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You never know who might show up at a San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel. During 20^th Century Studios Alien: Romulus presentation, director Fede Alvarez answered a series of fan questions. This isn’t unusual for a Hall H panel, but this was different because of WHO was asking the questions. Before getting to audience members, Alvarez answered a series of video questions submitted from other filmmakers.

One of them was from award-winning horror director Guillermo del Toro. The acclaimed director has been a longtime fan of the Alien franchise, and he’s curious about how the upcoming film Alien: Romulus will handle the Xenomorphs.

“I know you love monsters as much as I do, and the Xenomorph is one of the great designs in the history of filmmaking. I wanted to ask you, and for you to tell the good fellas at Comic-Con, what does it feel like to take such an iconic design and bring it to life again,” del Toro asked.

The video message humbled Alvarez, who hadn’t been told about it ahead of time. “I feel fucking amazing, but a massive responsibility, but such a fascinating challenge,” Alvarez answered.

The director then spoke about how he went back to Alien’s roots, and enlisted some of the original special effects artists, including Shane Mahan, who created the original Xenomorph Queen. “Whatever you do, you honor that. You honor that legacy; you honor that design. The main thing was to go back and hire the guys that were there at the beginning,” Alvarez continued.

“If you love it, it’s hard to fuck it up”

Alien: Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16. I hope Guillermo del Toro likes it.

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