James Cameron Gives David Fincher A Free Pass For Alien 3

James Cameron has finally spoken up about Alien 3’s controversial plot twist, which unraveled several elements of his film in the massive world of Alien.

Cameron, who directed Aliens in 1986 as a direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s original Alien, was a game-changer for the science fiction franchise. That film brought in many fan-favorite characters, including Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), Bishop (Lance Henriksen), and Newt (Carrie Henn). Newt formed a close relationship with Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and became her surrogate daughter.

Towards the beginning of David Fincher’s Alien 3, the characters Cameron introduced meet a tragic fate when their escape ship crashes on a prison planet, leaving only Ripley alive. The film marked a controversial shift in tone from its predecessors, leaving many longtime fans of the movies feeling conflicted. Eventually, Fincher publicly distanced himself from Alien 3 and the franchise as a whole, claiming that the studio didn’t give him enough creative freedom.

During a recent appearance on Michael Biehn’s Just Foolin’ Around podcast, Cameron shared his disappointment about how swiftly his beloved characters were killed off in the 1992 sequel. He described the decision as incredibly frustrating. The director added that the franchise’s audience grew attached to Hicks, Newt, and Bishop, so axing them all so early on just didn’t make sense.

He also pointed out that the characters whom the film chose to keep alive were all super unlikable, making it hard for viewers to care about them. In fact, Cameron went as far as to say that the audience probably actively wanted these survivors to die, which significantly lowers the stakes when it comes to the safety of Alien 3’s protagonists.

I thought that was the stupidest f****** thing. So, you build a lot of goodwill around the characters of you know, Hicks, Newt and Bishop, and then the first thing they do in the in the next film is kill them all off, right? Really smart guys, you know, and replace them with a bunch of f****** convicts that you hate. And want to see die. Really clever.

However, Cameron made it clear that he had had no ill will towards Fincher. He said that he was a fan of the director’s work. He acknowledged that Alien 3 was Fincher’s first feature film, and he also wasn’t the one who wrote it (the movie was written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson). Cameron also mentioned that the director was not to blame for the studio’s bad decisions, so he chose to give him a pass.