Romulus Androids: Built By Weyland, Seegson, Or Hyperdyne?

The Alien franchise is renowned for its inclusion of androids, and Alien Romulus is no exception, promising to introduce new artificial beings into its Alien universe. In this article, we will explore the potential new android characters in "Alien Romulus" and try to identify which company is responsible for building them. Beware of potential spoilers for Alien Romulus below.

Weyland Corp Androids

Weyland Corporation headed by Peter Weyland was the first to spearhead the android development in the Alien universe. David, a synthetic model crafted by Weyland Industries in the early 21st century, marked a significant advancement in android technology. Initially introduced in 2024 (coincidentally the same year as Alien Romulus is released), as the pioneering prototype, David became renowned for his remarkable resemblance to human emotions, a trait that distinguished the latest model, David 8. The Walter model (seen in Alien Covenant) was developed during the time of the Weyland-Yutani merger (happening in 2099). According to the expanded lore, Weyland-Yutani focused then more on building combat androids, while Hyperdyne took the artificial human development further.

Seegson Androids

In addition to Weyland-Yutani, Seegson was one of the first companies to dwell into android development and focused on cheap and simple models. The synthetics nicknamed Working Joes were synthetics developed for various purposes, including security. They are most well known for the Sevastopol station incident from Alien Isolation when the station Apollo AI turned them against humans. The toughest Working Joe variant was the hazardous environment gear version, having extra resistance to fire and EMP blasts. Alien Romulus seems to have some links to Alien Isolation (also taking place only 5 years apart), so a Working Joe cameo would not be out of the question.

Hyperdyne Androids

Hyperdyne Systems was one of the mega corporations introduced early in Aliens lore, being mentioned by Bishop as the manufacturer of the 120-A/2 android series that Ash was a part of. In the initial draft of Aliens, Hyberdyne was written as Cyberdyne, the developer of Skynet from the Terminator series. In addition to the 120-A/2 (same model as Ash) and the 341-B model androids (same model as Bishop), Hyperdyne produced weapons for the Colonial Marines, including the reliable Twinhammer pistol. According to the Alien: The Roleplaying Game, Hyperdyne worked secretly with the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP), and was almost fully bought out by Weyland-Yutani.

Romulus Androids

Alien Romulus takes place in the year 2142 and will most likely feature both friendly and hostile androids. The main character Rain Carradine (played by Cailee Spaeny) has an android sibling that she grew up with, a storyline also explored in the Alien: Echo book. This yet-unnamed android is played by David Jonsson and is seen wearing a Weyland-Yutani jumpsuit both in the trailer and in a promotional image. According to director Fede Alvarez, Rain loves this android like a real brother but has faced challenges when living together. David Johsson's android is most likely built by Hypderdyne and is a newer model than the 120-A/2 (who could be a bit twitchy) seen in the first Alien movie. It is also the first African-American android seen in the Alien movies.

The Possible Return Of Ash

It has been rumored from unconfirmed sources that the Ash model android (this time named Rook) would be making an appearance in Alien Romulus, with the likeness of Sir Ian Holm. Ian Holm is of course deceased, and both his voice and physical likeness would be generated by AI, similar to Carrie Fisher's and Peter Cushing's role in Star Wars: Rogue One. In-universe, having more Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 androids with the "Ash" likeness does make sense, as there have been several androids both with the likeness of Bishop and David in the movies and in the Expanded Universe. Furthermore, in the novel "Out Of The Shadows" Ash survives in the computer banks of the Narcissus Shuttle, and makes a short-lived comeback, although without a body. This nefarious android is probably working on the Alien specimens in the secret Romulus lab, located on the Renaissance Station.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Alien Romulus will include several androids, both with good intentions (similar to Bishop) and with villainous ones (like Ash). The movie will explore the family dynamic of young humans living with androids, a plot point yet to be unexplored in the franchise. Both Weyland-Yutani and Hyperdyne and most likely involved, while it remains to be seen if there are any references to Seegson products as well. As a hallmark of the series, we will definitely see white android blood, as the androids have never developed the red blood seen in the Blade Runner series.