Heading to the Movies? Prep With Our Sci-Fi Plot Generator

It’s the classic space-flick premise: Life as we know it is threatened by an alien force, and there’s only one unrealistically attractive crew that can save us. This month brings two sequels from masters of the genre: James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant. We binged on the directors’ previous sci-fi outings to prepare for the impending boss battles. Consider it a blaster class in filmmaking.

The Alien Thriller Plot Generator

Our hero, a

1

, and a ragtag group that includes a

2

discover larger forces are at play after

3

. But then the alien bad guy(s)

4

. Ultimately, our hero vanquishes the boss alien by

5

. Still, our survivor(s) shouldn’t rest easy. After all,

6

.

Alien, Ridley Scott (1979)

Slither, James Gunn (2006)

Prometheus, Scott (2012)

Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn (2014)

1Alien: tough-as-nails warrant officer

Slither: small-town school teacher

Prometheus: God-fearing archaeologist

Guardians of the Galaxy: mixtape-loving space adventurer

2Alien: secret
android

Slither: handsome
police chief

Prometheus: not-secret
android

Guardians of the Galaxy: psychotic, talking raccoon and
a sentient tree

3Alien: an alien bursts out of a crew member’s chest

Slither: an infected woman explodes, releasing hundreds of
alien slugs

Prometheus: a crew member
is killed trying to pet an alien
snake creature

Guardians of the Galaxy: it’s revealed
their stolen orb houses an all-powerful stone

4Alien: Alien: picks off the remaining crew members one by one

Slither: infect the remaining townspeople
one by one

Prometheus: pick off the remaining crew members one by one

Guardians of the Galaxy: steals the all-powerful stone
and tries to kill them all at once

5Alien: blasting it into deep space

Slither: shooting its propane-filled body

Prometheus: escaping,
letting its alien offspring finish the job (long story)

Guardians of the Galaxy: harnessing the power of the all-powerful stone

6Alien: there are plenty more alien eggs on that exomoon

Slither: in a postcredits sequence, a cat gets infected by alien remains

Prometheus: an alien spawn emerges from the
defeated extra­terrestrial’s body

Guardians of the Galaxy: $773 million in global box office won’t allow it

This article appears in the May issue. Subscribe now.

CULTURE