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‘Alien’: Why the Eggmorph Deleted Scene Matters to the Movies

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‘Alien’: Why the Eggmorph Deleted Scene Matters to the Movies

One of the most contested aspects of the Alien franchise may be one that the typical viewer isn’t familiar with. During the production of the original Alien, a scene was shot before being subsequently cut at Ridley Scott‘s request. This scene followed the film’s protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) climbing through the bowels of the USCSS Nostromo, flamethrower in hand and the titular alien Xenomorph stalking her. As she enters the hold, she discovers a massive cluster of hardened resin spread throughout the walls and floor. As she investigates the grotesque bile, she notices two people inside, secured to the wall and incapable of moving. Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) is alive but has clearly had enough of the terror he experienced. He begs Ripley to end his misery despite her protestations that she can still save him. He groans out his request, barely clinging to consciousness, and Ripley remains apprehensive.

As Ripley looks around the hold, she notices the second figure held in the resin. Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) is completely encased in the strange paste. Below him appears to be one of the alien’s many eggs, partially encompassing Brett’s body. Fearing that Dallas will meet the same fate as Brett clearly has, Ripley uses her flamethrower to torch the resin, killing Dallas and sparing him the horror of being absorbed into a Xenomorph egg. Though this scene was initially cut due to Scott believing that it slowed down the film’s final act, it would return in other places.

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Following Alien‘s release, the scene now known as the “Eggmorphing” scene has persisted in the film’s novelization. Furthermore, the scene appears in the behind-the-scenes book The Book of Alien, the promo magazine The Officially Authorized Magazine of the Movie Alien, and was even discussed in the book Giger’s Alien. It was even featured on laserdisc alongside many other deleted scenes for the film, making an indelible mark on the psyches of the film’s fans. This stamp on the film’s legacy would persist, leading to the scene being included in many home releases of Alien and even making it into the film’s 2003 director’s cut in an altered capacity.


RELATED: Here’s How to Watch the ‘Alien’ Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)

But why is it a big part of Alien‘s discourse among its fans? Put plainly, it throws a substantial monkey wrench into the understanding of the Xenomorph’s life cycle. By presenting this seemingly alternative form of reproduction for the Xenomorph, the Eggmorphing scene calls into question several aspects of Alien‘s established understanding of its infamous killing machine. From Aliens (1986) to Prometheus (2012) and even Alien: Covenant (2017), the origin of Xenomorph eggs and how they are made now points back to multiple sources.

James Cameron sought to address this issue when he began production on Aliens, eventually implementing the Xenomorph Queen to address where eggs came from. Likewise, in Alien: Covenant, the android David (Michael Fassbender) is capable of using the black liquid originally found in Prometheus to bio-engineer eggs and birth the presumptive first Xenomorph from it. At the same time, the Eggmorphing scene in Alien, even though it was deleted, has persisted in enough versions of the original film to take on its own answer to the chicken/egg quandary as well.


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For what it’s worth, before the prequel films came along, the 1992 novelization of Alien³ attempted to address Eggmorphing. The book points to the Queen and Eggmorphing both as reliable means of reproduction that can be relied upon depending on the circumstances. That still leaves a considerable question: If every Xenomorph drone can create eggs from both living and dead matter like the one on the Nostromo did, what all use does a Queen serve as a reproductive anchor for the species? This has largely been sidestepped by official materials, with only peripheral materials such as comic books and a tabletop roleplaying game attempting to explain things away (the game states that Queen eggs take less time to produce and are sturdier). The Alien³ novelization also implied that Eggmorphing may have been used to create Queens, to begin with, but then why would the Xenomorph aboard the Nostromo attempt to create two eggs?


So is Eggmorphing a legitimate means of reproduction? It depends on who you ask. Many fans have dismissed the deleted scene since it didn’t make the theatrical cut of Alien. To these fans, the concept of Eggmorphing is more of a sloppy retcon than anything, with different mediums in the franchise attempting to tie together loose ends. Other fans swear by the Eggmorphing scene’s legitimacy due to its staying power and the fact that it continues to be referenced in the franchise’s media. At the end of the day, the conventional sense of Xenomorph egg creation tends to win out due to the massive success of Aliens and the Queen’s presence as a figurehead in that film.

