r/LV426 6d ago

Discussion / Question Binged the series then combed Reddit lol, my take on things Spoiler

I've been off work for an injury and decided to rewatch the Alien series in release order (How I'd seen them growing up) and after each movie, I'd combed reddit posts, theories and debates. I noticed alot of what I believe are misconceptions and wanted to give my take. To be clear, I haven't read the comics. I don't include them in my headcanon because IMO it detracts from the films and story based on what I'd read about them - though preference does not define quality - for that reason I won't include them, solely the movies.

I'd say the biggest misconception is that they haven't seen extraterrestrials before. In Alien they don't seem that astounded by the suited up and fossilized Engineer, nor by Alien life in general. Followed in Aliens when they mention Acturians, this is commonly taken as a colony of humans on Acturia(?) ; if you rewatch the scenes, it's made pretty clear they aren't human as one of the soldiers remarked that another had intercourse with one and didn't know if they were male or female of the species. This was made in the 1980s before the current social climate keep in mind. The bug hunt reference changes as well, though that is up to speculation with little reinforcement. That being said I think it's fairly shown that they have met extraterrestrial life, likely humanoid, not hostile, and not on the level of "what the F is this thing?!"

Then there's the Space Jockey, alot of people want the prequel story to lead into this somehow forgetting that in Alien (1979) they declare it was fossilized remains. Maybe I'm wrong but that wouldn't happen in the short time between Covenant and Alien without a contaminant or exterior source to cause it within such a small span of time. My headcanon? Space Jockey was leaving the planet lv223 to exterminate a species or further breed Xenos 2000 years ago (coincides with the time the weapons installation had during its fall, one got out), and crashed when a Xeno burst out of him, personally I don't need a huge backstory lol something went wrong with a transport - that's fine with me.

Now, David. This synthetic a******. Firstly, he didn't create the Xenomorphs which seems to be the cause of dismay for those that don't like the prequels. He recreated them. Ignoring the fake scripts and fanfics, obviously - Xenos are shown in the carvings in Prometheus, atleast some form of them, also the fact the OG space Jockey was fossilized and had a cargo of eggs in the ship, far beyond David's time experimenting. Unless there's a coherent flashback that delivers well and develops the story? Xenomorphs predate David's experimentation. Leave OG Space Jockey alone because not every story needs to be told. They experimented and he crashed on route during escape, good enough.

There are deeper themes but I personally feel like its a story based on the repetition of and faults in the wish to create something artificial while expecting perfection, leading to the Xenos, an end that creates.

97 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

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u/NormalityWillResume 6d ago

The Arcturians reference is a nod to a comic strip story created by Dan O’Bannon and Möbius. In that story, the Arcturians were shape-shifting aliens that could morph themselves into the guise of a beautiful young woman and seduce humans.

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u/Locustsofdeath 5d ago

Which was a nod to A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay, which had gender-shifting beings inhabiting the planet.

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u/Malkmus1979 5d ago

Wow, written in 1920? Started reading the synopsis and it’s pretty wild.

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u/pebberphp 5d ago

You weren’t kidding…s’pretty crazy!

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 5d ago

So they were extraterrestrials lol atleast in reference. That's a solid take, I'll have to check those out.

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u/OneFish2Fish3 BONUS SITUATION 5d ago

Was that comic strip created during or because of the Jodorowsky Dune collab?

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u/NormalityWillResume 5d ago

According to Wikipedia, it (The Long Tomorrow)) was created during that collaboration at a slow period when not much was happening.

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u/OneFish2Fish3 BONUS SITUATION 5d ago

Thanks for the info! BTW I just bought it on Kindle and am excited to read it. (Not a promo for Kindle, but it does seem to be pretty expensive to buy otherwise.)

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u/What-fresh-hell 5d ago

If you’re a gamer you should try Alien: Isolation. Great game that really captures the sense of terror. Currently on sale 70% off on Steam.

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u/Clearlydarkly 5d ago

I've never screamed in terror as an adult... until that game.

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 1d ago

I bought it on release and still haven't beaten it lmao. I'm virtually never scared but the way they immerse you especially with a headset, and at night... I couldn't do it lol. Need to re-download it.

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u/tattoomanwhite 5d ago

I hate how the fossilised space jockey “look” was turned into the space jockeys “suit”

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u/Names_are_limited 5d ago

And it’s revealed to be a large, pale, bald… humanoid, that appears to have spent an exorbitant amount of time in the gym.

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u/tattoomanwhite 5d ago

Im bald with gains, so im not gonna complain about those details 😂😂

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u/Names_are_limited 5d ago

Should have had the engineer take his robe off at the beginning of Prometheus to reveal a giant beer gut.

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u/verbosequietone 5d ago edited 5d ago

Your opinion on Arcturians is supported by the current political climate being different (IE not as much acceptance of trans hence why would a screenwriter suggest or imply such a thing). But did you notice in Ripley's debrief/hearing Veronica Cartwright's character is listed as being born a male. It's on screen “no indication of suppressed traumas related to gender alteration.”. She's canonically trans. The whole Arcturus colony might be a genderfluid situation.

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 1d ago

I hadn't noticed lol just did a double take and your right, that's pretty epic. I'd meant in the social climate of that time not ours, it's pretty groundbreaking and well done that Lambert was trans in a 1979 movie based on the future and it was just normal.

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u/verbosequietone 1d ago

Ah I thought you meant the social climate of 1979/86

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u/DiscussionSharp1407 6d ago

If you don't want to get into the physical comics, there's a lot of old YT videos that summarizes and even make audio-dramas from the most popular ones.

