Alien: Romulus Director Explains What The Horror Sequel's Title Means

Speaking to Film International in 2004, "Alien" screenwriter Walter Hill revealed the secret of why he decided to name the ill-fated spaceship in the movie "Nostromo" (after the novel by Joseph Conrad): "No particular metaphoric idea," said Hill. "I just thought it sounded good."

"Alien: Romulus" director and co-writer Fede Álvarez had slightly more to say about the significance of "Romulus" in a new interview with SFX magazine. The main action of the film takes place on a derelict space station, the Renaissance, after it drifts into the orbit of a colony world called Jackson's Star. The Renaissance is divided into two sections: one called Romulus, the other called Remus. The names are lifted from the Roman myth of twin brothers who were raised from infancy by a she-wolf. According to the story, Romulus slew his brother, Remus, and founded the city and kingdom of Rome — named after himself, of course.

"Weyland-Yutani tends to have this inclination towards Roman mythology," Álvarez noted. "Some of their planets are named after Roman rivers and so on." (Acheron, the planet where the colony Hadley's Hope is located in "Aliens", takes its name from the river in Greek and Roman mythology that carries the souls of the dead to the underworld.) "So there's this constant connection between the company and the Roman Empire."

But there's more to "Romulus" than Weyland-Yutani fetishizing the Roman Empire. The name is a symbol of the company's obsession with xenomorphs, and it has ties to the film's core cast of characters as well.

Like the original "Alien," the plot of "Romulus" is centered on a small group of humans and a robot. Unlike Ian Holm's Ash, however, David Jonsson's Andy isn't hiding his synthetic nature. "We've had so many amazing synthetics [in the franchise] but we've never had this kind of relationship," Jonsson told SFX. "Andy was basically given to Rain [Cailee Spaeny] by her father before he passed away, as something to watch over her. Inevitably that relationship became that of a brother and sister."

When the Renaissance enters the sky above Jackson's Star, Rain seizes the opportunity to get the hell off the miserable rock and find a better future. She's joined by her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), Tyler's sister, Kay (Isabela Merced), Tyler's fellow mine worker Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Bjorn's adopted sister, Navarro (Aileen Wu). "The six main characters are, in a way, three pairs of different aspects of siblinghood," Álvarez outlined to SFX. "Related by blood. Related just by growing up together in the same household and considering someone your brother."

The name "Romulus" is a dark omen for the three sets of siblings, given how the story of Romulus and Remus ends, and Álvarez teases that the film will explore "people honoring the concept of being someone's brother or sister, and people neglecting that." Chronologically, "Romulus" is set between the events of "Alien" (in which the android character considered his human crewmates "expendable") and "Aliens" (in which Lance Henriksen's "artificial person" Bishop proved to have some rather heroic programming). It will be interesting to see whether Andy honors his siblinghood with Rain or neglects it — and vice versa.

A recent promo for "Alien: Romulus" mapped out its place in the timeline, featuring clips from both "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant," which were prequels to the original "Alien." There's an obvious connection to the theme of twins there; "Prometheus" introduced Michael Fassbender's android character David, and "Covenant" brought him face to face with his identical twin, Walter One. David and Walter's relationship ultimately ended the same way that Romulus and Remus' did (but only after they got really homoerotic with a flute).

There's a deeper thematic connection as well. The titular Weyland-Yutani ship in "Prometheus" took its name from the Titan in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gifted it to mortals. It reflected Peter Weyland's (Guy Pearce) ambition to find the Engineers, the creators of humankind, and learn from them the secret to eternal life. 

The title "Romulus," according to Álvarez, "also has to do with the big picture of what Weyland-Yutani's doing, and humans stealing the gift of a stronger species — breastfeeding from the she-wolf." Given the state that the Renaissance is in when the crew of plucky young colonists find their way onboard, it seems like this Weyland-Yutani attempt to harness the power of a stronger alien species went about as well as all the others.

"Alien: Romulus" enters our theatrical orbit on August 16, 2024.