u/Wwarez

It's a well-known fact that Biehn replaced Remar after several scenes in the hive were already filmed.
Remar is definitely visible with a white flower on the helmet in the opening scene of the hive.

But there is another blink-and-you-miss it frame during the Frost explosion.

That does not look like Biehn to me. Maybe it was a stuntman used for the explosion?
Seems to be holding hicks's shotgun. Or maybe it was an unidentified marine.

The expanded lore reveals Bishop's first activation, his mission before LV-426, and how he ended up serving with Apone’s Marines in Aliens: Bug Hunt. More surprisingly, his story didn’t actually end when Ripley disconnected him on Fury 161, in Aliens: Bishop Michael Bishop recovered his remains and eventually gave him a new body.

I put together Bishop’s full story, including his origins, his fate after Alien 3 (and alternate fate in William Gibson's Alien 3), and some of the other Bishop-model androids:

https://www.avpcentral.com/bishop-android

Aliens barely tells us anything about Vasquez before LV-426, but the expanded lore goes surprisingly deep.

She grew up in Los Angeles, spent time in juvenile prison, joined the Colonial Marines alongside Drake, and even had twins she was forced to leave behind. Her family story continued long after her death on LV-426.

I put together Vasquez's full story, including her relationship with Drake, her children and relatives, earlier bug hunts, and her final stand with Gorman:

https://www.avpcentral.com/jenette-vasquez

I went through all 7 failed Ripley clones from Alien: Resurrection and tried to piece together what each one actually was.

The novelization gives quite a bit more detail than the movie, especially for Clones 1–6. Ripley 7 is still easily the most disturbing.

Also included the comic and PlayStation game versions, plus some behind-the-scenes details.

https://www.avpcentral.com/failed-ripley-clones

Ellen and Amanda are the names everyone knows. The rest of the family is scattered across novels and comics, and the sources do not always agree.

A few of the extras:

• Some books name Amanda’s father as Alex. The Isolation novel leaves him unnamed and focuses on stepfather Paul Carter.
• Amanda later married Chad McLaren. Aliens says she died in 2178 with no children. Colony War treats that as a cryosleep cover story.
• Daniel Ripley is a 1950s doctor in Aliens: Earth Angel, with an unnamed wife, daughter Alicia, and a baby already on the way.
• Alan Decker in Sea of Sorrows is a later relative. The company says the genetics point back to Ellen and Amanda.

https://www.avpcentral.com/ripley-family-tree-explained

I put together a sourced roster of the named civilians (plus the River of Pain Marine garrison as a separate list) from Aliens: Director's Cut, Newt's Tale, River of Pain, Fire and Stone, The Blueprints, the Weyland-Yutani Report, Bug Hunt, and Aftermath.

https://www.avpcentral.com/hadleys-hope-colonists

A few numbers that stuck out:

• 158 civilians in River of Pain, not counting Marines.
• 59 named colonists/staff across sources (~37%)
• 6 named kids: Tim, Newt, Aaron, Luisa, Lizzie, Kembrell
• At least 8 named people get facehugged/impregnated, and Komiskey talks about roughly a dozen more patients
• Only 3 named civilians clearly get off Acheron alive and out of the star system: Newt, Luisa, and Dr. Mori
• 38 colonists escape on the Onager hauler to nearby LV-223, but all die there.

Some continuity issues:

• Every source likes adding its own doctors, so Ling / Kent / Biggs / Komiskey never seem to meet.
• River of Pain places ~21 Marines under Captain Brackett at the colony, while Aliens treats Hadley's Hope like a civilian site gone quiet (small arms fire, seismic explosives, settlers). That also makes the Sulaco drop weird: Lt. Gorman shows up with roughly a dozen Marines to "save" a place that, in the novel, already had a larger Marine force under a Captain
• Comic colonist Drapers is not the same person as Marine Sgt. Marvin Draper?

Also neat: Christopher Golden novelized beats from Newt's Tale into River of Pain, so Aaron and Bill Andrews carry over on purpose.

If you've got a named colonist I missed, drop it. Curious how many of the extras in the Director's Cut have a nametag and if they are available somewhere as props.

Tried lining up Colonial Marine grades across the main film, books, RPGs, and games. They disagree a lot more than I expected, so I wrote a full breakdown of what each source actually says.

Sources I used:

• Aliens (1986) — The base case. Gorman as green Lieutenant, Apone running the sweep as senior NCO (Master Sergeant on the Sulaco readout), Hicks taking working command when things fall apart. Ferro and Spunkmeyer fly at Corporal and Private, not warrants.
• ALIENS Adventure Game (Leading Edge, 1991) — First licensed RPG rank ladder. Shorter than the modern charts: Private through Master Sergeant, Lieutenant through Commander. Invents Tech Sergeant, skips PFC / Lance Corporal / Gunnery Sergeant, and has no warrant or general track.
• Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual (1995) — The big TO&E book. Rifle platoon structure, Staff NCO billets, android as Corps property beside the platoon commander, and a Warrant Officer in the UD-4 dropship crew. Still USCM, fiscal year 2179.
• Colonial Marines Operations Manual (Free League) — Alien RPG take. Rank is often just a title tied to MOS and billet; once the mission starts, the squad decides what it does. Also has its own officer / enlisted tables and synthetic adjutant notes.
• Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report — Useful for pinning Apone specifically as Master Sergeant.
• Aliens: Fireteam Elite — The clearest wall chart: full UACM enlisted, warrant (W-1–W-5), and officer ladder up to General, set in 2202 after the Colonial Protection Act rename.
• Aliens: Infestation — Playable Marine dossiers with real grades, including a Chief Warrant Officer (Friedric "Rook" Marcus).
• Aliens: Colonial Marines — Story ranks like Corporal Winter / Captain Cruz, plus a separate Rank 60 XP ladder that is loadouts, not a USCM chart.
• Aliens: Dark Descent — Story titles (Sergeant Harper, Otago roster) vs barracks leveling where "Sergeant" is a class specialization, not another rung on Private-to-General.

Full write-up with the charts, androids, field command, and how it all fits together:

https://www.avpcentral.com/colonial-marine-ranks

Found this funny. Does anyone know about Aliens: Crusade and have read it? Is it supposedly finished now on the newer omnibuses.

During the board of inquiry in Aliens, the Company cycles through closed personnel files for the lost Nostromo crew, including green CRT screens, sticky portraits, and original prop wording (typos included).

I rebuilt all seven as they appear on screen, in full searchable text:

https://www.avpcentral.com/nostromo-crew-profiles

Ash’s redacted file is still the best one.

Pulled together bios for all 12 Marines from the Aliens drop (plus Bishop), ranked by rank from Gorman down to Crowe and Wierzbowski.

Film stuff first, then what novels/comics/games add — Apone’s brother, Vasquez’s twins, Hicks after LV-426, the usual continuity mess.

https://www.avpcentral.com/colonial-marine-bios-aliens

This guy skinned victims, wore their skin as disguises, killed indiscriminately, and even murdered children.

What's crazy is that Skinner appeared in a Marvel Spider-Man comic, which is about as kid-friendly as Predator crossovers get.

Even other Predators considered him so dishonorable that they hunted him down themselves.

Can anyone think of a worse Yautja?

This guy skinned victims, wore their skin as disguises, killed indiscriminately, and even murdered children.

What's crazy is that Skinner appeared in a Marvel Spider-Man comic, which is about as kid-friendly as Predator crossovers get.

Even other Predators considered him so dishonorable that they hunted him down themselves.

Can anyone think of a worse Yautja?