ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien: Romulus is out now in theaters worldwide, much to the joy of many who had it listed as one of their most anticipated ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:upcoming movies of the year. Set in-between the events of Ridley Scott's Alien and ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:James Cameron's Aliens (two of the ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:best alien movies ever made), we follow a group of young scavengers as they face some familiar foes in what they believedšÆ to be an abandoned space station.
This is an Alien movie so to an extent you somewhat know what to expect, but Romulus also has some surprises in store including some various connections to the very divisive ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:2012 prequel Prometheus - especially with the film's ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:jaw-dropping ending... Let's dive into it!
Huge spoilers lie ahead for Alien: Romulus. And if you haven't seen the film already, check out our ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien: Romulus review for our verdict as well as our guide to the best movies and shows to watch before Alien: Romulus if you want to prepare yourself before heading to the theater.
What is the compound and how does it connect to Prometheus?
It's discovered that the abandoned space station holds secrets with its synthetic Science Officer Rook (ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:portrayed by the late Ian Holm who famously played Ash in the original Alien film) revealing that the team there have been analyzing xenomorph DNA, discovering a gene they think will help create "the perfect organismš¦".
With humanity struggling to survive in their various sšpace colonies, Weyland-Yutani have created the 'Compound Z-01' using what they extracted from the xenomorph. Describing this as a "divine gift to humanity", clearly the plan is to use this on people, with Rook urging our protagonists to take it back to the company for further developmentā.
If you think this sounds familiar ļ·ŗyou would be rš±ight - in fact, we even get an explicit reference to the film where we have seen this compound before as Rook calls the discovery the "Prometheus file".
As you may recall, 2012's prequel Prometheus also featured something known as 'Chemical š¦©A0-3959X.91 – 15' and 'Agent A0-3959X.91 – 15', or more commonly as the 'black goo'. Developed byź§ the alien species the Engineers, this pathogen aimed to create life-forms and be used as a biological weapon. It's safe to say that this is the same substance to what is used in the compound we see in Alien: Romulus being reverse engineered in the hope of advancing humanity - and to make this even clearer, we are treated to a snippet from the Prometheus score too.
Notably in Alien: Covenant we were introduced to 'Steatite Ampules', which are essentially urns designed to store the black goo and maintain a controlled environment for it. During the sešøquence in Alien: Romulus where Rook tells us about the šcompound, we see a hologram of one of these.
What is 'The Offspring'?
'The Offspring' ź¦is the name given to the gnarly creature Kay (Isabela Merced) gives birth to in the final act of the movie. Early on in the film we learnt that the young space scavenger is pregnant, which for any Alien fan would raise alarm bells, as this never ends well in the franchise. And whilst the baby at that time was certainly human, that changes when a despeź§rate Kay, clinging on for survival after facing the xenomorphs, injects herself with the compound that Rain (Cailee Spaeny) handed her.
Speeding up the pregnancy she soon gives birth on the ship to a baby that is encased in an egg, filled with acid blood. Falling through the floor to the cargo hold below, the baby breaks free from the egg and quickly grows into something that is listed in the credits as 'The Offspring'. Essentially a human-xenomorph hybrid, this being is played by actor, š¦and former college basketball player Robert Bobroczšøkyi, who stands at an incredible 7 foot 5 inches tall, giving the monster quite some height.
Complete ź¦with a skeletal body, a sharp tail, and a second inner jaw just like a xenomorph, it really is quite something - and absolutely terrifying. Intriguingly, its face also resembles that of an Engineer from Prometheus, which tracks given The Oąµ²ffspring is partly born from the black goo featured in that movie.
Thankfully Rain takes it on in battle and defeats it, putting an end to the nightmare. However, given that other vials of the compound are in a storage unit on the ship and Weyland-Yutani knows of their existence, maybe we will see beings like The Offspring again in the future, especially if we get a potential ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien: Romulus sequel.
Alien: Romulus is out in theaters worldwide now. For more sci-fi action, here's how to watch the ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien movies in order, everything we know so far about the upcoming ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien TV series, and our favorite ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:Alien facts that will blow your mind.
EmilyšÆ Murray is a former Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar+, once responsible for overseeing all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Emily has previously worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more. When Emily isn't writing about film and TV, she can be found cuddling her cat on the sofa, likely bingeing New Girl for the millionth time (Nick Miller is the love of my life). You can also find her waxing lyrical about Christopher Nolan on a podcast dedicated to his filmography.
