'Alien: Romulus' cast faces freaky Facehuggers at Comic-Con: 'Just run'

SAN DIEGO – Good news for anyone who’s never had the pleasure of watching frightening Xenomorphs, freaky Facehuggers and ghastly Chestbursters: "Alien: Romiulus" requires no viewing homework to enjoy.

“Romulus” (in theaters Aug. 16), the seventh movie in the “Alien” franchise, is set between the first two movies: Ridley Scott’s 1979 original sci-fi horror classic and James Cameron’s action-packed 1986 “Aliens” sequel, which both starred Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Ripley.

“You don’t need to have seen the other ones. If you have, it’s a treat. If you haven’t, then I’m jealous,” writer/director Fede Alvarez said Friday during a “Romulus” presentation at Comic-Con, the pop-culture convention held at the San Diego Convention Center.

Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox

The latest “Alien” centers on a group of young colonizers (played by Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu) who happen upon an abandoned space station, investigate the place and find it full of murderous extraterrestrial creatures.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Spaeny said Alvarez has “such a grasp of the language of horror. He knows the franchise like the back of his hand and there’s so much care.”

Alvarez wanted to bring back the psychosexual weirdness of the early “Alien” movies and also explore something the others haven’t, a strong connection between the characters. “It’s really about being someone’s sibling. Would you die for a brother or a sister, or would you be a coward?”

The filmmaker chose “fresh faces” for his cast, “people you didn’t associate with another character,” and developed a suspenseful vibe throughout the movie about what would happen to them. 

“When you watch the first movie, you have no idea Sigourney would survive,” Alvarez said. “This, you don’t know who’s going to die.”

That’s why Alvarez filmed the movie chronologically, so when someone “died” it was emotional, and the remaining cast would have to say goodbye to that actor. “We could all go through that story,” he said.

Watching movies like “Alien” “shapes your tastes and habits, even though the first one’s a bit before my time,” said Jonsson, who plays the android Andy. Playing a synthetic (or “artificial person,” to be politically correct “Alien”-wise), “it’s an amazing challenge as a young actor, taking on a role that's been painted so many times. Fede let me wipe it clean and make it my own.”

Alvarez showcased some new – and seriously gory – clips for the Comic-Con audience, including a nasty bit with a Chestburster. He tried to use as physical effects as much as possible in “Romulus,” and carried them over to the presentation, where Facehuggers skittered about the stage.

The best advice on how to escape one of those beasties? “Don’t be stupid about it. Just run,” Fearn said.

Jonsson had sort of a run-in with one on the set. In the movie, his character does some “very cool” things, including hoisting a Facehugger up by the tail and tossing him out of harm’s way. Filming one scene, Jonsson requested “the big boy” and threw the prop, but “it whipped back around and detached my retina,” he recalled. “We finished the day, I went and got a couple of stitches, and it was fun.”