Mysterious Social Media Posts Tease Alien Franchise Expansion in 2019

[Nergal]

 

Social media accounts for Alien are teasing a major expansion of the series is happening in 2019. The xenomorph at the heart of the Alien series has been terrifying audiences since 1979, and has appeared in just about every medium imaginable; movies, video games, comic books, novels and even Funko Pop toys. Fans can’t seem to get enough of H.R. Giger’s nightmarish creation, but the movie franchise is currently in flux.

While Ridley Scott’s return to the series with 2012’s Prometheus was highly anticipated, it was met with very mixed reactions. Some loved that it was a big-budget, R-rated sci-fi movie that asked some big questions, but the screenplay and frequent lapses in logic frustrated viewers. While the film was more of a spinoff than a direct sequel, 2017’s Alien: Covenant attempted to bridge that gap, bringing back the title beast while continuing the storyline established in Prometheus. Sadly, Covenant’s polarized response and underwhelming box-office showed audiences weren’t taken with Scott’s bleak vision for the franchise’s future.

While Scott’s planned third prequel Alien: Awakening hasn’t officially been cancelled, it seems very unlikely to move forwards now. 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the original movie, and now the official Alien Instagram account has posted a series of images detailing some nefarious experiments on the part of Weyland - Yutani. These images also tease that the Alien universe will expand in 2019.

There’s no solid indication of what these images are teasing, but three of them come with the hashtag Amanda Ripley, the daughter of franchise heroine Ellen (Sigourney Weaver). Amanda was the lead character in 2013’s acclaimed video game Alien: Isolation and is due to appear in the upcoming comic Alien: Resistance, in addition to a novelization of Isolation. These images are likely promoting the Resistance comic series, which launches January 2019. That said, reports indicate 2019 will be a big year of celebration for the series, with rumors of a new TV series coming to an unnamed streaming service, and a new game titled Alien: Blackout.

Perhaps these images are teasing some major Alien transmedia project, but fans likely won’t find out until 2019. While there’s seemingly no movement on a new movie, it appears Fox seriously considered ending The Predator with a tease indicating a future crossover. A Facehugger-style prop was built for an alternate ending, but they ultimately decided not to shoot this sequence. The future of the Predator and Alien movies is somewhat uncertain when Disney take over ownership of both properties next year, but reports suggest the company will focus on more family-friendly projects instead.