Alien: Romulus made me love Star Trek even more. I thought Fede Alvarez’s Alien sequel was a tremendous return to form for the franchise. To me, Alien: Romulus is a remarkable achievement considering it’s the 9th Alien movie. While Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Alien: Covenant have their supporters, both left me cold despite some intriguing ideas both films presented. For my money, Alien: Romulus is the best Alien movie since James Cameron’s Aliens in 1986, and is in the top three along with the original 1979 Alien. Even better for me, Alien: Romulus’ bleak horror was a reminder of why Star Trek is so great.
Set in 2142, 20 years after the events of Alien, Alien: Romulus sees a group of twentysomethings, including Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), desperate to escape the Jackson’s Star mining colony they’re indentured to. Rain and her friends raid the derelict Romulus and Remus space station looking for cryobeds to take them to a planet far away from the Weyland-Yutani corporation they work for. Of course, the station is infected by Xenomorphs. Rain, her synthetic “brother” Andy (David Jonsson), and their friends fight to survive against scores of aliens, while uncovering a horrifying secret about Weyland-Yutani’s plans for the Xenomorphs’ DNA.
Alien: Romulus Is A Perfect Reminder Of Why Star Trek’s Optimistic Future Is So Great
Alien’s future has few positives
Beyond the Alien franchise’s trademark chest-bursting gore and heartstopping horror, Alien: Romulus presents a relentlessly bleak future. In Alien: Romulus’ 22nd century, humans attempting to colonize distant worlds are all essentially enslaved to the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Jackson’s Star is a dying mining colony where everyone forced to work the mines is essentially condemned to die from disease, like Rain’s parents. Life under Weyland-Yutani is hopeless even without Xenomorphs feasting on humans, and it’s understandable why Rain wants to escape a future that is essentially rigged against her ever getting the chance to live long and prosper.
Which future would I want to live in; Star Trek’s or Alien’s? The answer is a no-brainer.
Star Trek postulates a hopeful and aspirational future that’s the opposite of Alien: Romulus’. Yes, there are still problems, enemies, and wars to fight in the final frontier, but Star Trek envisions humanity leading a union of hundreds of worlds and coexisting peacefully with myriad aliens. Alien: Romulus grimly calls humans “too weak” to colonize outer space, but Star Trek believes humans to be capable of achievable greatness. Starfleet bonds humans and aliens alike in a shared duty to explore strange new worlds and seek out new civilizations. Watching Alien: Romulus, I aked myself which future would I want to live in; Star Trek’s or Alien’s? The answer is a no-brainer.
Star Trek’s Optimistic Future Is Unique In Science Fiction
Star Trek is the futrue we want to live in
Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek has always stood out compared to other sci-fi properties’ concepts of what the future will be like. The Matrix saw humans as power sources for machine overlords. Children of Men postulated a dying human race where no new children are born. A Quiet Place sees Earth conquered by alien monsters. The world is a frozen wasteland in Snowpiercer, whereas apes rule what’s left of humanity in Planet of the Apes. Look beyond Star Trek and you see sci-fi futures where there is little to look forward to.
Cynics scoff at Star Trek’s proposed Utopia, citing that other science fiction reflects the real problems of the world. Gene Roddenberry’s belief that Mankind can solve hunger, overpopulation, the climate crisis, and our reliance on money and material possessions can be seen as unachievable due to human nature. But Star Trek argues that humans should try to be their best selves, and the only way to prevent the terrible outcomes of The Matrix, Snowpiercer, or Alien: Romulus is by working together toward a common good. As much as I enjoyed Alien: Romulus, it only reaffirmed why Star Trek matters as a counterpoint to such a fearsome and dreadful future.
The Alien franchise has laudably been inspired by the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
In the Alien movies’ defense, Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror franchise does depict humans of various ethnicities working together. Ellen Ripley (Signourney Weaver), Rain, and Alien’s various female protagonists have been surrounded by men and women of all nationalities, and some are even religious. Star Trek premiered in 1966, 13 years before Alien hit movie theaters in 1979 (the same year as Star Trek: The Motion Picture), and the Alien franchise has laudably been inspired by the diverse cast of Star Trek. Alien: Romulus continues this diversity with Caucasian, Asian, Latina, and Black main characters.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Has Its Own Version Of Alien’s Xenomorphs
The Gorn in Strange New Worlds is inspired by Alien
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds certainly took inspiration from Alien when it revamped the Gorn. Originally introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1’s “Arena,” where a humanoid Gorn fought Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), the Gorn was an obvious man in a rubber suit moving in slow motion that had been mocked for decades. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1 introduced a new vision for the Gorn as the deadly main enemies of Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise, and the new-look Gorn are clearly Star Trek’s stand-ins for Alien’s Xenomorphs.
Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) survived a Gorn kidnapping.
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the Gorn are still a highly intelligent race with their own starships and culture. Yet the Gorn infect human hosts like Alien’s Xenomorphs, and the Gorn’s young incubate in those hosts before bursting out horribly. The Gorn are cannibalistic and relentless killers who also abduct their prey. As a child, Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) survived a Gorn kidnapping after her family was consumed by the alien reptiles. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2’s finale saw several members of the USS Enterprise crew, including La’an, taken prisoner by the Gorn.
Unlike the Xenomorphs in Alien: Romulus and the Alien franchise, the Gorn can presumably be negotiated with in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After all, the Gorn spoke to Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series. Alien: Romulus’ Xenomorphs are so-called “perfect organisims” but the Aliens are nothing more than remorseless, inhuman killing machines, which makes them ideal horror movie monsters. But the Gorn in Star Trek are capable of more than dealing death, which is another example of how Star Trek has loftier ideals and ambitions than the Alien movies.