Alien: Romulus brought the facehugging terror to Friday’s San Diego Comic Con panel in Hall H. To promote the upcoming installment to the celebrated horror franchise, Disney and 20th Century Studios pulled out the stops — and unleashed a horde of facehuggers into the crowd — to make for a memorable hour of horror.
Director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead) was on hand with cast members Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu to show the packed room what will be in store for movie-goers once the movie premieres on August 16.
The events of Alien: Romulus take place between Alien and Aliens. While the movie exists as a standalone story — meaning audiences won’t need to see Ridley Scott’s classic or James Cameron’s epic follow-up — Alvarez revealed there will be “member berries” (aka Easter Eggs) sprinkled throughout for the fans.
Read more: ‘Alien: Romulus’ Trailer Brings the Chest-Bursting Horror Back to Space
“I mean, it is his own story, right?” Álvarez said. “You really need to have seen the other ones to really understand or enjoy this film.”
Álvarez called his movie “two hours of insanity,” which was inspired by the works of Scott, Cameron, David Fincher (who directed Alien 3) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who helmed Alien: Resurrection). Paying homage to the directors who came before him, he revealed that each artist’s style informed his direction with Romulus, which he acknowledged as a period piece.
Three separate first-look clips were played throughout the panel to whet the proverbial whistles of every fan in attendance, and they were glorious.
In the first preview clip, the Hall H fans got a closer look at the facehuggers and chestbursters in, and there were hordes of them. Alan Seeger’s haunting poem, “I Have A Rendezvous with Death” was recited over the beginning visuals as the group of colonists work to make sense of the abandoned ship they’ve boarded. As they clamor to fix a ripped-apart synthetic, a collection of alien pods begin hatching in the adjacent room and pick off members of the crew.
What was remarkable about this first look was the kinetic nature Álvarez’s crew gave the creatures. They’ve always been fast, but as I watched them move underwater, they took on an amphibious quality. It was refreshing to see team members bat the creatures away from their faces with weapons instead of immediately perishing. Álvarez did assure the room that many people would indeed die. So that’s a nice confirmation of the bleak thrill ride to come.
The second clip gave a closer, jarring — and surprisingly intimate — perspective of a chestbursting alien birth. It was a refreshing take on the familiar sequence, which raised the stakes while also slowing things down at the right moment to allow the audience to fully take in the majesty of this god-awful childbirth.
During the Q&A portion of the panel, Hall H suddenly went dark. Red lights began to flash and sirens wailed throughout the room. Suddenly, a barrage of motorized face-huggers took over Hall H and the stage. Bodies lay on the floor with creatures smothering their faces, and an actor took the stage and went through the final stages of death before a chest burster tore through his shirt.
The third and final clip found Spaeny’s Rain attempting an escape through the hallway of the abandoned ship, only to witness the hatching of an adult Xenomorph. It was, by all accounts, a glorious sight.
Facehuggers stormed Hall H and claimed their victims at San Diego Comic Con 2024.
Capping off the event in style, Disney and 20th Century Fox treated everyone in the crowd to facehugger masks and then had the masked-up crowd pose in a grandiose Hall H selfie with Álvarez and the cast.
More than a handful of directors have helmed movies within the Alien franchise — and yes, I am including Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and the Alien vs. Predator movies. The quality of these releases varies from epic classics to box-office calamities. For Álvarez, the risk of making a crappy movie is part of the reward when it has a chance of becoming a celebrated work of art.
“For me, when you sit down in the theater, the logo shows up, and the lights go down. I feel that this is it; This is the one that is going to change my life,” he revealed. “It’s kind of crazy because most movies are sh*t. Five minutes in, you go, ‘This is not going to change my life.’ But for the first five seconds, you do feel that way because it did happen to you. And we all keep looking for that moment.”
Alien: Romulus is poised to bring some old-school flavored glory to the franchise. The passion and dedication of the cast and their trusted director make this release sound like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all involved. According to Álvarez, they all gave 200 percent to “give you the movie you deserve.” And really, that’s all I could ask for.
