Summary
Warning: This article contains spoilers forAlien: Romulus.
Alien: Romulusbrings back one key cast member from the ensemble of Ridley Scott’s original 1979 movie – and it’s the last actor I expected to see in Disney’sAlienreboot.Alien: Romulustakes place somewhere in the decades betweenAlienandAliens. While Ellen Ripley is drifting through space in cryosleep, a young space miner named Rain and her friends attempt to escape to a planet where there’s sunlight. But to do that, they have to stop off at the abandoned Romulus station to pick up some equipment – and find that it’s less abandoned, more ravaged from the inside.
Although it was billed as a standalone installment largely disconnected from the story and characters of the previous movies, there was always a chance thatAlien: Romuluswould tie into the wider franchise for some fan service. Director Fede Álvarez recycles a handful of iconic shots from previous movies and even includes a repeat of the line, “Get away from her, you b****,” as a wink to the audience. But the most blatant piece of fan service was the inclusion of the last actor I thought I’d see. On board the Romulus station, Rain and co. meet a familiar face.
Ian Holm Is The Last Alien Actor I Thought Would Be In Alien: Romulus
Holm’s character suffered a grim fate – and the actor passed away in 2020
SinceAlien: Romulustakes place beforeAliens, it was unlikely that any of the cast from that movie – or any of the subsequent sequels – would appear. But it seemed just as unlikely that anyone from the originalAlienfilm would show up, since all of their characters except for Sigourney Weaver’s were killed horrifically.Weaver was the only cast member from the firstAlienmovie whose return seemed like a real possibility inAlien: Romulus, but even that seemed like a long shot since Ripley was supposed to be in cryosleep for the entire time jump betweenAlienandAliens.
It would’ve been possible for Michael Fassbender to reprise his role as David, but Disney seemed eager todistance itself from thePrometheusprequels, which had been met with a mixed response and underperformed at the box office. Of all theAlienactors that I thought might appear inAlien: Romulus, Ian Holm didn’t seem very probable. Holm’s android character Ash was torn to shreds in the originalAlien, and Holm passed away in 2020. So, I was quite surprised when the CG likeness of Holm showed up to play Rook, Romulus’ on-board android.
Why Ian Holm’s Return In Alien: Romulus Is Controversial
Resurrecting actors with CGI is morally questionable
Holm’s computer-generated return inAlien: Romulushas been widely controversial, because it’s a morally questionable practice to bring beloved actors back from the dead for the sake of fan service. The Romulus android could’ve been anyone; it didn’t have to be the same model as Ash.This isn’t the first time that Hollywood has faced some backlash for resurrecting a late actor with CGI:Rogue One: A Star Wars Storybrought back a CG Peter Cushing for a cameo appearance as Grand Moff Tarkin;The Flashbrought back a CG Christopher Reeve for a cameo appearance as a multiversal Superman.
Since the late actors can’t give their own performances – or even consent to being included in the film –it feels a little immoral to put them in a movie, especially when the character is just there for some cheap member-berries fan service. And on top of the moral implications, it never quite looks right and often falls into the uncanny valley. It can be really distracting when a PS2 cutscene version of an iconic character graces the silver screen.
Ian Holm passed away at age 88 on June 07, 2025.
Alien: Romulus Suggests Ian Holm Could Be In More Movies
Now that they’ve done it once, they could do it again
Although Rook was apparently destroyed when the Romulus station crashed into the rings atthe end ofAlien: Romulus, the film suggests that Holm could be brought back for another sequel. Now that they’ve done it once and Holm’s digital likeness is in the Disney CGI library, they could easily do it again and introduce yet another Ash-model android. But maybe they should avoid bringing back Holm for the sequel;it might be less morally iffy to use Lance Henriksen next time instead.
Henriksen’s Bishop is just as iconic as Holm’s Ash, but Henriksen is still alive to give the producers permission to use his likeness and give a real human performance to be digitally de-aged. It could work better dramatically, too. TheAlienaudience is already predisposed to distrust an android that looks like Ash, but they’re more likely to trust one that looks like Bishop in theAlien: Romulussequel.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
