Alien: Romulus ending explained – full spoilers

She plays Rain, one of several young space colonisers who launch an audacious attempt to escape their mining colony by stealing some cryopods from a seemingly abandoned nearby space station.

This being an Alien film, it's no spoiler to say that things don't quite go according to plan, and it soon emerges that the station is home to several vicious xenomorphs who waste no time in attacking Rain and her crew.

But how does it all end up? Are there any survivors and what other surprises are in store? Read on to have the Alien: Romulus ending explained.

Alien: Romulus ending explained – full spoilers

Who dies in Alien: Romulus?

After the xenomorphs have been unleashed, it naturally doesn't take long for the crew to be picked off, one by one. Navarro (Aileen Wu) is the first to go – in the film's mandatory chest-bursting scene.

Then, Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and then Tyler (Archie Renaux) also meet grisly fates, via acid burns and impaling, respectively.

Meanwhile, the pregnant Kay (Isabella Merced) has an especially tough time of it, taken by a xenomorph and kept in its hive until she is eventually saved by Rain. After the rescue, she is encouraged to head back to the ship by herself and get into one of the cryopods as soon as possible.

Along the way, however, Kay consumes the 'Prometheus Fire' to survive and this ends up leading to the horrific birth of her 'Offspring' human-xenomorph hybrid, which subsequently kills her.

What is the black goo in Alien: Romulus?

The black goo is 'Prometheus Fire', as first discovered and shown in the film Prometheus (2012).

During the film, there are revelations about the research that was previously being carried out on Romulus. These are revealed to us by Rook – a synthetic human and the station's science officer (who is uncannily 'played' by a CGI recreation of the late Ian Holm, who played the synthetic science officer Ash in the original Alien film).

Rook explains that he and his team had been carrying out research to extract black goo from a xenomorph – which happens to be the original one featured in the very first Alien film, that the Weyland-Yutani corporation had recovered – and combining it with human DNA.

This black goo is dubbed 'Prometheus Fire' and resembles that found by the crew of the Prometheus in that 2012 film which showed it as a viral weapon of the Engineers, the creators of both the xenomorphs and the human race.

Rook says that humanity had never been cut out for space colonisation, that it was "too weak" and "too fragile” and he had wanted to change that by giving humanity an "upgrade".

"Humanity can’t wait for evolution any more”," he explains. Unfortunately, it appears that the experiment somewhat backfired when xenomorphs were let loose in the station, killing all of the people who had been working there and leaving him badly damaged.

Anyway, with Rain and Andy stuck on the ground floor, they are warned by Rook that they can't shoot at the attacking xenomorphs as their acidic blood will burn a hole in the ground, exposing them to the unbreathable atmosphere and killing them all. Not ideal, given they have to get past a huge number of xenomorphs to get back to their ship.

Things are looking hopeless, but then Rain stumbles on an idea during a conversation with Andy – who is now back to himself having had a module inserted into him for much of the running time that had changed his personality to do whatever was best for the Weyland-Yutani corporation.

Looking for some comfort before what seems likely to be certain death, she asks him to tell her some of his favourite bad jokes. One of those jokes – "I was reading a book about gravity, I couldn’t put it down" – suddenly gives her a eureka moment.

If she turns off a gravity switch, the blood will float in the air after they shoot the xenomorphs, and she and Andy will be able to climb the elevator shaft and make it back to the cryopods they had earlier secured, where Kay is waiting.

They make a narrow escape that involves many of the xenomorphs being crushed to death by the elevator once the gravity switches back on, while Andy shoots at the one survivor and and utters the iconic Aliens line, "Get away from her.... you b**ch**!" just as its about to kill Rain.

Eventually, they are able to make it back to Kay, who has been patiently waiting for them in the ship. Happily ever after...

What happens with the Xenomorph/human hybrid in Alien: Romulus?

But, of course in true Alien tradition, they are not out of the woods just yet – far from it.

In one of the cryopods, Kay appears to go into labour and eventually gives birth to... a horrifying xenomorph/human hybrid – the result of having earlier injected herself with black goo in a desperate attempt to save herself. The hybrid attacks and kills Kay, takes Andy out of commission and then sets on Rain.

Rain begins to escape – and is forced to put on a space suit, hanging on for dear life as the hybrid attacks – but thankfully, after an almighty struggle and a major jump scare, she can eject it from the ship, this time surely securing her safety. The moment is also a callback to how Ellen Ripley dispatched the xenomorph in the original film Alien.

Where are Rain and Andy going at the end of Alien: Romulus?

The film ends with her putting the damaged Andy in a cryopod chamber and telling him that she'll "fix" him before she sets their destination to Yvaga – an Earth-like planet they had originally been planning on setting off for – and leaves a final voice log in the style of Ripley in the original film.

But it's worth noting that Rain has a vial of the black goo still with her on her ship – so there's certainly more than enough potential for another sequel.

Is there an Alien: Romulus end-credits scene?

No, everything you need to see is shown before the credits of Alien: Romulus.

Alien: Romulus is now showing in UK cinemas.

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