To the untrained eye, the Alien franchise might seem like a run-of-the-mill space story with a horrifying monster. But every Alien movie has its own place in the series, with important tidbits of information sandwiched in between horrifying alien sequences and sometimes screaming children. They are all worth the watch, but if you haven’t seen any of them and need a debrief before Alien: Romulus, you might want to do your research.
Alien: Romulus is technically a standalone film that takes place in the Alien universe with a new set of characters, so if you have no Alien experience, you will still enjoy the movie. Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be callbacks or easter eggs (maybe some real eggs too) but you don’t need to marathon all six other films in the franchise before heading to the theaters…unless you want to.
If you have no experience whatsoever with the Alien franchise, starting with Alien is the best way to dive in. Not only will it give you a good scare, but it will also provide the right amount of context. Alien: Romulus takes place in between Alien and Aliens, meaning that if you go in with just Alien under your belt, you’ll probably still enjoy the experience. They you can head home and watch Aliens right after. To take it one step even further, you can check out the video game Alien: Isolation, which also takes place after the events of Alien.
For even more world-building, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant tells the rich backstory and mythology of the series. Both of those take place way before the Alien we know. For more action, you can check out the Alien vs. Predator series, though its existence is controversial amongst fans.
To recap: Alien is a must-watch before Romulus, but after that it’s really up to you, depending on how much context you need. While Aliens takes place after Romulus, is often considered the best in the series, so it won’t take away from your experience if you chose to watch it before. All you truly need to know is that these aliens are… not nice.