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Alien: Romulus finally hit theaters on August 16, 2024, and brought back the Alien franchise in a huge way to the big screen after 7 years. Directed by Fede Alvarez of Don't Breathe and Evil Dead fame, Romulus bridges the gap between Alien and Aliens. It follows a group of young space colonizers who, while salvaging a derelict space station, come face to face with the deadly Xenomorph.
After its release, director Fede Alvarez revealed that Alien: Romulus took inspiration from the cult classic game Alien: Isolation as well, but that wasn't the only game he looked at. Fede Alvarez took to X to reveal that while writing the story for Romulus, he was playing The Last of Us: Part II, and it was the story of Dina in the game that helped inspire the character of Kay to be pregnant.
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"Fun fact: I was playing #TheLastOfUs2 while writing #AlienRomulus The story of a pregnant Dina made me think of having the character of Kay be pregnant too. Then I cast Isabella Merced to play Kay…. A year later she gets cast to play Dina on the HBO show…. True story," said Alvarez on X.
Warning: Spoilers for Alien: Romulus and The Last of Us: Part II to follow
How did The Last of Us Part II inspire Alien: Romulus?
In The Last of Us: Part II, Shannon Woodward plays the secondary protagonist, Dina. Being Ellie's love interest, she joins her in her mission to travel to Seattle and get revenge on those who murdered Joel. However, the first day after arriving in Seattle, she realizes that she is pregnant and thus has to sit out and recover while supporting Ellie as well.
This in turn inspired Kay's story in Alien: Romulus, who is played by Isabela Merced. In the film, Kay is revealed to be pregnant right as the journey begins, and then sits out the remainder of it while playing a major role in the film's climactic act. However, the connections with Romulus just don't stop there.
Following her casting in Romulus, Merced was later cast as Dina in HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us as well. Merced will be seen playing Dina in season 2 of the show and will be joining Belle Ramsey's Ellie. And again, the inspirations from The Last of Us: Part II don't end here, as Alvarez would further reveal that Navarro, played by Aileen Wu in the film, was inspired by Lev from the game too.
What happens to Kay in Alien: Romulus?
In Alien: Romulus, Kay is one of the first few people to directly interact with the Xenomorph and is its second victim as well. However, while the Xenomorph attacks Kay and takes her to the hive, she doesn't come into contact with a Facehugger as she has already lost a lot of blood. This leads to Rook recommending that she be injected with the "Prometheus Strain" to save her.
While Rain initially disagrees, fearing for her life, Kay ends up injecting herself with the strain, which leads to her giving birth to an alien that's a mix between a Xenomorph and an Engineer. Ultimately, the monstrosity kills her in the film.
Alien: Romulus is playing in theaters.
