‘Alien: Covenant’ and What To Expect From Ridley Scott’s New Film

Alien: Covenant is the new film by director Ridley Scott, and exists somewhere between two of his previous films, Prometheus (2012) and Alien (1979). The film exist in the same universe, but the objective of the new alien film is to explore the Xenomorph origin, where they come from, and who made them.

Alien: Covenan t will take place directly after Prometheus. Here is a refresher what the film is about.

Having found possibly clues to mankind’s origins on Earth, a team of wide-eyed explorers journey to the darkest parts of the universe to find answers. Hired to lead the expedition aboard the Prometheus spaceship, Dr. Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Dr. Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) hope to find, meet, and engage a race of benevolent, godlike beings who will answer all their questions about the human race. Along with hired on-board android David (Michael Fassbender) the crew will encounter an entity they did not expect.

Alien: Covenant has gone through so many changes it’s been hard to keep up. Changes to a film during pre-production is nothing new, but Ridley Scott’s track record of confusion is also the norm. One interview he will say one thing, and then the next interview is something completely different. Everything from the title to the plot has changed. The Telegraph wrote an article sometime ago about the possible plot spoilers of the new film, much of the information presented here based from this article. It’s interesting to compare what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what hasn’t been addressed

Let’s run down the list of changes made to Alien: Covenant

Title Change According to the Telegraph the film was to be titled Prometheus: Hell On Earth, then Screenrant says it was changed to Prometheus: Paradise Lost. Now it’s called Alien: Covenant . Director Neil Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie ), was slated to direct a fifth Alien film, with Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn to return. That was when Scott’s film was still called “Prometheus.” Now, Alien five is on hold indefinitely according to Slashfilm. Ridley Scott definitely had a hand in canceling the Alien Five project. Especially since Scott decided to use the mantle and call it Alien: Cove nan t (via THR)

The Xenomorphs

Initially, Scott wanted to shift focus and concentrate on a new species of Alien, but now Alien: Covenantis all about the Xenomorph origin. Can’t have two Alienfilms happening at once.

Major Character Getting The Ax

Dr. Elizabeth Shaw is the protagonist of Prometheus. She is the one who wanted to seek out the origin of the Alien and Engineers. But now reports are differing on what role she will play in Alien: Covenant. Does she have a small part? Does she have a large part? Is she even in the film? I09seems to agree we won’t be seeing muchof Dr. Shaw in this follow-up.

David

Michael Fassbender will be returning to the franchise as Prometheus resident android David. At the end of Prometheus, he was a talking head and the telegraph says that Ridley Scott may just keep it that way. The subject of David’s physical state in Alien: Covenanthasn’t been discussed recently, so it’s unclear if that theory will come to fruition.

The Engineers

In the Alien folklore, humanoids Engineers are responsible for the creation of humanity. However Alien: Covenantmay review a different origin for mankind and maybe the Engineers came from a higher power.

These details for Alien: Covenant are exciting, but the constant changes would make any Alien fan anxious. It’s also unfortunate that Blomkamp’s ‘Alien’ film is on hold. It would have been good to see the franchise to return to form.