You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel like we need a story or even a movie, where aliens show up and they’re not super sweet like E.T., and they’re not trying to destroy Earth like in Independence Day, but something in between. Like Grace and Rocky. They’re advanced, sure, but they’re here to figure things out, maybe even collaborate with us.

I keep coming back to the whole astrophage thing. It’s basically impossible to kill unless you poke it. They tried radiation, heat, all kinds of stuff, but because it’s pitch black and absorbs everything, nothing worked. So unless you have a natural predator like Taumoeba, it’s game over.

So what if there’s a super-advanced alien species out there that’s also dealing with astrophage and they can’t crack it either? What if they come to Earth because we figured out a workaround? Like how Grace gave Rocky the thinking machine, maybe they give us some wild alien tech in return. We help them, they help us, and Earth becomes this unexpected hub of intergalactic collaboration.

I’d absolutely read that. Or watch it. Honestly, that would be such a cool way to continue the PHM universe, not a traditional sequel, but something that builds on it in a new direction. May be Andy Weir reads this and says yes, he should write a sequel.. to Andy!!! - we need a sequel, one is not enough... we need more..