Romulus Is Set Between Alien and Aliens for a Very Simple Reason

There are sequels, there are prequels, and then there are in-between-quels—movies set between the events of other movies. Black Widow is a recent example of an in-between-quel. Almost every Star Wars thing we’ve seen in the last five years has been an in-between-quel. And now joining that list is Alien: Romulus, which takes place between the events of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien and James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens.

About 60 years pass between the films as Sigourney Weaver’s character, Ellen Ripley, floats through space in hypersleep. It’s an era that has never been explored before in an Alien film, but Romulus co-writer and director Fede Alvarez chose this time period for his film for a very simple, very refreshing reason. “I was trying to justify why it looks this way visually,” he said.

Alvarez recently sat for a great profile in the Los Angeles Times where he revealed that, yes, setting Romulus between Alien and Aliens was merely a way to make his movie look like those genre-defining classics without messing with any of the content. “I’m also a big fan of following the canon to the letter and not deviating too much from previous creations,” he added.

So in crafting Romulus, there was never any instinct to include characters from the other movies, except the one in the title of course. “You never want a young audience to go see a movie and furrow their brow thinking, ‘Who is this person? Why is half the cinema so excited about this man and I don’t know who he is?’” he said. “It becomes an excess I’m not interested in.”

Reportedly, Romulus does have subtle winks to those original films though, via sets, dialogue, and maybe a bit more. But it sounds like Alvarez just wanted to make an Alien movie that felt like the two best Alien movies, without betraying all the other Alien movies.

Read more from Alvarez at the LA Times. Alien Romulus opens August 16.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.