This article contains major spoilers for “Alien: Romulus.”
“Alien: Romulus” most came alive for me with its final set-piece. Rain (Cailee Spaeny), Andy (David Jonsson), and Kay (Isabela Merced) seemingly escape and are ready to make their cryo-sleep voyage. But earlier, the pregnant Kay injected herself with some black goo to heal an injury. In a revolting new spin on trademark “childbirth as horror” themes of “Alien,” the fetus in Kay mutates and, once birthed, rapidly matures into an eight-foot-tall xenomorph with a human-ish face.
Yes, the surprise fourth act where an alien makes it on the getaway ship is part of the “Alien” formula. A human-alien hybrid is also drawing on an idea from “Alien: Resurrection.” But the Offspring (played by basketball player Robert Bobroczkyi) is too creepy a creature to not make your skin tingle and your heart pound. Take its introduction, where lights blinker and you can make out just enough of its shadowed form to be terrified. Or when it approaches Kay, and your stomach twists as you’re unsure if it sees her as a mother or a meal. When Rain flushes herself and the Offspring into space, it even gets in a jump scare, offered by a POV shot from inside Rain’s spacesuit.
While the xenomorphs of “Alien: Romulus” reuse a tried and true design (you don’t mess with a “perfect organism”), the Offspring needed some work. Storyboard artist Santiago Vecino shared an unused Offspring design on his Instagram:
This design is almost at the final version, but with some differences. The biggest one is the long black hair, which makes the Offspring look more repellent but not quite as uncanny.
The final design of Alien: Romulus’ Offspring evokes Prometheus
At this time, no HD footage or screencaps of “Alien: Romulus” featuring the Offspring have been released. However, director Fede Álvarez has shared a behind-the-scenes video on Twitter that features Bobroczkyi in costume. Compare that costume with Vecino’s art.
The incredibly talented Robert Bobroczkyi getting ready to chase after Cailee Spaeny in #alienromulus @LegacyEffects #bts pic.twitter.com/Tp3DLXV40x
— Fede Alvarez (@fedalvar) August 30, 2024
Vecino isn’t the only “Alien: Romulus” artist with an unused pitch either. Concept artist Col Price shared his more Xenomorph-like take on the Offspring on Twitter:
During #AlienRomulus @fedalvar encouraged us all to have a go at the hybrid.i dont really do creatures but had a go in nomad sculpt. I know fede actually loved these 🤣great fun to do#alien #offspring #hybrid #creature #conceptart #xenomorph #conceptartist pic.twitter.com/Eo7x0SfWHq
— Col Price (@coldesign_ltd) September 3, 2024
I think the final Offspring design is the one that strikes the best balance and the one with the most reading-between-the-lines implications. The Offspring doesn’t resemble a human so much as an Engineer, the giant, hairless gray-skinned aliens from “Prometheus.” The Engineers created humanity in the distant past, as well as the black goo that spawned the xenomorphs and, ultimately, Kay’s Offspring. In the universe of “Alien,” Human DNA is just diet Engineer DNA, so it makes sense that the Engineers’ mutagen would react the way it did. The result is a being with all the alien qualities of the xenomorphs but with dark, soulless eyes as well.
“Alien: Romulus” is playing in theaters.
