On August 16th, Alien: Romulus will be released in theaters worldwide, the new approach to the saga by Fede Álvarez that promises to take us back to the origins with a completely terrifying story. That means if you have never seen the Alien saga, you have a golden opportunity to do so. But which movies should you watch exactly?
Over the years, both Ridley Scott and his followers have twisted the plot of Alien in all sorts of different ways, and it’s normal to feel somewhat overwhelmed trying to catch up with the saga. But we’ll explain which movies you absolutely have to watch to understand Alien: Romulus without going crazy.
An expanding universe
Although not everything has been revealed about the timeline in which Alien: Romulus takes place, it is true that it has been said that the film will be a kind of interquel between the original movie Alien (1979) and its James Cameron sequel, Aliens (1986). This means that it is essential to watch the first part to understand it, and it is not a bad idea to watch the second part to understand where it is heading.
However, it is also true that Fede Álvarez is trying to present this film as something completely standalone. And, given that it is set 57 years after the original film, it may not be necessary at all to watch the original. However, it is evident that to immerse oneself in the universe created by Ridley Scott is practically essential.
Either way, it doesn’t hurt to marathon, even for the movies that came afterward, such as the underrated Prometheus (2012) and Covenant (2017). Still, Fede Álvarez’s film may serve to open the door to a universe that has been expanding since the seventies.
