The Alien franchise has several spin-off comics, books, and video games exploring the sci-fi universe, with Isolation taking a pivotal role in the canon.
2014’s Alien: Isolation was a masterpiece in horror gaming. Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, it followed Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she explored a derelict spacecraft to find out what led to her mother’s disappearance 15 years earlier.
Alien: Romulus is set in a similar window, five years after Amanda encountered the Xenomorphs in Isolation. With this in mind, the question of whether the game is canon to the rest of the Alien series comes up repeatedly.
Additional reporting by Olly Smith.
Alien: Romulus is clearly inspired by Isolation
Director Fede Alvarez has confirmed Alien: Isolation was an inspiration for Alien: Romulus.
Right off the bat, there are definitive nods to Alien: Isolation in Romulus. A photo shared by director Fede Alverez reveals one of the iconic phone terminals from the game on the set of Romulus.
Happy #AlienDay everybody! pic.twitter.com/vWyWtThUfj
— Fede Alvarez (@fedalvar) April 26, 2023
The terminal is also present in the background of the first Alien: Romulus trailer. In Alien: Isolation, the phone terminals, called Registration Points, served as save points where players could record their progress.
It’s clear that Isolation has been on Alvarez’s mind throughout filming. In another post on X, he shared a library of books that he used when developing Alien: Romlus, among which is the Alien: Isolation artbook.
He’s also revealed on social media that he’s an avid gamer, telling one fan he had finished all of the Alien tie-ing games except for the then-recent Alien: Dark Descent, which he was playing through at the time.
Is Alien: Isolation canon?
Alien: Isolation is considered canon to the rest of the franchise. While Fox has never referenced the events of Alien: Isolation in any movies following its release, its place in the canon was confirmed in the officially-licensed Alien RPG released by Free League Publishing.
On Page 15 of the Core Rulebook (pictured below), the events of the Alien franchise are recapped for players. This includes a section referring to how the Nostromo’s flight recorder was salvaged and brought to Sevastopol station, which is a major plot point in Isolation.
Following the events of Isolation, the canon becomes a little muddier. Amanda appears as a character in the mobile game follow-up, Blackout, as well as several comic book spin-offs released after Isolation.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Fans of the series will recall that Amanda appears briefly in the Special Edition of Aliens, where a photo of her is shown to her mother Ellen after waking from hypersleep.
2022’s Alien: Colony War reveals that the story of Amanda’s death depicted in Aliens may have been a lie. In the novel, her husband, Chad McLaren, reveals Amanda has been placed in cryosleep while a cure for her cancer is sought, and the story of her death was fabricated to protect her.
Unlike the game, the novels are on the cusp of continuity, not explicitly canon or non-canon yet. If this is canon, it means Amanda is either exploring the galaxy or in cryosleep during Romulus. For eager fans, this is a hint that Amanda’s story is far from done or even a possible set-up for Amanda and Ellen to meet.
Alien: Isolation solves a long-running plot hole
With Alien: Isolation canon to the rest of the movies in the series, this also means it clears up a long-running plot hole that has existed since 1986 when Aliens was released.
In Alien, the Nostromo crew finds LV-426 due to a distress beacon, presumably placed by the Pilot (Space Jockey). It’s later revealed to be a warning to stay away.
In Aliens, which is set 57 years later, it’s revealed a human colony has been established on the moon, which is only around 1200km in diameter. However, it isn’t until the colonists are sent to investigate the crashed ship that the Xenomorph is brought back to the colony, allowing the other aliens to hatch.
So, the question remains: how did the human colony not encounter the warning beacon set by the Pilot on a planetoid that’s only 1200km in diameter, even after being there for two decades? This plot hole went unanswered for nearly 30 years until Alien: Isolation addressed it.
In Isolation, a playable flashback shows the crew of the Anesidora picking up the Nostromo flight recorder and using the data on it to travel to LV-426. When the crew arrive there, they encounter the beacon along with the nest of alien eggs.
During this sequence of the game, there’s a moment where you go to the beacon and interact with it to shut it down. This explains why the beacon is no longer active by the time of Aliens.
You can buy the new Alien popcorn bucket, head here for more new movies releasing this month, or check out the biggest box office hits of 2024 so far. We’ve also got an Alien Romulus review, Alien Romulus ending explained, and a guide to Xenomorphs.