We want to talk about it. You want to talk about it. Let’s talk about it.
Five years after the release of the polarizing Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s sequel Alien: Covenant finally arrived to continue the saga this past weekend. We’ve already posted two reviews of the film here on Bloody Disgusting in recent weeks – Jimmy Champane loved it, calling it “an intensely crafted nightmare,” while Trace Thurman found it to be “disappointing“ – and today we wanted to dig deeper into the latest Alien prequel now that it’s out there for mass consumption.
Specifically, we want to talk spoilers. ALL the spoilers.
When Prometheus was released back in 2012, many Alien fans expected that we’d learn the origin story of the Xenomorph; instead, the first Alien prequel expanded upon the franchise’s universe by introducing us to the Engineers, the literal creators of humanity. The film memorably ended with the birth of “Deacon,” a proto-Xenomorph that hinted at the next film in the series being a whole lot more monster-heavy. And oh boy did Ridley Scott deliver on that promise, unleashing with Alien: Covenant a full-on Alien film that finally answered the big question.
Who created the Xenomorphs? That’d be android David, also responsible for wiping out the Engineers in the wake of Prometheus. After dropping a payload of that deadly black goo on their home planet and then killing Elizabeth Shaw, the rebuilt David began extensive research that led to the creation of the egg, the Face Hugger, the whole damn thing. All he needed was a human host, which he was finally provided with when the Covenant crew arrived on the Engineers’ home planet.
In Alien: Covenant, we see the birth of the very first Xenomorph, which erupts from Oram’s (Billy Crudup) chest and seems to have a bond with its father, David. That original Xenomorph’s life doesn’t last very long, as Daniels (Katherine Waterson) proves herself to be every bit as resourceful and badass as franchise heroine Ellen Ripley; but actually bearing witness to its birth was a pretty huge moment for the series.
Now that the Xenomorph has been successfully created, David seems intent on colonizing an entire planet with the new master race, wiping out humanity and replacing all human life with his own creation. We saw at the end of Alien: Covenant that he brought two Face Hugger embryos aboard the Covenant, presumably intended for survivors Daniels and Tennessee – but that would only create two Xenomorphs, would it not?
That brings us to be an even bigger question.
If David created the Xenomorphs, then where does the Queen (introduced in James Cameron’s Aliens) come into play? Has Ridley Scott decided to completely retcon the events of all the Alien films he himself did not make, or is David eventually going to create a Queen to lay Xenomorph eggs on the colonization planet?
Oh and where did the eggs on LV-426 come from, huh?!
These are the questions we hope to discuss with you guys in the comments section below, so please do respond with your own thoughts and theories about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in regards to Alien: Covenant. We really want to dig deep into the movie with you, so feel free to comment with any questions, thoughts or concerns that are in your head at the moment. Let’s work this all out together, shall we?
Oh and if you hated the movie, this isn’t the thread for that. But we’re sorry you did.
