While I really enjoyed best Alien movies, with many even drawing comparisons to Ridley Scott's original 1979 classic. I completely agree with that assessment, though I don't think there's a particularly high bar for being one of the better movies in the franchise when almost every installment has received such a divisive response.

When analyzing why Alien: Romulus was so successful, many reviewers have cited the faithful homage to the first film. Romulus takes place shortly after the original, and it makes several Alien and other movies in the franchise, providing audiences with a gratifying sense of familiarity bolstered by modern effects. Utilizing elements fans already know and love is a surefire way to get the franchise back on track. What I'm most concerned about is where the Alien franchise heads moving forward.

Alien: Romulus Has A Lot In Common With Star Wars' The Force Awakens Movie

The Alien Franchise Follows A Similar Pattern To Star Wars

My first thought when exiting the theater after seeing Alien: Romulus is how much it reminded me of the experience of seeing The Force Awakens almost a decade ago. These are enormously different series, but entertain me as I break down some broad yet notable comparisons. Both sagas had a lightning-in-a-bottle original film in the '70s that created an enduring audience, with a direct sequel that shifted the series' tone and raised the stakes in a certain way.

Both series saw the original filmmaker return decades later to expand on their mythology with a set of prequels. Prometheus and Covenant received widely divisive responses upon their release, especially regarding how disparate they seemed from the originals. Yet, years later, audiences seem to be coming around on both films out of respect for the broader lore and grander ideas Ridley Scott was developing, though still acknowledging that the individual movies had some kinks to iron out. There's much in common with the reaction to the Star Wars prequels.

While The Force Awakens draws from A New Hope's formula, Romulus relies heavily on Alien's.

So now we get to Alien: Romulus, a film that's learned from the response to the prequels and tries to reset the franchise back to its foundational form. While The Force Awakens draws from A New Hope's formula, Romulus relies heavily on Alien's. The similarities between Rain and Rey are hard to ignore, especially in proportion to Ellen Ripley and Luke Skywalker. We've seen initial love for the movie, but this formula can quickly grow tiresome if it doesn't try to find its own identity.

Alien: Romulus Sequels Can’t Repeat The Star Wars Sequels’ Mistakes

Alien: Romulus Sequels Can't Rely On Fan Service & References

Alien: Romulus already has an advantage over the Star Wars sequels in that it's not explicitly planned to be a trilogy. Viewers aren't anticipating any specific arc, and we haven't been left with any mystery boxes like the identity of Snoke to spend the next two years deciphering. Regardless, Alien: Romulus' box office success likely means more movies for the franchise coming soon, and the inclination will be there to continue following the formula that worked. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That logic can apply to a great many things, but not to movies.

There's no theater experience I hate more than one where I walk away feeling like I haven't seen a single original idea. The Alien franchise is on the precipice of a major turning point, where it can take the Romulus momentum and construct something fresh and extraordinary, or it can play it safe, rely heavily on references and old characters returning, and eventually fizzle out. Of course, that's a drastic oversimplification of what went wrong with the Star Wars sequels, but consider how underwhelming it was to see Lando in The Rise of Skywalker.

How Alien: Romulus Sequels Can Work

There's Great Lore Available For Future Alien Movies To Expand Upon

I've talked about what Alien: Romulus sequels shouldn't do, which is generally the easier side of assessing a hypothetical narrative. As for what I'd like to see, one major aspect would be an expansion of the mythology established in Ridley Scott's prequels. We've seen a likable dynamic between Rain and Andy, which can remain the series' emotional core that can be taken anywhere. The prequels set up fascinating threads of lore, and that's become the meat of the franchise. But we've only seen the surface of that lore, leaving plenty of room for original creation.

There's also a fun dichotomy for sequels to continue playing with. There's the sinister Weyland-Yutani corporation studying ideas from Prometheus, who seem to be searching for some method of human immortality. Simultaneously, there are characters like Rain and David who just want to survive in a futuristic space travel world ruined by the power imbalance that such corporations have sowed. There's room for plenty of nuanced Alien: Romulus sequel narratives here, as these forces continue to be at odds while both are continuously threatened by the Xenomorph and various hybrid offspring.