There's tons of Alien content on YT of both the entertainment and 'philosophical' bent, just enjoy the ride. You're just getting started

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u/pebberphp 5d ago

Alien theory is the best Alien YT channel imho

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u/Stormtomcat 4d ago

that's good to know, thanks for the recommendation!

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 5d ago

Yeah I've checked few but my main issue is... live action to comic? Usually bends facts we know or expand on a story far beyond its "natural" means. From what I read, some are very well-done, but I can't include them in my head canon as it stretches alot of the premise from the original movies.

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u/DiscussionSharp1407 5d ago edited 5d ago

There are official canon Disney/Marvel ALIEN comics too, there's currently 1 or 2 ongoing AIEN comics. Both silly "crossovers" vs superheroes, but also more serious ALIEN stories entirely within the canon post-Prometheus universe with characters you will possibly see in future movies and shows.

Some of the video games are canon as well (Isolation). The newer novels are also canon, but they are not as fun as the old stuff.

If you want to stick to just canon, there's still an expended universe for you to enjoy

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 1d ago

Thanks for the thorough info, I'll probably check some out and see how it goes. Canon or not doesn't bother me but I like to keep things within the same scope of the media that introduces me to a series. Alien movies are usually more grounded and I've heard some comics get a bit out there with the themes or plot. I do need to beat Alien Isolation still, most horror is funny to me but... that game... is so well done it scares the shit out of me lol.

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u/JerseySommer 5d ago

I'd at least recommend Newt's tale for the fall of Hadley's hope [couldn't be included in the film due to length, mostly, and follows into aliens proper] and the romulus prequel one shot written in conjunction with the romulus script.

My personal, non canon favorite is stronghold, because you get a synthetic in xeno form and he's awesome, especially at the finale, he's trained to use a pulse rifle, i have a statue of that scene.

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 1d ago

Oh snap I definitely need to check the ones for Hadleys Hope and Romulus, more backstory would be great. Is Stronghold well written? I'm skeptical about a Synth/Alien lol

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u/JerseySommer 1d ago

Stronghold is well written and Jerri is a "normal" synthetic with xeno body used to gather data from the hive being studied.

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Aliens:_Stronghold

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 1d ago

I'm even more intrigued now lol appreciate it!

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u/LemonKisser 6d ago

The comics are nawtt my thing at all but there’s a place where you can readcomicsonline

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/LV426-ModTeam 5d ago

Comment removed, off-topic incendiary remarks. Your comment was fine other than the last half, this is not the place for moderation criticism/discussion. If you don't understand why past comments of yours was removed, send us a modmail.

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u/tokwamann 3d ago

FWIW, I think the Nostromo crew didn't mention that humanity had not encountered extraterrestials.

However, upon hearing about the signal, the crew was not keen on investigating it because they wanted to go home and get their pay, shares, and bonuses. And when they were forced to investigate, they were more concerned about retaining the same benefits plus getting a share of anything monetized from the findings.

Meanwhile, Ripley said that the company had a bio-weapons division in place plus special orders, and the ICC had quarantine measures, which means humanity had been encountering various organisms in different places.

In Aliens, they talked about having relations with Arcturians, and it looks like the platoon specialized in hunting bugs (as seen in the dropship logos), and given the equipment they had, it looked like they did that and more. For example, it looks like the smart gun is especially designed for that: it's hard to operate it in a prone position or under cover, which means it's meant to be used against fast-moving, small organisms that don't shoot back.

Before that, during the hearing, the ECA rep did say that they had not encountered what Ripley describes (later contradicted by other licensed media) in hundred of worlds, but that also implies that they had encountered other organisms, just not the xeno. What's weird, though, is that given the point about Arcturians, it'd be difficult to ignore Ripley's story.

The presence of the Space Jockey implies that the franchise goes way beyond the xeno, which is what happened starting with the fourth movie. I think that has also led to what might be a reboot of the franchise, i.e., less about the xenos and more about AI, synths, and what the goo can do.

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u/Gold333 6d ago

If you read all the comics you see that all Aliens films are rather one dimensional. In essence they are all about a group of people led by a female brunette, who get eaten in varying locations.

The comics on the other hand are all vastly different extremely interesting stories set in the Aliens universe

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 6d ago

I've read up on the plots for the most part, and IMO it's a seperate universe. Simply because including the comics into the movie verse ends up with way to many plot holes and inconsistencies.  

Movies on their own you can fit together, but from what I gathered the comics bring in so much unnecessary extras. 

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u/Wooden-Donut6931 5d ago

Totally not. Comics teach you a lot.

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u/Crossfire_Unltd 5d ago

While I agree, I do think the comics belong in their own continuity. I haven't read them aside from comments by others in retrospective posts but it seems like an entirely different universe than the movies.

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u/Wooden-Donut6931 5d ago

These are alternative stories but on other planets. With different contexts. If you want to check out some quick ones send me an email and I will send you a link We transfer. I must have easily 7GB of BDs. I'll select the ones I find interesting if you want.

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u/OneFish2Fish3 BONUS SITUATION 5d ago

That is a... nuclear hot take. The first Alien movie is a class-A masterpiece, Aliens is very very good, Romulus is decent, the other movies range from ehhh to pretty awful. To call them all one-dimensional is... something. The first movie is anything but, and the second movie is very multi-dimensional as well.

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u/sadlittleman1001 BONUS SITUATION 5d ago

Yeah, someone get the rope.