberg, Alien: Romulus is the third-best entry within the franchise, as he writes in his optimistic assessment. It is laborious to argue with him, and it is smart {that a} sequel is on the best way. But what followers know concerning the movie is fairly restricted. We’ve had a couple of sequel updates, but it’s nonetheless anybody’s guess what the upcoming horror movie might be. One factor we do know: Fede Álvarez isn’t returning to direct the Romulus sequel. As a fan, that originally bummed me out, however I like his purpose for eager to nonetheless pen the film’s script.
In a clip from HorrorHound Weekend (Sept. 12–14, 2025) shared by YouTuber Epic Movie Man Jeremy, the Do not Breathe director lays out the ethos behind his method to the sequel. In line with him, one of the simplest ways ahead is a one-and-done, pass-the-torch however safeguard the story you began. On the panel, he defined:
I do not assume I used to be ever going to [direct the Romulus sequel]. We at all times knew proper once we completed that that is a type of sequence the place you are available in and also you do one, you get out. I believe that’s why I’ve seen [with] Cameron, Fincher… all these administrators I like, they went and did one, they left. Ridley, clearly, created it, he has the proper to make a bunch of them.
These remarks observe the Lady within the Spider’s Internet helmer admitting there have been “errors” in Romulus, and he hopes to keep away from them subsequent time. That mindset aligns with the Alien playbook as, earlier than Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (which introduced sequence creator Ridley Scott again), every movie bore the fingerprint of a brand new filmmaker. Álvarez is honoring that rotating imaginative and prescient tracks. What actually earns goodwill with me as a long-time fan, although, is why he and his staff nonetheless wrote the sequel. He continued:
However we did need to write it. Largely, it’s as a result of we love the characters we created so we need to ensure nobody kills them proper in the beginning of the following one…. They manner they killed Hicks and Newt identical to that, we had been like, ‘Yeah, let’s not let that occur.’ So we wrote it, made certain they stayed alive, and now we will let another person direct it.
For those who’re a longtime fan, I am certain you felt that line. The Alien 3 wipe, erasing the goodwill of Aliens (one of many best sequels ever and finest films within the sequence), stays a polarizing intestine punch: daring, sure, however for a lot of, deflating. Álvarez’s selection to guard the Romulus survivors lets the following director innovate with out ranging from emotional zero, and with out alienating (sorry for the pun) followers desperate to see sequence newcomer Cailee Spaeny return as Rain.
The Evil Lifeless reboot director’s determination to remain on as a author isn’t only a nod to followers, nevertheless it’s a sensible filmmaking selection. Splitting writing from directing protects the characters’ arcs whereas inviting a recent visible voice. It additionally permits the following filmmaker to shift subgenres, as James Cameron did with Aliens, a type of evolution that retains a franchise alive and thrilling.
So, though Fede Álvarez is stepping away from the director’s chair, I am so glad he and his staff are defending the characters they created. That is precisely the stewardship the Alien sequence wants. I’m additionally genuinely excited to see what’s subsequent for a franchise I’ve liked since I first bought into the horror style. Till a sequel lands on the brand new film schedule, I’ll fortunately accept Alien: Earth on FX, and the present can also be streamable with a Hulu subscription alongside Romulus.