Alien: Romulus Just Gave Its Divisive Cameo A Big Upgrade

Although the 2024 midquel Alien: Romulus, in theory, is a standalone adventure set between the original 1979 film Alien and the 1986 sequel Aliens, Fede Álvarez couldn’t help but put a very big Easter egg smack in the middle of the film’s basic plot. By now, it’s hardly a spoiler to say that the visage of the late Ian Holm appears in this film, looking pretty much the way he looked when he played the synthetic Nostromo crewmember Ash in the first Ridley Scott sci-fi classic. In Romulus, a digital recreation of 1979-ish Ian Holm was used to give us Rook, a synthetic that was the same model as Ash, but who predated Bishop (Lance Henriksen) in Aliens.

And, if fans were annoyed by the way this visual effect was achieved, the home video release for Romulus has reasonably improved the quality of the resurrected Ian Holm. As pointed out by Gizmodo and Screencrush, the home video version of Romulus features a more convincing version of Rook, and lacks the commonly-cited “uncanny valley” feeling of digitally recreated actors, or digital de-aging in general. One fan on Twitter (now referred to as X) asked Álvarez directly if he did actually spearhead changes to the appearance of Rook in the home video release, to which Álvarez replied simply: “Yes.”

Turns out that the Romulus director actually agreed with fans who felt that the appearance of Rook wasn’t as good as it could have been. Speaking to Empire, Álvarez said: “I wasn’t 100 percent happy with some of the shots, where you could feel a bit more the CG intervention. So, for people that react negatively, I don’t blame them.”

Álvarez noted that a lack of time in post-production was what led to the Rook sequences not being as polished as he would have liked. He also made it clear that he went directly to the 20th Century to make sure the sequences were improved for the home video release, saying, “I convinced the studio we need to spend the money and make sure we give the companies that were involved in making it the proper time to finish it and do it right. It’s so much better.”

While this is certainly true, one wonders if the relentless release dates of major studio films like Romulus are creating less-than-great final products. While it's nice to watch Romulus on streaming right now (it’s on Hulu), most fans of the Alien franchise will tell you there’s nothing quite like seeing one of the movies in the theater. Romulus also proved to be a surprisingly successful entry into the Alien franchise; not exactly a sleeper hit, but certainly not a sure thing before it came out. Its mix of low-key legacy reboot characters, combined with terrifying direction, and just enough nostalgia made for an impressively competent pop culture cocktail.

In the movie, as is, Rook was somewhat integral to the overall continuity tap dance. His monologues and infodumps linked the canon if Prometheus, Alien, and Aliens all neatly in a web in which Romulus sat at the center. But, because the presence of the deceased Ian Holm was such a distraction for many viewers, one has to wonder if it was truly worth it. Might it have been easier to just get Michael Fassbender to play another version of his various androids — another David from Prometheus or Walter from Covenant?

For now, its gratifying that the Rook sequences do, indeed look better in Romulus. But, hopefully, for any future Alien spinoffs and sequels, we won’t have to think about this process at all. We all know that in space, nobody can hear you scream, but that only works if you’re not distracted by an unconvincing special effect.

Alien: Romulus is streaming on Hulu.