With Alien Day a few short weeks away, I think it’s time for a little overview of the happenings in our corner of the universe. We will be swamped with products, promotions, updates, and media before you know it. So, get comfortable, grab a snack, a drink and catch up to all the news that is Weyland-Yutani Approved.

As of this reading, Disney has now swallowed up Fox and all it’s properties. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria! Our beloved Aliens franchise future is unknown. It’s fair to say that sorting out the Marvel properties will be their first order of business. Once that is sorted, they will probably begin planning a future for Aliens. Regardless of your opinions on the films, the Alien franchise has been in dissarray since Alien Resurrection. Arguably, since the production disaster of Alien 3. Ever since the breakout success of Aliens, Fox quite frankly had no idea what to do. Every film following was met with mixed to negative reviews. While the (at times) formulatic approach and the lack of compelling villains in the MCU movies frustrate me, Disney knows what they are doing. They have the wherewithal to set up a plan and execute it. If they don’t want to release under the Disney banner, they can always release it under Touchstone. Just recently it was announced that Disney has plans to continue the Alien franchise, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Now we impatiently wait!

Also released recently were Alien Blackout and the Alien: Isolation Digital Series. Alien Blackout was orginally met with plenty of skepticism (myself included), but ended up being a damn fun game. While the inclusion of Amanda Ripley is arguably unnecessary, D3 did a fantastic job taking the feel of Alien Isolation and bringing it to mobile. Including it’s difficulty level. The music is fantastic as well. The gameplay can drag a bit at times, but is overall fun and worth playing. Not much replay value, but the game is worth the money. But about the Alien Isolation series? Not so much. Released on IGN, these series of shorts were nothing but slightly edited cut scenes from the video game. And mostly poorly done at that. The last episode is the only one worth watching, as it adds a bit to the ending. There is a good chance in reading this you forgot these existed or didn’t know. Unfortunately, after the initial hoopla of their releases they dissapeared into the ether. Neither made an impact.

Next up we have a couple comic book series, Aliens: Resistance and William Gibson’s Alien 3. Dark Horse Comics is always one of my favorite places to go when I need a fix. Resistance continues the story of Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks as they seek vengence on Weyland-Yutani. Both are compelling characters, I lean a bit towards Hendricks but you can’t go wrong with either. My only complaint is in the latest issue they are being hunted Weyland-Yutani whom are armed with acid tipped rounds. So they’ve weaponized them already? Huh? I’ll hold judgement until after it concludes, but I found it odd. But overall it’s extremely enjoyable. The Alien 3 comic is excellent as well. Just please remember it is alternate take on the movie. The artwork is a bit hit and miss, but it’s a damn treat seeing this script to come to life. Of course, it’s also a bonus seeing Hicks, Bishop, Newt and Ripley again.

The first 40th Anniversary fan film has recently released, Containment. I thought it was solid. It looked good and the sound was outstanding. I highly recommend watching it with good headphones or a surround sound type atmosphere. It was a bit *too* reminiscent of Covenant at some parts, but overall it was good effort. They did an excellent job capturing the Alien feel, which is always a plus. The next film, Specimen drops on the 5th. Hopefully the quality continues!

If you’re into scores and music, I can’t recomment checking out Aphotic Apathy enough. They just released two Alien inspired albums. One influenced by David and Alien Covenant and another influenced by Alien Isolation. The albums are more than affordable $5 and absolutely worth it. You can find them available for download on Bandcamp.

I think that is it for now. Stay frosty everyone..