Prometheus is one of the more controversial entries in the Alien franchise, and it’s been thirteen years since the film was first released and sparked so much endless discussion online. Surprisingly, many are still debating the exact details of this story after so much time – primarily because so much of the narrative was intentionally left open-ended. There are some huge mysteries in Prometheus, which leaves the door open for plenty of theorizing among fans.

The biggest questions following Prometheus and Alien: Covenant pertain to the origins of the Engineers and their mysterious black goo, which is what the entire prequel franchise centers around. One of the many reasons Prometheus is so polarizing is that it doesn’t fully explain these ideas, leaving much of its story up to interpretation. This can sometimes be frustrating, even though other Alien movies have retroactively answered questions about Prometheus‘ ending in the years since its release. But while there are still plenty of doubts, I’m confident that many of the film’s biggest questions have already been answered in theories.

6

Jesus Was An Engineer In The Alien Universe

The Engineers Were Coming For Revenge

Perhaps the most popular fan theory in the entire Alien universe (partly because it was unofficially confirmed by Ridley Scott) is the idea that Jesus was an envoy sent by the Engineers to guide humanity to their full potential following their creation. The theory supposes that Jesus was a lone Engineer who traveled to Earth and created humanity using the mysterious black goo, but his teachings were ultimately rejected, and he was killed as a result. This is what triggered the Engineers to turn their backs on humanity and begin planning their destruction.

Scott has admitted in several interviews that his use of religious imagery throughout Prometheus was intentional, and the idea of Jesus being an engineer was something that he considered when making the film. This theory fits neatly with the film’s existing exploration of religion and spirituality, particularly when viewed as an argument for religion as a destructive force – or even that God has turned his back on us. Not only does this proposal explain why the Engineers were coming to Earth, but it also gives the rest of the story a much darker twist.

5

The Black Goo Is Xenomorph DNA

The Xenomorphs Existed Before The Black Goo

The timeline of the Alien franchise is very complicated, and people can rarely agree on which came first: the Xenomorph or the black goo. Alien: Covenant seemingly suggests that David created the aliens using the goo, but other sources throughout the franchise indicate that they existed long before the Engineers. For a long time, this has been a fundamental plot hole in the series.

However, many theorized that Prometheus’ black goo actually contains the DNA of the Xenomorphs, and David merely used it to reverse engineer a species that had already existed in the past. This explanation manages to somehow avoid both sides of this difficult problem, concluding that neither the Xenomorphs nor the black goo came first, but that they’re the same. This theory is now pretty much confirmed to be correct after the events of Alien: Romulus.

4

The “Engineers” That David Kills Aren’t Really Engineers

They Were A More “Refined” Species Of Humanity

At the beginning of Alien: Covenant, it’s revealed that David wiped out an entire colony of “Engineers” after learning about their experiments and commandeering their research facility for his own work. However, a different interpretation is that while this society resembles the Engineers, it may not be the same species that was seen in Prometheus. They’re dressed slightly differently, and the planet’s large docking station indicates that the Engineers frequently visit these people. And if they’re not Engineers, then their similar appearance would indicate that they’re another experiment (like humanity), but this time a “successful” one.

It’s taken for granted throughout Prometheus and Covenant that humanity was the only experiment of the Engineers, and that our perceived “failure” would have prevented the aliens from using the black goo again. But this interesting theory suggests that we’re just one of many Engineer offshoots, and the reason we’re the one that deserves destruction is because we strayed too far from their path. While Ridley Scott would need to finish the Prometheus trilogy for us to get a concrete answer, this is a fascinating theory that reframes the Engineers as unreliable deities.

3

David Didn’t Kill Walter, He Became Him

Walter’s Death May Have Been Nothing More Than Reintegration

David’s cold-blooded murder of Walter in Alien: Covenant’s ending is one of the most disturbing (if predictable) moments in the entire series, but not all viewers were convinced by the film’s simplistic explanation of events. If we take this betrayal at the surface level, it’s a dark point of no return for David, as he decides to value the pursuit of science and “greatness” over the safety of his crewmates and those who built him. It’s a powerful statement on the nature of artificial intelligence, which has only become more and more relevant in the years since the film’s release.

However, Reddit user Chaddified proposes that David may not have killed Walter at all. Instead, the former could have forced his memories and ideology into the latter’s “brain”, taking over his body and wearing the other android as a disguise. In many ways, this is even more intelligent and disturbing than David simply pretending to be Walter. In this version, he actually becomes him, and the “good” robot is evicted from his own body – or perhaps merely repressed, suggesting he could return in the future.

2

The Engineers Wanted Humanity To Become Xenomorphs

The Aliens Were Trying To Create A Weaponized Species

The Engineers’ motivations are one of the most confounding aspects of Prometheus and Covenant, likely because Ridley Scott never got around to making the final instalment. As such, we are left with many questions regarding why the aliens would create humanity in the first place. The film seems to lean towards them being a benevolent creator looking to create a species in their own image (which lends itself nicely to Prometheus’ religious imagery), but Reddit user sambosambosambo has a much darker idea of what could have been going through their heads.

Almost every time the black goo is used throughout the Alien franchise, something bad happens. Whether that’s the origins of the Xenomorph in Prometheus or the conception of the Offspring in Alien: Romulus. It’s hard to believe that the Engineers wouldn’t know this, so it’s entirely possible that they intended to create something as dangerous as the Xenomorphs – but they got humanity instead. This explains why they’re so disappointed in us – they’re not looking to kill us for revenge but rather out of disappointment. Prometheus changed the Alien franchise mᴀssively; this theory understands just how dark it can get.

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The Engineers Were Killed By Jealous Artificial Intelligence

They Never Wanted To See Humanity Destroyed

On the other side of the same coin, Reddit user K10111 suggests that the Engineers had nothing but pure intentions when creating humanity. However, they note that it’s extremely likely a civilization as advanced as the Engineers would have invented some form of advanced artificial intelligence, and this could be what got them killed.

The AI may have grown jealous of their relationship with humanity, realizing that the Engineers had created something more advanced and biological than themselves. This would have undoubtedly led to conflicts between the Engineers and the AI, and judging by the wasteland that existed at the time of Prometheus, it’s clear who won. This is another theory that likely won’t be answered any time soon, but it reframes the entire series in a refreshingly positive way.