The creation of Xeno eggs will likely be a debated topic going well into future years as long as 20th Century Studios/The Walt Disney Company continues to roll out Alien content. Are the eggs laid by a Queen? Are they molded from individual drones? Are they the product of black goo once weaponized by the enigmatic Engineers? Perhaps all three are true, but most major sources have been mum on distinguishing the different methods.


But does this matter so much to warrant having a debate over it? Many Alien fans would likely say yes. One of the biggest draws of the Xenomorph is its bizarre life cycle and means of adapting to any environment. The way that it continues to propagate its species matters specifically because the way it is born into the world is so incredibly otherworldly. It also calls into question the way that the Xenomorph has been able to extend into the stars, infesting hundreds of terrestrial worlds. If Xenos don’t need a Queen to overtake a given world and could simply Eggmorph their prey, wouldn’t that be much more useful than taking the time to gestate and create a Queen? Eggmorphing introduces a wide web of lore contradictions unless it is considered illegitimate by the fandom or those who have had a major hand in the franchise’s success.

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Until there’s some substantial clarification for the fandom, the deleted Eggmorphing scene may have inadvertently become the “Han/Greedo shot first” of one of horror and sci-fi’s most iconic franchises. When Ridley Scott excised the scene from the original film, he likely had no idea how much significance it would go on to have decades after Alien‘s premiere. We may never get concrete answers about which egg production methods are legit and which are just extended universe fluff, but it makes for enjoyable conversation between Alien fans everywhere.


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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

Hitting the three-quarter-century mark usually means a retirement home, a nursing facility, or if you’re lucky to be blessed with relatively good health and savings to match, living in a gated community in Arizona or Florida.

For Sylvester Stallone, however, it means something else entirely: starring in the first superhero-centered film of his decades-long career in the much-delayed Samaritan. Unfortunately for Stallone and the audience on the other side of the screen, the derivative, turgid, forgettable results won’t get mentioned in a career retrospective, let alone among the ever-expanding list of must-see entries in a genre already well past its peak.

For Stallone, however, it’s better late than never when it involves the superhero genre. Maybe in getting a taste of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with his walk-on role in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel several years ago, Stallone thought anything Marvel can do, I can do even better (or just as good in the nebulous definition of the word).

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The property Stallone and his team found for him, Samaritan, a little-known graphic novel released by a small, almost negligible, publisher, certainly takes advantage of Stallone’s brute-force physicality and his often underrated talent for near-monosyllabic brooding (e.g., the Rambo series), but too often gives him to little do or say as the lone super-powered survivor, the so-called “Samaritan” of the title, of a lifelong rivalry with his brother, “Nemesis.” Two brothers entered a fire-ravaged building and while both were presumed dead, one brother did survive (Stallone’s Joe Smith, a garbageman by day, an appliance repairman by night).

In the Granite City of screenwriter Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room, Season of the Witch), the United States, and presumably the rest of the world, teeters on economic and political collapse, with a recession spiraling into a depression, steady gigs difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, and the city’s neighborhoods rocked by crime and violence. No one’s safe, not even 13-year-old Sam (Javon Walker), Joe’s neighbor.

When he’s not dodging bullies connected to a gang, he’s falling under the undue influence of Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), a low-rent gang leader with an outsized ego and the conviction that he and only he can take on Nemesis’s mantle and along with that mantle, a hammer “forged in hate,” to orchestrate a Bane-like plan to plunge the city into chaos and become a wealthy power-broker in the process.

Schut’s woefully underwritten script takes a clumsy, haphazard approach to world-building, relying on a two-minute animated sequence to open Samaritan while a naive, worshipful Sam narrates Samaritan and Nemesis’s supposedly tragic, Cain and Abel-inspired backstory. Schut and director Julius Avery (Overlord) clumsily attempt to contrast Sam’s childish belief in messiah-like, superheroic saviors stepping in to save humanity from itself and its own worst excesses, but following that path leads to authoritarianism and fascism (ideas better, more thoroughly explored in Watchmen and The Boys).

