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In Marvel’s Alien, a last-ditch procedure to save a life may create in a Xenomorph more dangerous than anything the universe has seen before.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Alien #5, on sale now by Marvel Comics.
Everything about the xenomorph species is nightmare incarnate. Their hellish appearances, their ruthless efficiency at killing and their cunning and intelligence give xenomorphs their reputation as the ultimate apex predators. Even their method of reproduction is horrific, and as the latest issue of Marvel’s Alien series explains, disrupting it can produce disastrous results.
In Alien #5 by Philip Kennedy Johnson, Salvador Larroca and Guru-eFX, ex-Wayland-Utani soldier Gabriel Cruz is running for not only his life but his son’s as well. His mission was simple: return to Epsilon Station and retrieve the embryo of the Alpha Xenomorph. Saving his son Danny is optional, but not discouraged. The biggest obstacle between Gabriel and a successful extraction is the horde of xenomorphs that have overrun Epsilon Station. What complicates matters further is the fact that Danny has a Facehugger attached to him and the Alpha Xenomorph’s embryo inside his chest. Gabriel has a choice: give priority to the embryo or save his son’s life.
As Gabriel manages to escape the main facility of Epsilon Station and board an executive escape pod alongside Iris, the leader of the anti-corporate group that led the initial assault on Epsilon Station, and a Bishop-model android, a very unfortunate factor is revealed: the pod’s hypersleep tube is not functional. Without it, there’s no way for Danny to be preserved in the voyage back to Earth. It would be impossible for Danny to survive the trip back without having the Xenomorph within his chest burst out. Gabriel demands the Bishop-model android surgically remove the embryo before it kills Danny, but the android is hesitant to perform the procedure.
Aside from the obvious complications an impromptu operation would incur, such as the risk of bleeding out, infection, proper storage of the embryo, and even acquiring the proper tools necessary for the procedure, there is another problem with Gabriel’s plan. Removing a Xenomorph embryo while it is still gestating inside of a host organism has proven to be catastrophically bad. The results of prematurely removing a Xenomorph embryo can be seen in the film Prometheus, when the alien embryo contained within a female crew member continued to grow and mutate at an alarmingly accelerated rate, despite being removed before it was ready. It’s also revealed that the very Alpha Xenomorph that is hunting Danny down is the same Xenomorph that was surgically removed from Gabriel’s chest when he was rescued 20 years prior. As the previous issue reveals, the Alpha Xenomorph is even more frightful to behold, having evolved into a beast more dangerous and deadlier than the other Xenomorphs on Epsilon Station.
Dealing with the Xenomorphs in virtually any capacity is a lose-lose scenario. Aside from utter obliteration, there hardly ever seems to be a safe approach to interacting with them. For all of their intelligence and capacity for learning, the Xenomorphs never seem willing to discard their bloodthirsty penchant for killing. As Iris puts a number of bullets directly into the Bishop-model android before he can reveal his information regarding the Xenomorphs, the possibility of a successful mission for Gabriel looks unattainable.
With the omnipresent threat of the Xenomorphs looming over him, the sudden death of his android partner, and the chance of Danny’s survival dwindling before his eyes, it’s becoming apparent that Gabriel is facing the worst of all possible worlds.
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