Behind the Scenes of ‘Alien: Romulus’ at Comic-Con 2024

Alien: Romulus brought some facehugging terror to Hall H during Friday’s San Diego Comic Con panel. To promote the upcoming installment of the acclaimed horror franchise, Disney and 20th Century Studios pulled out all the stops and unleashed a horde of facehuggers into the audience, creating an unforgettable hour of horror.

Director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead) was on hand along with cast members Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu to show the packed house what moviegoers can expect when the film premieres on August 16.

The events of Alien: Romulus take place between Alien and Aliens . While the film exists as a standalone story — meaning audiences won’t have to watch Ridley Scott’s classic or James Cameron’s epic sequel — Alvarez revealed that there will be “member berries” (aka Easter Eggs) distributed for fans.

Read More: ‘Alien: Romulus’ Trailer Brings Chest-Shitting Horror Back to Space

“I mean, it’s its own story, right?” Álvarez said. “You really have to see the other films to really understand or enjoy this film.”

Álvarez called his film “two hours of madness,” which was inspired by the work of Scott, Cameron, David Fincher (who directed Alien 3 ) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who directed Alien: Resurrection ). In a tribute to the directors who came before him, he revealed that each artist’s style influenced his direction with Romulus , which he acknowledged as a period piece.

During the panel, three separate clips of the first footage were shown, which set the proverbial whistles of all the fans in attendance on edge. They were fantastic.

In the first preview clip, Hall H fans got a better look at the facehuggers and chestbursters, and there were hordes of them. Alan Seeger’s haunting poem, “I Have A Rendezvous with Death,” was recited during the opening scenes as the group of colonists tries to make sense of the abandoned ship they’ve entered. As they scramble to repair a torn apart synthetic ship, a collection of alien pods in the adjacent room begin to hatch and pick up crew members.

What was striking about this first look was the kinetic nature that Álvarez’s crew gave the creatures. They’ve always been fast, but seeing them move underwater gave them an amphibious quality. It was refreshing to see team members slashing the creatures off their faces with weapons rather than dying immediately. Álvarez assured the room that many people would indeed die. So that’s a nice confirmation of the bleak, suspenseful ride that’s yet to come.

The second clip offered a closer, shocking — and surprisingly intimate — perspective of a chest-bursting alien birth. It was a refreshing take on the familiar sequence, raising the stakes while also slowing things down at just the right moment to let the audience fully experience the majesty of this terrifying labor.

During the Q&A portion of the panel, Hall H suddenly went dark. Red lights began flashing and sirens blared 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 entered the stage and went through the final stages of death before a chest burster tore through his shirt.

The third and final clip showed Spaeny’s Rain attempting to escape through the corridor of the abandoned ship, only to witness the hatching of a full-grown Xenomorph. It was, by all accounts, a glorious sight.

To close the event in style, Disney and 20th Century Fox treated everyone in the audience to facehugger masks and then had the masked audience pose for a grand selfie in Hall H with Álvarez and the cast.

More than a handful of directors have helmed films within the Alien franchise — and yes, I’m counting Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and the Alien vs. Predator films. The quality of these releases ranges from epic classics to blockbusters. For Álvarez, the risk of making a bad film is part of the reward when it has a chance at becoming a celebrated work of art.

“For me, when you’re in the theater, you see the logo and the lights go out, I feel like this is it; this is the one that’s going to change my life,” he revealed. “It’s kind of crazy because most movies are sh*t. Five minutes in, you’re like, ‘This is not going to change my life.’ But the first five seconds, you feel it, because it happened to you. And we all keep looking for that moment.”

Alien: Romulus is poised to bring some old-school 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 everyone involved. According to Álvarez, they all gave 200 percent to “give you the movie you deserve.” And that’s really all I could ask for.