Ridley Me This, Ridley Me That: Ridley Scott's Next Alien Movie Won't Focus On The Xenomorphs

For a story that will have you spitting venom (and acid), it sounds like sci-fi legend Ridley Scott has some controversial plans for his ongoing Alien franchise. After first bringing Xenomorphs to our screens in 1979, the world of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has gifted us sequels, crossovers, reboots, and prequels, which all led to this year's #AlienCovenant. With Scott back behind the reins once again, the Alien prequel divided critics, thanks mainly to its deviation into religion and evolution.

For those hoping that Scott's upcoming sequel will go back to basics with company grunts being stalked through a tin can by a razor-toothed Xenomorph, think again. Worryingly, Scott is planning to take us further into the abyss and away from the franchise that we have come to know and love over the decades

An Alien Concept

Speaking on the Empire podcast, the 79-year-old director revealed how he plans to stray from the aliens that made the series famous and focus on a robotic romp *cough* Blade Runner *cough* instead:

"I think the evolution of the alien himself is nearly over, but what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by AIs...And the world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself on a new planet. We have actually quite a big layout for the next one."

Among the many, many problems of Alien: Covenant were the whole segments of the movie that were Xeno free. Then, when we did get the various evolutions of the classic aliens, they were reduced to being a poorly constructed CGI mess. One way to fix the franchise is definitely not to shift even further away from the core Alien ethos that made Scott's original film so memorable. Sure, his creation of the franchise trapped a small team of doomed humans with an evil AI, but it worked thanks to the confines of the Nostromo, the fact the Xenomorph was the real villain, and that it was something fresh. Nearly 40 years later, is the twist that the robot is actually a bad guy really that shocking anymore?

Also, given that the entire franchise is built on those acidic little mouth-poppers, you can't help but approach this one with a large helping of "WTF Ridley?" It makes sense to continue that ambiguous ending from Covenant, but to ditch the franchise's titular beasts in favor of another outing for David the android, is this really the way anyone wants the series to go?

When you consider that Scott has the de facto grip on the franchise, it isn't even like anyone else can have a slice of the Xeno pie. If you remember before Covenant, director Neill Blomkamp was developing an official Alien 5, which would create an alternate timeline and pick up after James Cameron's Aliens. Promising the return of Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, and even Michael Biehn as Hicks, it sounded much better than Michael Fassbender fingering your flute hole for 2.5 hours. However, with Scott back on board, Alien 5 was canned, and we are now left pondering the questions of life rather than reciting iconic lines like "Get away form her, you bitch."

Whatever happens, Scott has clearly clamped onto the series like a facehugger. You can't help but worry that a focus on AI over Xenomorphs will deviate from the franchise's mission statement. After all, how can you have an Alien film without the aliens? Perhaps this all has something to do with the hype around Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, but listen, Ridley, if you want to make another Blade Runner, just ask. Personally, I think that someone should just give the Xenomorphs back to James Cameron — who wouldn't love to see another batch of cocky Marines slice and diced?