Four characters survived in Aliens, but only one made it to Alien 3. This discrepancy in character survival numbers is not the only notable difference between the Alien franchise films. For instance, Ridley Scott and James Cameron used different perspectives in their movies. Scott’s story in Alien 3 was akin to a haunted house and survival in space. In comparison, Cameron added action and horror to Aliens.
James Cameron’s Aliens ended with only four characters still alive. However, things take a dark turn soon, and the damage to the ship leads to two off-screen deaths of significant characters. These deaths severely affected the story plot and gathered mixed reviews from the Alien franchise fans. Let us discuss the characters who perish before Alien 3 and the reasons behind their deaths.
Why Hicks And Newt Were Killed Before Alien 3 Story Plot
In Aliens, Newt is introduced as the surrogate daughter of Ellen Ripley. Whereas Hicks is depicted as the lone surviving marine soldier following the horrific ordeal. After these three survive and enter their sleeping pods, the Sulaco Ship gets damaged. For that reason, their escape pod crashes down to a prison planet titled “Fiorina 161.” Upon awakening in the prison, Ripley is informed by the doctor that both Hicks and Newt have passed away. Needless to say Newt and Hicks unceremonious deaths in Alien 3 was not well received.
Initially, most of the story ideas for Alien 3 promoted Hicks as the main protagonist. It wasn’t until Vincent Ward’s script that the idea of killing off Newt and Hicks came into the mind of the creators. The death of Newt and Hicks was considered “necessary” to send Ripley on a mission of redemption and revenge. Ward confessed later that his priority was to kill Newt because she annoyed him— and he wasn’t the only one to want to do so. Many other unmade scripts either kill her for some reason or completely vanish her from the story. That’s why it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Newt was disliked by other scriptwriters as well.
How Their Deaths Impacted The Alien Franchise?
Even though Ripley’s action-filled performance was widely acclaimed, the vaguely mentioned deaths of Hicks and Newt upset and angered the audience. Hicks would have served the franchise better as a main protagonist. But the fans weren’t the only people affected by their deaths. Killing such mainstream characters also sparked controversy and debate among the filmmakers and cast members involved in the production.
Throughout the years, James Cameron has made it clear how bad he feels about the unceremoniously killed primary characters. Besides, the actor Michael Biehn is also not happy about the sudden departure of Hicks. While he was okay with the idea of the character’s death, Biehn stated that he wished Hicks had been given more substance in the story before being killed off. As for the key takeaway, even if killing these characters was necessary, the off-screen deaths of Hicks and Newt in Alien 3 felt like an injustice to their previous exceptional performances.
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