Isabela Merced as Kay juxtaposed with a Facehugger in Alien Romulus Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez confirms who the father of Kay’s baby is and the subtle hint regarding his identity in the film. Serving as the seventh installment in the long-running Alien franchise, Alvarez’s new sci-fi horror film follows a young crew of spacefarers as they encounter a Xenomorph aboard a rundown space station. Cailee Spaeny leads the Alien: Romulus cast as Rain, with other actors including David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, and Spike Fearn. Isabela Merced also stars as the pregnant Kay, with the film never explicitely revealing who the baby’s father is.

Responding to a recent theory from u/Noraodel on Reddit, Alvarez confirms that Fearn’s Bjorn was indeed the father of Kay’s baby. “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?“, the user asks.

“Yes he is. Good catch!” comments Alvarez, affirming not only the father’s identity but the film’s subtle way of communicating this to audiences through a brief moment of physical contact.

Kay’s Pregnancy Was A Bad Sign In Alien: Romulus

Motherhood Has Been Key To The Alien Franchise

Isabela Merced screaming as Kay in Alien Romulus

From Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 film, pregnancy and motherhood have been two major recurring themes of the Alien franchise. Xenomorph’s are born, after all, by facehuggers latching onto victims and “impregnating” them. The incubation period is remarkably short and far more violent than with human births, however, as a chestburster promptly crunches its way out of its victim before maturing quickly into a fully grown Xenomorph.

These themes are a part of essentially every Alien movie to some degree, and they are explored both in the relationships between human characters (Ripley and Newt in Aliens) and in the relationship between humans and aliens (Shaw’s alien pregnancy in Prometheus.) The franchise’s interest in pregnancy and its dark history of who becomes impregnated and with what essentially meant that Kay’s pregnancy, from its first introduction in Alien: Romulus, was a Chekov’s gun of sorts that would come back to haunt her.

While Kay’s pregnancy also raises the stakes and immediately creates empathy for that character, it’s a given that some kind of birth will eventually take place. As is in keeping with the franchise’s themes and history with pregnancy, the Alien: Romulus‘ ending sees Kay, after injecting herself with black goo, give birth to a terrifying Xenomorph hybrid known as the Offspring. Kay’s Alien: Romulus pregnancy storyline serves as further proof that any pregnancy in an Alien movie is probably going to be bad news.