10 Movie Sequels That Started In Surprising Ways

1. Alien 3

Mission Impossible 3
20th Century Studios

Yes, it may have been discussed plentiful times already here on WhatCulture, but it would be impossible to put together such a list and not make mention of the much-maligned Alien 3.

Going into this 1992 offering, audiences were expecting something vastly different to what they ultimately got.

At the end of the beloved Aliens, Ripley, Hicks, young Newt and android Bishop put themselves in stasis and set sail for Earth. Not just that, but the initial teaser trailers for Alien 3 outright promised that the action would be heading to mankind's home planet, with a voiceover proclaiming how "we will discover on Earth, everyone can hear you scream".

In reality, not only did Alien 3 take place on the Fury 161 correctional foundry, but the opening moments made the shock decision to kill off fan favourites Hicks and Newt... and to lazily have those deaths take place off-screen as part of our Aliens survivors crash-landing on Fury 161.

Not just were franchise fans left surprised by all of this, but many were left angered. So much so, there's still a clamouring to this very day for the series to revisit Hicks and Newt, as reflected by the excitement shown when it appeared that District 9's Neill Blomkamp would be bringing those characters back for his sadly-now-axed Aliens sequel.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.