It was so excited when Ridley Scott returned to the Alien franchise with Prometheus, but the movie’s cliffhanger ending was never properly explored. After directing the first Alien movie, which was released in 1979, Scott pᴀssed on the franchise to other directors. James Cameron masterfully directed the second movie in the science fiction franchise, but the third and fourth Alien movies were not as well-received. Therefore, Scott returning with 2012’s Prometheus was the perfect move to usher in a new era for the franchise.
Even though Prometheus gave explanations for a lot of the Alien franchise’s biggest mysteries, the series still feels strangely incomplete. Scott had a chance to further flesh out the long-running franchise with 2017’s Alien: Covenant, but this was not the Prometheus sequel that many people expected. Instead of picking up not long after the ending of Prometheus, Scott decided to follow a new set of characters in Alien: Covenant. While the 2017 movie introduces several great characters, it highlights the fact that there is clearly a movie missing from the Alien franchise.
There Should’ve Been An Alien Movie Between Prometheus And Covenant
Prometheus’ Exciting Ending Is Never Properly Followed Up On
In Prometheus, Elizabeth and Charlie discover drawings of the Engineers in caves all over the world, and eventually figure out where they need to go to meet them. Peter Weyland is equally enthusiastic about meeting the potential creators of humanity, so he funds the Prometheus’ expedition to the planet LV-223. However, upon exploring the mysterious planet, Elizabeth, Charlie, and their crew discover that all but one of the group of Engineers died long before their arrival.
The death of the Engineers is actually a good thing, since it is later revealed that they were on their way to wipe out humanity. After the Last Engineer is awakened at the end of the film, it kills Peter Weyland and decapitates David before going after Elizabeth Shaw. Elizabeth’s fate seems set in stone at the end of Prometheus, but she manages to unleash the Trilobite, which attacks the Last Engineer while she escapes. As the only survivor of the crew, Elizabeth returns to the Engineer’s ship and agrees to fix David and leave the planet with him.
The ending of Prometheus sees Elizabeth and David set off to find the true home of the Engineers, which is eventually seen in Alien: Covenant. However, Covenant is set after the death of Elizabeth Shaw, which is disappointing since she is a great protagonist in Prometheus. There should have been another movie between Prometheus and Alien: Covenant that followed Elizabeth and David on their journey to the Engineer’s home planet. Instead, the events of their journey had to be revealed in brief flashbacks and an online prologue for Alien: Covenant.
Alien: Covenant Barely Feels Like A Sequel To Prometheus
Alien: Covenant Introduces A New Crew Of Characters
After the action-packed ending of Prometheus, I’ve always found the beginning of Alien: Covenant to be quite jarring since it follows a new android, once again played by Michael Fᴀssbender, and a brand-new crew. Even though the film opens with a conversation between David and Peter Weyland, the first half of Alien: Covenant seems like it’s going to completely ignore the events of Prometheus and be a separate, standalone story. Of course, David eventually meets the new crew in Alien: Covenant, but the absence of Elizabeth Shaw makes the film barely feel like a true sequel.
Between Prometheus and Covenant, David betrays Elizabeth and kills her so that he can perform experiments on her.
Of course, there is an explanation why Elizabeth does not have a prominent role in Alien: Covenant. Between Prometheus and Covenant, David betrays Elizabeth and kills her so that he can perform experiments on her. Believing that androids are superior to both humans and the Engineers, David also weaponizes the black goo that is seen in Prometheus to wipe out the entire Engineer population between the two films. Therefore, when the characters in Alien: Covenant arrive on the planet, it seems to be entirely empty.
Prometheus Feels Like An Incomplete Story Because Of Alien: Covenant
An Additional Alien Movie Could Have Followed Elizabeth & David’s Journey After Prometheus
Since David is still a prominent character and the fate of Elizabeth is revealed, Alien: Covenant does continue the story of Prometheus. However, it is continued in a very unsatisfying way. Since Alien: Covenant quickly moves on from everything that was set up in Prometheus, it seems like Scott just lost interest in Elizabeth as a character. This is disappointing, since she was the most interesting protagonist in the Alien franchise since Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. Elizabeth defies the odds in Prometheus, which has an exciting cliffhanger ending, but then she is underwhelmingly killed offscreen before the events of Alien: Covenant.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with David killing Elizabeth in the Alien franchise. After all, him killing her turns him into an even more intriguing and mysterious character. However, it should have happened onscreen, rather than between two movies in the franchise. Alien: Covenant feels more like a conclusion to a trilogy, rather than a direct sequel to Prometheus. Therefore, Scott should have made another Alien movie in between that further developed the relationship between Elizabeth and David and chronicled her tragic death.
Alien: Romulus Might Be The Closest Thing We’ll Get To Giving Prometheus Closure
Alien: Romulus Gives Prometheus’ Black Goo A New Name
Even though Alien: Covenant barely feels like a sequel to Prometheus, 2024’s Alien: Romulus has a surprise connection to the 2012 sci-fi film. In the film, Rain, Andy, and Tyler speak with the android Rook, who has the same appearance as Ash from the first Alien movie. Rook explains to them that Weyland-Yutani was performing experiments with a compound called Z-01, which he also refers to as “Prometheus fire.” This substance is the same black goo that is seen in Prometheus, and that David uses to wipe out all the Engineers in Alien: Covenant.
|
All Alien Movies |
RT Critics Score |
|---|---|
|
Alien (1979) |
93% |
|
Aliens (1986) |
94% |
|
Alien 3 (1992) |
44% |
|
Alien: Resurrection (1997) |
55% |
|
Prometheus (2012) |
73% |
|
Alien: Covenant (2017) |
65% |
|
Alien: Romulus (2024) |
80% |
At the end of Alien: Romulus, the gravely injured and pregnant Kay injects herself with Z-01, which leads to the Offspring being born. The Offspring shares a striking resemblance to the Engineers, who were first introduced in Prometheus. Therefore, Alien: Romulus has several surprising connections to Prometheus, and helps to answer some of the mysteries that were set up in the film. Since no proper sequel to Prometheus was ever made, Alien: Romulus may be the best closure fans will ever get for what is perhaps the most thought-provoking movie in the Alien franchise.
Alien
- Movie(s)
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Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012), Alien: Covenant (2017), Alien: Romulus (2024)
- Created by
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Ridley Scott
- First Film
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Alien
- Latest Film
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Alien: Romulus
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Alien: Earth
Summary
The Alien franchise, which began with Ridley Scott’s 1979 film, is a Sci-Fi series comprised of several horror films, games, and comic books centered on humanity’s encounters with a hostile extraterrestrial species known as Xenomorphs. Characterized by their lethal prowess and capability to reproduce at an alarming rate, these creatures pose a profound threat to human existence. The primary series protagonist, Ellen Ripley, acts as the voice of reason as she seeks to keep the creatures out of the hands of greed-driven corporate scientists.
