The future of the Alien franchise is still up in the air as of right now. While Sigourney Weaver has always showed a willingness to reprise her iconic role in the series, others have been considerably less eager. Most notably, Michael Biehn has distanced himself very far from all that happened after his appearance in Aliens.
According to the actor:
“I’ve never seen anything past Aliens. I’ve never seen Aliens 3, 4, 5. I didn’t watch Covenant. I have no interest in anything like that. Any movie I’m close to or movies I wanted that I didn’t get, I just don’t watch them. There’s no reason to put myself through the pain of ‘I could have done so much better than that.'”
He’s clearly unhappy because of what might’ve been. It’s hard not to look at Weaver’s fabulous career and compare it to Biehn’s. The three-time Academy Award nominee will always be most known for her legendary performance as Ellen Ripley and Colonial Marine Hicks looked like he was going to be just as famous at the time.
The complex, tough-as-nails macho man appeared to be on the verge of beginning a romance with Ripley until the character was killed off between the events of Aliens and Alien 3. The movie significantly underperformed at the box office and while it’s accrued a bit of a cult following over the years, many still consider it a low point for the franchise. Fans were displeased with Hicks’ death, as well as several other head scratching plot details and developments.
Author William Gibson wrote a sequel to Aliens in 1987, which never came to fruition. The movie was supposed to focus on the aftermath of the previous film. Ripley, Hicks, Newt, and Bishop all would’ve been brought back.
While the rough draft never received a cinematic adaptation, it’s since been given the comic book and audio drama treatment. Biehn himself even reprised his role for the project, clearly showing how attached he still is to this character and how hard it’s been for him to come to terms with how everything played out.
Since Ridley Scott is imploring Disney to make new movies for the franchise, he should also encourage them to bring back Biehn in either a flashback or a new role. It’s the least they can do considering how he was treated after Aliens.