[SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR ALIEN: ROMULUS]
Isabela Merced’s character in Alien: Romulus Kay was revealed to be pregnant early on in the movie, and when asked about who the father was, Kay had just brushed it off as ‘just some asshole.’
Though some audiences were fine with the quick dropping of the subject in the film, director Fede Alvarez reveals that the father of the child (who becomes very integral to the plot) was actually in the movie as well.
Who was the Father of Kay’s Child?
Talking to fans on Reddit (before he was mistakenly banned by a mod), a fan had asked Alvarez about the scene right before character Bjorn’s death. The fan asked, "Right before Bjorn's death, he and Kay share a moment where they touch each other in a very intimate way. Am I the only one who thought this was a sign that Bjorn is the jerk’ who got her pregnant?"
To which Alvarez simply replied, "Yes he is. Good catch!"
He doesn’t go into any details, but it certainly does explain why Bjorn acted extra protective of Kay in the movie. Some may say that it was because they were cousins, but now it’s been confirmed that it’s because of so much more.
Other Hints in the Film
Though Kay and Bjorn's ‘forehead touch’ can be considered evidence enough of their affair, some have also pointed out that there were scenes in the film that foreshadowed Bjorn as the father.
When Bjorn is first introduced to Rain, he’s described as an ‘asshole’—which he rightfully is. But when Rain asks Kay about who the father of her child is, she says he’s “just some asshole.”—calling back to when Bjorn was first introduced.
Incest? Really?
Many fans had picked up on the intimate scene between Bjorn and Kay, but seeing that the two were related, it was easy to assume that they just cared for each other because they were cousins.
If anything, the incest angle justifies why Kay would be very secretive about the baby. Not only would she have conceived with her cousin, but Bjorn was also revealed to be romantic with the pilot Navarro, so there’s another good reason for them not to tell anyone about the child.
Some fans suspect that the incest was a result of a rewrite where Bjorn wasn’t originally a cousin. Replying to the Reddit thread (via GamesRadar), a user wrote:
"I'm assuming this was a remnant from an early version of the script where Bjorn wasn't a cousin of Kay/Tyler, and then the script got changed to make them related, but this wasn't changed because the writers went ‘Incest? Honestly why not at this point. This movie is already f****d up.’”
Like the original Alien, the movie ends with Rain going into cryosleep on their way to a new planet. No sequel has been announced yet, but fans hope they finally decide to end the story of David (Michael Fassbender), which started way back in Prometheus.
Catch Alien: Romulus, now playing in theatres.