Disney's Alien Reboot Cast: A Promising New Chapter in the Franchise

The Legacy of Talent in the Alien Franchise

The announcement of Disney’s new Alien movie cast confirms that the standalone installment will keep the best franchise trend alive. Since the Alien movies began back in 1979, the series has relied on its strong lineup of talent. Back in the original movie, John Hurt was one of the biggest stars on the cast list, and this made his early exit all the more shocking for viewers. Since then, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley anchored a solid ensemble in Aliens and salvaged the messy, uneven Alien 3. While 1998’s Alien: Resurrection had its problems, casting Winona Ryder and Ron Perlman in supporting roles was one of its wisest moves.

Cailee Spaeny from Pacific Rim Uprising with Xenomorph from an Alien Movie

As such, the news that Disney’s exciting and worrying Alien reboot will feature a young cast of relative unknowns is promising already. Disney’s Alien movie will reportedly be a standalone outing that does not continue the story of Alien prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. This means that Michael Fassbender’s villainous android, David, likely won’t return, allowing the Alien franchise to start over with a clean slate. Director Fede Alvarez already proved that he is a master of single-location siege horror thanks to 2016’s claustrophobic Don’t Breathe, while his 2013 Evil Dead reboot showed that he could do iconic horror franchises justice.

Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and Cailee Spaeny as an unnamed character in the Alien franchise with xenomorph background

Continuing the Tradition of Strong Female Leads

Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny will be the lead in Alvarez’s Alien movie, continuing the franchise's tradition of casting strong female leads. This was also present in the prequels. Isabela Merced’s inclusion implies that Spaeny’s character won’t be alone as the movie’s heroine, which makes Alien’s forthcoming reboot all the more promising. Not only will Spaeny and Merced’s roles likely see them playing strong, self-sufficient heroines, but their casting could fix a problem faced by earlier Alien prequels. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant both introduced leads who were effectively Ripley clones, while the new Alien movie's fresh blood could stand on their own merits.

It was hard to ignore the similarities between both Prometheus’s Elizabeth Shaw and Alien: Covenant’s Daniels, both of whom acted as stand-ins to fulfill Ripley’s usual role in the series. By contrast, adding younger stars to the mix will allow Alvarez’s movie to make the formula feel fresh again. The fact that both Spaeny and Merced are a few years younger than Sigourney Weaver and Noomi Rapace were when filming Alien and Prometheus means that their reboot roles will inevitably feel different from those of their predecessors. As the Alien franchise's prequels were plagued with problems, this change is a welcome one.

Redefined Franchise Conventions and a Strong Heroine

Spaeny’s age suggests her character will be more than a Ripley clone while still being rooted in the franchise’s traditions. Between Pacific Rim: Uprising and The Craft: Legacy, Spaeny has already proven that she has range and that she can give real human weight to a genre story. Now, Alvarez’s Alien movie can use her younger heroine to redefine the franchise’s conventions in much the same way that Jane Levy’s Mia changed the tone of the Evil Dead series in the 2013 remake. Disney’s new Alien movie will feel different thanks to its younger cast, but it will also maintain a connection to the franchise's history with its strong heroine.