Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Alien: Romulus!
Although many have said that the original Foreigner protagonist does not appear Alien: RomulusEllen Ripley is in the film the entire time, and we see her ship at 67 minutes. Alien: Romulus is the beginning of a new chapter in Foreigner saga, reportedly moving away from the stories of Ripley and David the synthetic and focusing on new protagonists Rain and Andy. Although this duo is at the center of Alien: Romulus‘, the worlds of the original series and Prometheus are still present, as can be seen in Ripley’s Secret Alien: Romulus cameo.
Although Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is the original protagonist of Foreigner franchise, She hasn’t appeared in the franchise since 1997 Alien: Resurrectionwith Ridley Scott focusing on earlier stories starting with 2012 Prometheus. Many are wondering if Ripley will ever return, something the timeline of Alien: Romulus apparently would manage by staying between Foreigner and Aliens. It is assumed that Ripley is in cryosleep during this period of the Foreigner schedule, but despite this, Alien: Romulus I still found a way to give Ripley an incredibly subtle cameo.
Ripley’s ship can be seen twice in Alien: Romulus – this is when
1 hour and 7 minutes
At the end of the original ForeignerRipley exists the destroyed Nostromo in her escape pod, with her going into cryogenic sleep for 57 years. Alien: Romulus opens with a group of Weyland-Yutani scientists exploring the wreckage of the Nostromocollecting the original Xenomorph’s cocoon, but that’s not all they got. It turns out that scientists also collected Ripley’s cryosleep capsule, with the craft being seen twice during the events of Alien: Romulus.
The first time Ripley’s ship is seen is one hour and 7 minutes later Alien: Romulus. Ripley’s ship can be seen in the background of the sequence where Kay is at the loading dock being chased by the Xenomorph. The ship can be seen several times in this scene, anchored vertically in a corridor. Ripley’s ship can be seen again at the one hour and 26 minute mark when the Romulo space station crashes. During the sinking, Ripley’s ship can be seen highlighted in the bottom right corner of the screen, explaining how it survived the crash.
How Ripley is present in Alien: Romulus changes the film
This makes the fall even more tense
Ripley being present at the events of Alien: Romulus is a big deal, as it not only changes the film, but the Foreigner timeline as a whole. The knowledge that Ripley is aboard the Romulo space station makes the events of the film much more tense. The potential for Ripley to die when the Romulo space station crashes would be terrifying if we didn’t know that she survived until the events of Aliens. Furthermore, she is aware of how dangerous the Xenomorph isadding dramatic irony to the deaths of the Weyland-Yutani scientists.
Additionally, it further links Ripley and Big Chap (the fan name of the original Xenomorph) after their meeting in the original. Foreigner. Ripley and Big Chap didn’t just survive 1979 Foreignerbut in fact they ended up on the exact same space station once again. If the Weyland-Yutani scientists had woken Ripley, she would have had to face the monster once again as he began massacring the scientists. It’s incredible to know how close the story is to Foreigner began to be repeated, with Ripley just a few meters away from Big Chap’s big return.
Why Weyland-Yutani never woke Ripley before the events of Alien: Romulus
They may have other plans
Having Ripley appear on the space station creates a strange plot hole, as It’s strange that Weyland-Yutani never woke Ripley up before the events of Alien: Romulus. After all, she was an employee of the company, so it would make sense that they would wake her up when retrieving her body. However, there is a leading theory as to why this didn’t happen.
If Weyland-Yutani wanted to keep the discovery of the Xenomorph a secret, that would explain why they kept Ripley in cryosleep. They may have plans to interrogate her, study her, or even kill her after experimenting on Big Chap. However, the Xenomorph’s experiments led to the decimation of the entire space station, thwarting any plans they might have had to wake Ripley. That would explain why she’s still sleeping Alien: Romuluswith her falling from the space station and not being recovered again until the events of Aliens.