Quote from: Year0 on May 07, 2023, 09:22:59 PMQuote from: Xenomrph on May 02, 2023, 04:12:06 AMI've been saying this for years! For years!
But nooooo, all of you whippersnappers kept saying "Oh look at kooky old Xenomrph shouting at clouds again". I was right all along! Finally, vindication!
I disagree. Canon is important to a series and people know it. Often when it comes to reboots or spinoffs, it gets messy, the new writers are revealed to be retarded, and we eventually end up clawing our way back to the original idea to try and preserve some sense of dignity.
Some icons can get away with it such as Dracula, Batman, Evil Dead, etc. but they are too excellent to be considered good examples. Some series like Silent Hill, Hellraiser, Maniac Cop etc. are dragged out way longer than their lifespan. That doesn't mean to say that rehashing is essentially good or needed, they're just not good enough ideas to carry on in the first place.
The core of Alien is definitely the first 3 films - or two depending on your thoughts - and everything else rests on it. Take that away: no spinoffs, no comics, no Prometheus or Covenant either (although that would be a plus). So somewhere along the line, you have to admit canon is critical.
Horror is an interesting genre about this. Alien is generally tidy with its movie canon, Phantasm is really strict with itself, then Halloween and Friday the 13th are all over the place. Also it's worth noting film canon is usually more respected than novels or comics, especially if the franchise initiated on film.
Counterpoint: "official" canon is not a useful concept for the end user, and is only marginally useful for creators and can be discarded as needed.
If I were to believe that Alien Isolation, the comic series 'Aliens: Labyrinth', and the movie 'Outland' are part of my head-canon, and Alien Resurrection isn't part of it, what, exactly, would you, or Disney/Fox, or anyone else be able to do about it? Why should I be beholden to "the official canon", if my own head-canon enhances my enjoyment of the franchise? Is Disney going to come to my house and take my Aliens action figures and comics away?
Similarly, if someone were to tell me they didn't think 'Aliens' was part of their head-canon, then more power to them. I may not agree with them, but if that's what gives them maximum enjoyment then that's great.
Here's a thought experiment: tomorrow, Disney issues a decree that 'Alien' is no longer "officially canon", but the Marvel comics and some (but not all) of the Titan novels are "officially canon". What happens?
"Oh but Disney would never do that" is not an acceptable answer - Disney owns the franchise, and as such have the ability to unilaterally decide what is and is not "officially canon" at a moment's notice. In this thought experiment, they have officially "de-canonized" 'Alien'.
Do you go along with it? I mean, it's the official canon. But you also just said 'Alien' is a core part of the franchise in your view, so clearly you value it.
Not to mention, in your post you proposed discarding the prequel movies, even though they are "officially canon".
The kicker is, you already follow your own head-canon - it just (apparently) seems to align with the "official canon". The question you need to ask yourself is "why am I doing this?", "what happens if I don't?", and "does it matter?"
For more on "official canon" (and why it doesn't matter) check out the links in my signature.
