‘Alien 5’ Will ‘De-Canonize’ Earlier Series Sequels, Sigourney Weaver Describes 'Star Trek'-like Alternate Timeline

The future of the Alien series has rarely been so tangled, with both Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant prequel-sequel (a sequel to Alien prequel Prometheus) and Neill Blomkamp’s untitled Alien 5 on the way. But in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sigourney Weaver cut through some of the tangle, finally confirming that the upcoming Alien 5 will not be in continuity with Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection.

Blomkamp’s Alien sequel was conjured into existence by his release of unused concept art for a cancelled Alien project. These were the heady days before the release of Chappie, when people desperately hoped Elysium was just a disastrous fluke, a bump in the road on the way to better and better movies.

But while the prospect of a Neill Blomkamp Alien movie may not be as exciting as it once was, the plot concept remains a perfectly tailored fanboy tickler.

Who doesn’t want to see Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley reteam with Michael Biehn’s Hicks and an adult Newt?

As EW describes it, the new Aliens sequel “somewhat de-canonizes David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection (1997).”

“It’s just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill’s movie,” Weaver says.

Weaver’s characterization sounds more in line with other tangled continuities, like the alternate universe Star Trek “ Abramsverse” reboot or the way Superman Returns eclipses Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

While the previous entries will always exist, the fine distinctions drawn by EW and Weaver are more a matter of marketing than ongoing canon. An Alien sequel sharing canon with Alien: Resurrection is just as unlikely as a Star Trek sequel sharing canon with Nemesis.