The best way to watch the Alien movies for the first time is release order. Start with Alien (1979), follow Ellen Ripley through the four original films, then move into the prequels and Alien: Romulus. That route protects the franchise’s biggest reveals and lets its horror-to-action evolution land naturally.
If you already know the series and want a story-timeline rewatch, use this sequence: Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, Alien, Alien: Romulus, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. The two Alien vs. Predator films are a separate crossover detour, not required chapters in the seven-film Alien story.
Quick answer: which Alien order should you choose?
| Viewer | Best order | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| First-time viewer | Release order | Preserves reveals, character payoffs and the changing style of the series. |
| Returning fan | Chronological order | Turns the saga into one long Weyland-Yutani and Xenomorph timeline. |
| Ripley-focused watch | Alien to Resurrection | Gives Ellen Ripley’s four-film arc without prequel detours. |
| Completionist | Main seven, then both crossovers | Keeps the separate AVP continuity from muddying the core story. |
Alien movies in release order
There are seven core Alien feature films released between 1979 and 2024. This is the cleanest order for a first watch:
- Alien (1979)
- Aliens (1986)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Alien Resurrection (1997)
- Prometheus (2012)
- Alien: Covenant (2017)
- Alien: Romulus (2024)
Release order is not the same as story order. The fifth and sixth releases jump back before the Nostromo mission, while Romulus slots between the first two films.
The best Alien viewing order, film by film
1. Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott’s original is the essential starting point. The Nostromo crew answers a mysterious transmission, brings an unknown organism aboard and discovers that their employer’s priorities are not their own. It establishes Ellen Ripley, the creature’s life cycle and the cold corporate machinery behind the nightmare.
Do not start with a prequel just because it happens earlier. Much of the prequels’ power comes from recognizing ideas and imagery introduced here.
2. Aliens (1986)
James Cameron turns the pressure from one creature into a full-scale siege. Ripley returns to LV-426 with Colonial Marines after the colony there goes silent. The film expands the mythology without slowing down to explain every mystery.
It also makes Ripley’s emotional journey the centre of the saga. Watching it immediately after Alien gives that contrast, haunted survivor to determined protector, its full weight.
3. Alien 3 (1992)
Alien 3 begins directly after Aliens, so it belongs here even if its opening is divisive. Ripley crash-lands on Fiorina 161, a prison world with no conventional weapons and very little hope.
For a first watch, the theatrical version keeps the franchise’s release-history experience intact. The longer Assembly Cut is a worthwhile later revisit, but it does not change the film’s place in the order.
4. Alien Resurrection (1997)
Set 200 years after Alien 3, the fourth Ripley film pushes the series into stranger, more knowingly pulpy territory. Military scientists clone Ripley while trying to recover the creature inside her, creating a new version of both.
This closes the original four-film run. Stop here if your goal is a compact Ripley marathon.
5. Prometheus (2012)
Prometheus moves backward in the timeline and widens the question from “Where did the Xenomorph come from?” to “Who made humanity, and why?” Elizabeth Shaw, Charlie Holloway and the android David travel to LV-223 after finding matching star maps across ancient cultures.
It is connected to Alien, but it is not a simple creature-feature prequel. Expect the Engineers, the black mutagen and David’s growing fascination with creation to drive the story.
6. Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Covenant follows the prequel thread 11 years after Prometheus. A colony ship diverts to a seemingly habitable world, where the crew meets new organisms and learns what David has been doing since the previous mission.
Watch it directly after Prometheus. Their story, themes and unresolved character threads make them a two-film unit inside the larger franchise.
7. Alien: Romulus (2024)
Alien: Romulus returns to grimy industrial horror with a new group of young colonists scavenging an abandoned space station. Its story takes place after Alien and before Aliens, but it is best saved for last on a first watch because it draws ideas and imagery from across the series.
In release order, Romulus works as a franchise-wide echo. In chronological order, it becomes the bridge between the Nostromo disaster and the later LV-426 crisis.
Alien movies in chronological story order
For a timeline rewatch, use the seven-film sequence below. The “placement” column is more useful than obsessing over every date because several films connect through long gaps, cryosleep and separate expeditions.
| Order | Film | Story placement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prometheus | The earliest core film, centred on the 2093 LV-223 expedition. |
| 2 | Alien: Covenant | Eleven years after Prometheus. |
| 3 | Alien | The Nostromo mission and Ripley’s first encounter. |
| 4 | Alien: Romulus | Between Alien and Aliens. |
| 5 | Aliens | Ripley returns to LV-426 after 57 years in hypersleep. |
| 6 | Alien 3 | Immediately after Aliens. |
| 7 | Alien Resurrection | Two hundred years after Alien 3. |
Chronological order gives David’s experiments and Weyland-Yutani’s obsession a clearer through-line. The trade-off is that it explains and recontextualizes mysteries before the 1979 film can introduce them on its own terms.
Where do the Alien vs. Predator movies fit?
Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) form a connected two-film crossover branch. Requiem begins immediately after the first crossover, so never split the pair or reverse them.
Their modern-day Earth stories use Weyland and Yutani names, but they do not fit cleanly with the later origin story developed in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Treat them as optional franchise mash-ups rather than required prologues to the main seven films.
Optional 1. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
An expedition enters an ancient pyramid beneath Bouvet Island and becomes trapped in a ritual hunt involving Predators, Xenomorphs and a captive Alien queen. Watch it for the crossover concept, not for essential Ripley-era lore.
Optional 2. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
The sequel carries the Predalien from the first film into Gunnison, Colorado, where a veteran Predator attempts to contain the outbreak. It is a direct continuation of AVP, but its story remains outside the core seven-film route.
Should you include Alien: Earth?
Alien: Earth is a television series, not a movie, so it is not part of either film list above. A movie-only marathon can skip it without leaving a gap between two films. If you are doing a broader screen-universe watch, treat the series as a separate expansion rather than forcing it into a first-time movie run.
The shortest Alien marathon options
- The essential double feature: Alien, then Aliens.
- The Ripley run: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection.
- The prequel pair: Prometheus, then Alien: Covenant.
- The modern bridge: Alien, Alien: Romulus, Aliens.
- The crossover detour: Alien vs. Predator, then Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
If you want more head-twisting science fiction after the marathon, try our mind-bending sci-fi movie picks. For a shorter genre sampler, see these horror movies worth watching.
Final recommendation
Choose release order for your first Alien marathon. It gives Ripley’s four-film arc room to breathe, then lets the prequels reopen old questions before Romulus pulls the franchise’s major ideas into one tense station-set story.
Choose chronological order for a rewatch when you are more interested in David, the Engineers, Weyland-Yutani and the long chain of disasters than in preserving the original reveals. Keep the AVP pair optional and together.
Alien movies order FAQ
What is the best order to watch the Alien movies?
Release order is best for first-time viewers: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and Alien: Romulus.
What is the chronological order of the Alien movies?
The core chronological order is Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, Alien, Alien: Romulus, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection.
Is Alien: Romulus before or after Aliens?
Alien: Romulus takes place after the original Alien and before Aliens.
Do I need to watch Alien vs. Predator?
No. The two Alien vs. Predator movies are an optional crossover branch. Watch them together after the seven core Alien films unless you specifically want a crossover-only double feature.
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