Alien: Weyland-Yutani's Plan is WAY More Evil Than You Thought!
Weyland-Yutani: The REAL Monsters of the Alien Universe
Let's be real, the Xenomorph is terrifying. But in the Alien universe, the true villains have always been Weyland-Yutani (WY). This mega-corp has been messing with those deadly creatures since the very first movie. We always assumed WY wanted the Xenomorph as a bioweapon—a perfect killing machine— but why? Alien: Romulus #1 (by Zac Thompson and Daniel Picciotto) finally gives us the answer— and it's a whole lot worse than anything we imagined! This article, however, contains spoilers for the comic; and anyone who is avoiding spoilers should absolutely avoid this!
This prequel comic lays out precisely how the Xenomorph (the infamous “Big Chap”) wiped out everyone on Renaissance Station. WY scientists recovered this deadly creature from the wrecked Nostromo and brought it to Renaissance. Then, security officers – two rogue scientists who really decided they didn’t care about endangering humanity decided to make a “noble sacrifice”; trying to kill the Xenomorph (big mistake, folks!). They unintentionally unleashed it; making one terrible mistake after another. Those officers and the entire crew of the ship ended up completely dead. Pretty nasty.
WY’s Horrific Plan: Genocide for Profit!
Turns out, this entire event is ultimately viewed from the correct perspective; a catastrophic victory. The comic makes the reveal: WY's intentions are even far worse than anticipated. Those scientists weren’t just trying to study that nasty Black Goo and then “evolve” humanity (which already seems sufficiently terrible on its own). The second goal was completely shocking – this horrific plan to create Xenomorph clones and to release those clones on failed colonies! They used those deadly bioweapons to secretly wipe out those hapless colonists for an utterly simple, awful reason—saving money. Seriously, folks, these folks are really evil, they actually did the thing that any viewer or fan wouldn’t believe could really happen without serious repercussions.
WY’s “Building Better Worlds” campaign was this seemingly noble goal, using its technology to completely colonize far-off planets. This all really looked great—yet that was utterly fake; intended to completely mask and conceal that utterly evil agenda for purely economical purposes. Those colonies are all intended for mining operations – when those resources get tapped out (or if a planet simply turns out bad, they didn’t get their money's worth; the entire settlement is worthless.) They drop those dangerous bioweapons. These innocent folks – those individuals who moved and risked everything; hoping for a better future – all trusted WY! That is completely destroyed!
Why Killing Colonists is More Efficient (and Cheaper…)
Evacuating failed colonies is wildly expensive— way more efficient and far less costly to just let them all die (without the ensuing PR nightmare and destruction of their “Building Better Worlds” marketing campaign. If they frame the killings as Xenomorph attacks, they get deniability. A really awful justification used by executives, but sadly true! That level of evil is absolutely monstrous.
Weyland-Yutani: Beyond the Xenomorph—the True Face of Evil
WY was clearly the villain in the earlier Alien films; the sheer evil depicted remains iconic and unforgettable for fans. This reveal; the use of deadly creatures as a tool of corporate greed, elevates their position beyond that merely “corporate evil.” The fact that WY would betray the trusting individuals within those very same colonies they themselves helped establish is terrifying; showing a total absence of morals for reasons tied to economics, that completely chills any reader and completely establishes the inherent monstrosity and lack of morals for everyone at WY. And this makes WY way, way worse than even the Xenomorph itself.
That plan wasn't simply the desire to possess these unique monsters – It's just simply chilling how heartless the whole strategy was and completely devoid of that key ingredient—any morals— resulting in an outright decision that anyone would immediately disavow— resulting in massive fallout.
Conclusion: WY's Plan— a New Level of Horror for Alien Fans
Alien: Romulus #1 throws a major wrench in our assumptions surrounding Weyland-Yutani’s behavior within the Alien universe. The corporation wasn’t simply evil for pursuing profit— those previous notions weren't nearly as horrifying and awful as what is discovered after those events surrounding that horrific, yet totally practical reasoning. They did what we assumed to be purely unfeasible— committing total genocide to maintain profit; destroying a complete civilization merely to make more money and remain within a favorable condition of profitability. A profoundly terrible discovery!
