How to watch

Alien Movie Watch Order in the correct order

How to watch the Alien movies in order

Last updated: April 13 2026

Written by: ChronoAlice

The Alien franchise is one of sci-fi horror's greatest achievements — terrifying, atmospheric, and endlessly influential. With prequels, sequels, and a recent standalone entry, the watch order question has a genuinely interesting answer depending on whether you want tension or context first.

Ridley Scott's original Alien (1979) is a masterpiece of slow-burn dread that introduced the world to one of cinema's most iconic monsters — the Xenomorph. James Cameron's Aliens (1986) took the franchise in a bold new direction with pulse-pounding action, and the series has continued to evolve across decades. The prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant expand the mythology by exploring the Xenomorph's mysterious origins, while Alien: Romulus (2024) slots into the original timeline to deliver a fresh nightmare for a new generation.

🕐 Release Order

Release order is the most popular way to watch the Alien franchise, as it preserves the mystery of the Xenomorph's origins that the original films deliberately left unexplained. Many fans feel the prequels hit harder after you already love and fear the creature.

  1. Alien (1979)
  2. Aliens (1986)
  3. Alien 3 (1992)
  4. Alien Resurrection (1997)
  5. Prometheus (2012)
  6. Alien: Covenant (2017)
  7. Alien: Romulus (2024)

For viewers interested in the full lore and origin story of the Xenomorph, watching in chronological story order places the prequels first and reveals how the horror began before following Ellen Ripley's iconic fight for survival.

📖 Story Chronology

Chronological order places the Prometheus-era events first, as these films explore the Engineers and the creation of the Xenomorph, decades before the Nostromo answers a distress call on LV-426.

  1. Prometheus (2012) — 2093: the crew of the Prometheus seeks humanity's creators and finds something terrifying
  2. Alien: Covenant (2017) — 2104: colonists discover a paradise world that harbors a deadly secret
  3. Alien (1979) — 2122: the crew of the Nostromo encounters the Xenomorph for the first time
  4. Alien: Romulus (2024) — set between Alien and Aliens: young colonists encounter a terrifying discovery on an abandoned space station
  5. Aliens (1986) — 2179: Ripley returns to LV-426 with a squad of Colonial Marines
  6. Alien 3 (1992) — 2179: Ripley crash-lands on a prison planet with a Xenomorph on board
  7. Alien Resurrection (1997) — 2379: a clone of Ripley is created 200 years after her death

Which Order Should You Choose?

For the best first experience, watch in release order. Alien and Aliens are two of the greatest genre films ever made, and experiencing them before you know the full mythology makes them all the more powerful. The mystery of where the Xenomorph came from adds immeasurably to the horror of the original film. Once you've fallen in love with the franchise, a second chronological viewing of Prometheus and Covenant is rewarding as you piece together the bigger picture. Alien: Romulus can be watched after Aliens in either order — it's a superb standalone that respects the classic tone of the original.

🔗 Related Guides

  • Terminator Watch OrderGuide
  • Star Wars Watch OrderGuide
  • The Matrix Watch OrderGuide

Did we miss anything? Let us know and we'll keep this guide up to date!