Thanks to the Alien franchise’s many comics and video games, Newt lives on in alternate timelines despite her canonical death in Aliens 3.

A standout character from James Cameron's Aliens, Rebecca Jorden, better known as ‘Newt,’ was one of the few child characters that audiences adored. The sole survivor of the Hadley’s Hope settlement following the Xenomorph infestation, Newt became a surrogate daughter for Ripley. Unfortunately, Alien 3 revealed that Newt, along with the rest of the crew (except for Ripley), had their hypersleep chambers breached by a Facehugger. Newt was then autopsied on-screen, with a deleted scene showing all the gore, and cremated. Newt's death was shocking, with many fans thinking her character - and others - deserved better than such a anticlimactic death.

While this spelled the end of Newt in the Alien films, the franchise's comics and video games have had a long history of continuing her legacy in alternate timelines that largely ignore the events of Alien 3.

Alien Comics And Games Changed Newt's Fate


Running from 1988 to 1990, Dark Horse’s mini-series, Aliens, initially featured Newt and Corporal Dwayne Hicks, another character who dies in the opening of Alien 3. The first comic, Outbreak, is set several years after they encountered the Xenomorphs on LV-426. Now living in an asylum, Newt is scarred from her experiences and the doctors plan to wipe her memory. Meanwhile, Hicks takes on a mission to go to the alien homeworld, recover some of their eggs, and destroy one of the hives. Before departing, however, he learns of what is going to happen to Newt and saves her.

Throughout the comic, Newt comes out of her shell and grows into a confident woman, fighting on and taking charge as everything imaginable goes wrong. It gets worse when they return to earth, where a Xenomorph-worshipping cult has released a Xenomorph that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has on Earth, starting a planet-wide infestation. Sadly, the sequel comics, “Nightmare Asylum” and “Female War,” were both made after the release of Alien 3 and thus the characters suffered a name change. Hicks became “Wilks” and Newt became “Billie," although, in the words of CBR, “to fans they'll always be Hicks and Newt.”

While no other media goes as drastic as this, Newt's legacy continued. In 1992, Dark Horse published Aliens: Newt’s Tale which details the events before Aliens and ends with Newt dreaming in her hypersleep chamber as a Facehugger approaches, setting up Alien 3. The comic is a touching story of trauma and heroism, showing how much Newt lost before meeting Ripley. This same element in her character is briefly touched upon in the video game Aliens: Colonial Marines, where the player can uncover a small audio recording that has Newt's mother frantically begging to leave the planet until Newt calmly reminds her that "daddy" is waiting in the cafeteria. Despite her language, it's her calm demeanor that's off-putting, showing how Newt was forced to grow up quickly while everything around her crumbled into dismay.

There was a potential video game planning to “[draw] heavily from the Dark Horse comics,” featuring Newt and Hicks instead of "Billie" and "Wilks." Manned by Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, the game would have featured an adult Newt and a synthetic named "Casey," after the doll she had in Aliens. Plans for this game were scrapped after 20th Century Fox was bought out by Disney. While unfortunate, Newt's legacy continues on in the Alien franchise thanks to the love and devotion from her loyal fans.