Marvel’s Alien comics revealed that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation had the perfect tools they needed to handle the Xenomorphs hiding in plain sight.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Alien #4 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Salvador Larroca, Guru-eFX and VC’s Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
In the Alien franchise, the Xenomorphs of every stripe just seemed like they could never be stopped. Whether it be guns, rockets, robots or even Predators, they somehow found a way to survive, proving that they were a solid candidate to be the cosmos’ apex predator. However, Marvel’s Alien #4 reveals the secret weapon to killing them was always hiding in plain sight.
It’s revealed on board Epsilon Station as the mercenary Gabriel tries to find his son, Danny, and get the activist back to Earth. Gabe is furious at Danny’s defiance and how his team’s protest led to Xenomorphs running free, and the Alpha escaping to feed.
It’s cost him good soldiers, so all Gabe wants to do is get back to his employer, Weyland-Yutani, and figure out how to get Danny off the hook for his acts of corporate terrorism. But it gets worse when Bishop, one of the iconic humanoid androids, admits that the aliens can sniff out whoever’s infected. Since Danny had a Facehugger on him, he’s already infected with the Chestburster embryo, so they’re basically walking around with a tracking device to allow the creatures to sniff them out.
But when asked why synthetics like Bishop aren’t killed and was able to move freely on the station during the melee as the aliens broke out, Bishop admits the Xenomorphs don’t see them as life and won’t attack unless they’re threatened by the droids. Now that Bishop has to help these humans out — per his programming — he’s being viewed as a threat.
This revelation is massive because if droids like Bishop could be used as offensive weapons. In fact, humans didn’t need to visit various colonies and go looking for scientific research, biological material or be sent to get stuck in dangerous spots. The undetectable androids would have been ideal soldiers to send into potentially unstable situations.
The franchise’s androids could’ve been part-soldier and part-scientist, which Alien: Covenant and Prometheus tried to do with spins on Michael Fassbender’s David. Still, he was seen as a threat, a pseudo-human and attacked, but now, it looks like this Bishop model is the trojan horse the company needs. If Gabe gets back alive, he could relay this info, which could push the company to make new, adaptable models meant to infiltrate and study other life out in the galaxy.
Androids would be perfect sleeper agents for rigorous conditions, but they would need to be improved on the military side, because as the current horde’s showing, whether it’s a Bishop on the offense or Gabe’s reactive soldiers, they’re all no match for the beasts.
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