While Sam continues to think otherwise, Stallone’s superhero, 25 years past his last, fatal encounter with his presumably deceased brother, obviously believes superheroes are the problem and not the solution (a somewhat reasonable position), but as Samaritan tracks Joe and Sam’s friendship, Sam giving Joe the son he never had, Joe giving Sam the father he lost to street violence well before the film’s opening scene, it gets closer and closer to embracing, if not outright endorsing Sam’s power fantasies, right through a literally and figuratively explosive ending. Might, as always, wins regardless of how righteous or justified the underlying action.

It’s what superhero audiences want, apparently, and what Samaritan uncritically delivers via a woefully under-rendered finale involving not just unconvincing CGI fire effects, but a videogame cut-scene quality Stallone in a late-film flashback sequence that’s meant to be subversively revelatory, but will instead lead to unintentional laughter for anyone who’s managed to sit the entirety of Samaritan’s one-hour and 40-minute running time.

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Samaritan is now streaming worldwide on Prime Video.

Samaritan

Cast
  • Sylvester Stallone
  • Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton
  • Pilou Asbæk

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Matt Shakman Is In Talks To Direct ‘Fantastic Four’

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According to a new report, Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct the upcoming MCU project, Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios has been very hush-hush regarding Fantastic Four to the point where no official announcements have been made other than the film’s release date. No casting news or literally anything other than rumors has been released regarding the project. We know that Fantastic Four is slated for release on November 8th, 2024, and will be a part of Marvel’s Phase 6. There are also rumors that the cast of the new Fantastic Four will be announced at the D23 Expo on September 9th.

Fantastic Four is still over two years from release, and we assume we will hear more news about the project in the coming months. However, the idea of the Fantastic Four has already been introduced into the MCU. John Krasinski played Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The cameo was a huge deal for fans who have been waiting a long time for the Fantastic Four to enter the MCU. When Disney acquired Twenty Century Fox in 2019 we assumed that the Fox Marvel characters would eventually make their way into the MCU. It’s been 3 years and we already have had an X-Men and Fantastic Four cameo – even if they were from another universe.

Deadline is reporting that Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct Fantastic Four. Shakman served as the director for Wandavision and has had an extensive career. He directed two episodes of Game of Thrones and an episode of The Boys, and he had a long stint on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There is nothing official yet, but Deadline’s sources say that Shakman is currently in talks for the job and things are headed in the right direction.

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To be honest, I was a bit more excited when Jon Watts was set to direct. I’m sure Shakman is a good director, but Watts proved he could handle a tentpole superhero film with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Wandavision was good, but Watts’ style would have been perfect for Fantastic Four. The film is probably one of the most anticipated films in Marvel’s upcoming slate films and they need to find the best person they can to direct. Is that Matt Shakman? It could be, but whoever takes the job must realize that Marvel has a lot riding on this movie. The other Fantastic Four films were awful and fans deserve better. Hopefully, Marvel knocks it out of the park as they usually do. You can see for yourself when Fantastic Four hits theaters on November 8th, 2024.

Film Synopsis: One of Marvel’s most iconic families makes it to the big screen: the Fantastic Four.

Source: Deadline

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Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase Star in ‘Zombie Town’ Mystery Teen Romancer (Exclusive)

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Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have entered Zombie Town, a mystery teen romancer based on author R.L. Stine’s book of the same name.

The indie, now shooting in Ontario, also stars Henry Czerny and co-teen leads Marlon Kazadi and Madi Monroe. The ensemble cast includes Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch of the Canadian comedy show Kids in the Hall.

Canadian animator Peter Lepeniotis will direct Zombie Town. Stine’s kid’s book sees a quiet town upended when 12-year-old Mike and his friend, Karen, see a horror movie called Zombie Town and unexpectedly see the title characters leap off the screen and chase them through the theater.

Zombie Town will premiere in U.S. theaters before streaming on Hulu and then ABC Australia in 2023.

“We are delighted to bring the pages of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town to the screen and equally thrilled to be working with such an exceptional cast and crew on this production. A three-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner with book sales of over $500 million, R.L. Stine has a phenomenal track record of crafting stories that engage and entertain audiences,” John Gillespie, Trimuse Entertainment founder and executive producer, said in a statement.

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Executive producers are Trimuse Entertainment, Toonz Media Group, Lookout Entertainment, Viva Pictures and Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates.  

Paco Alvarez and Mark Holdom of Trimuse negotiated the deal to acquire the rights to Stine’s Zombie Town book.

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