Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: #143 (1981) – Comic Book
This issue of the long-running Uncanny X-Men series, which saw its release two years after Alien hit the big screen, sees Kitty Pryde facing down a demon that looks awfully familiar. Writer Chris Claremont was quite transparent in acknowledging his influences though, even having Kitty at one point mention how she wished she had “king-sized flamethrowers” since “they used them to fight the monster in that movie.”
The Simpsons (Various) – TV Show
You would be hard-pressed to find a single source in pop culture that references the Alien franchise more than The Simpsons–which is hardly surprising, given its 28-season (and counting) run. It was difficult to pick just one noteworthy moment, so we luckily managed to find a compilation video that highlights most (if not all) of the nods to date.
Muppet*Vision 3D (2009) – Attraction
The Muppet*Vision 3D attraction (currently housed in Disney Hollywood Studios) has long been known for its film references. Parody film posters can be found in the queue for the attraction and the most recent update in 2009 included one for a WALL•E parody starring Beaker that featured the humorous tagline “In space, no one can hear you ‘meep’!” A previous poster parodying Close Encounters of the Third Kind also similarly played on the famous–and often referenced–Alien tagline.
Scream 2 (1997) – Film
The very meta “sequels suck” scene in Wes Craven’s Scream 2 features some great banter led by horror geek Randy (Jamie Kennedy) about the existence of quality sequels, calling for a mention of James Cameon’s Aliens. What it doesn’t feature, however, is this supposed horror expert correctly identifying Ripley’s iconic Aliens finale line, instead asserting that “Stay away from her, you bitch!” is the correct line! This flub stems from an apparent error in the line Joshua Jackson delivers right before (he was meant to have delivered the incorrectly quoted line first) and was just never caught. The flagrant goof thus remains immortalized as an irksome gaffe in an otherwise stellar sequel in its own right.
