Romulus Brought Back A Different Actor To Be Rook

I loved Alien: Romulus, but I believe bringing back a different actor from the franchise would’ve been a better choice for Rook. Firstly, I thought the fresh Alien: Romulus cast did a phenomenal job at establishing a new era for the franchise, and they’re undoubtedly a close contender for my favorite crew from any Alien film. My biggest gripe, however, was with the decision to bring back Ian Holm posthumously to play the android Rook when other android actors from the previous Alien movies are still around.

Setting aside any moral debate regarding bringing back a dead actor with CGI, my main issue with Rook in Alien: Romulus was that I found the CGI itself to be rather off-putting. I would much rather have seen an original character introduced or a different old character brought back. With some time to mull over it, I support the notion that Romulus is one of the best Alien movies, but that doesn’t mean it’s without flaws, and there are certain elements I would have liked to see play out differently.

Michael Fassbender Should’ve Played Rook In Alien: Romulus

David Is One Of The Best Characters In The Alien Franchise

First, I should state that this isn’t being said with any gripe towards Ian Holm. Playing Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings puts him in elite company of beloved actors in my book, and he’s iconic in the original Alien film. Romulus is packed with references to older Alien movies, and it makes sense that they’d want to feature a character audiences were familiar with, aside from just the Xenomorph. With that being said, Michael Fassbender is still around, and he was the best part of two Alien movies that, in my opinion, didn’t receive their due respect.

Prometheus and Alien: Covenant both received mixed reviews upon their releases in the 2010s and while they’re far from perfect movies, I admire the contributions they made to the Alien franchise. Perhaps it’s because I prefer science fiction to horror, but I appreciated the perspective of stepping back from the usual monster premise and instead focusing on the origins of the Xenomorph and the lore of the Alien world. There’s some incredible world-building in those movies, and Michael Fassbender is unbelievable in them.

Michael Fassbender’s Alien: Romulus Return Would’ve Strengthened The Movie’s Prequel Connections

Romulus Could Have Expanded On Alien: Covenant’s Story

Elements like the black goo from Prometheus found their way into Alien: Romulus, but all in all, the new film largely corresponds more with the original 1979 classic. It makes sense that the production would want to pursue this route, given the dicey responses to the previous two prequels, but I’d be immensely disappointed if future films continued to stray away from them. Incorporating Michael Fassbender into Alien: Romulus would’ve been the perfect way to avoid this circumstance, as he’s essentially the main attraction of the prequels.

With no sequel to Alien: Covenant coming, it seems like David’s story in the Alien franchise is concluded for the time being. With Alien: Earth in development for FX and, hopefully, more Alien movies following Romulus’s box office success, I’d love to see that character make his way back into the story. Ridley Scott established beautiful philosophical and existential narratives, and there’s still so much room to explore more. If Fede Álvarez is claiming the mantle, he should follow in Scott’s footsteps by incorporating some of the original plans for Covenant sequels into his movies.

Why Alien: Romulus Didn’t Use Michael Fassbender To Play Rook

Fede Álvarez Wanted An Actor Who Hadn’t Reappeared In The Franchise Yet

Speaking on the matter of Ian Holm’s return in Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez talked about his intentions, saying: “The only one who hadn’t reappeared and who we found fascinating was Ian Holm.” It seems like the decision to incorporate Holm, who hadn’t participated in the franchise since playing Ash in the 1979 film, was done out of respect for the late great actor and not with any explicit intention of avoiding Michael Fassbender’s character. It was certainly an interesting choice to see Holm on screen again.

The Alien franchise timeline gets a bit messy, and I’m not exactly sure what android models make sense to be appearing in different films. Given that Romulus is much closer to Alien chronologically, it seems like having the Ash/Rook model was the best bet. At this point in the film series, David and Walter are decades old, and it seems fitting that their looks would be out of style by the time of Alien: Romulus. Still, I can’t help but hope we haven’t seen the last of Fassbender or David.