With just under 400 days to go before the USCSS Covenant touches down in theaters worldwide, we currently know very little about Alien: Covenant's plot and secrets. However recently, new details have become apparent that have ignited discussion and debate with fans of both Alien and Prometheus. Fan theories and spoilers aside however, this article will detail what we actually know so far about Alien: Covenant. As new details arrive, we'll be sure to expand this post with later installments.
Alien: Covenant takes place 10 years after Prometheus.
Taking place roughly around 10 years after Prometheus, Alien: Covenant will take place sometime in the year 2104. Prometheus ended with David and Shaw leaving LV-223 in 2094. To help compare, during the events of Alien: Covenant, Alien's Ellen Ripley will be about 11 years old.
Weyland and Yutani have merged and fund the Covenant mission.
Officially released images of the Covenant crew jacket revealed to us that Weyland and Yutani have officially merged to form the Weyland-Yutani corporation by the time Alien: Covenant takes place. Perhaps the Trillion dollar hit Weyland absorbed after the Prometheus mission failed required them to merge with another company in order to stay afloat? More recently, film crew sweaters were spotted sporting the iconic "Building Better Worlds" Weyland-Yutani tagline as well.
Michael Fassbender will play more than one David.
David 8 is the only survivor of the doomed Prometheus mission when the crew of the Covenant eventually find him on a remote Alien planet. The Covenant crew will also be accompanied by a second David Android. However, we're not sure if this is an eigth generation David model or a later model. We also don't know if the new David will have similar motives as David 8. What we do know, going by a recent movie still is that this new David will have brown hair instead of blonde.
There will be more Aliens.
The fate of LV-223's Deacon has yet to be revealed, but we know Alien: Covenant will introduce us to some new and familiar Aliens. The Facehugger, Chestburster and "Big Boy" (as Ridley Scott refers to it as) will all be re-introduced at some point in Alien: Covenant.
There will be a terrifying Chestburster scene.
Ridley Scott teased early on that there will be an iconic Alien birthing scene in Alien: Covenant; one he insinuates will out-do the burster scene in his 1979 original Alien.
Katherine Waterston plays Daniels.
Despite rumors of her character's connection to one of the Alien series' main characters, what we know for sure about Katherine Waterston's character is her name - Daniels. The only image released showing off her in character and on set insinuates that Daniels will face some big challenges throughout the film and will likely be one of the film's primary, strong, female leads, like Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and Noomi Rapace's Shaw.
Noomi Rapace is back as Elizabeth Shaw.
Despite an apparent lack of mention in the film's official plot synopsis, Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw will be given some screentime in Alien: Covenant. Only recently was her involvement announced, following repeat interviews with the film's cast and director, which originally led fans to believe Noomi's role had been completely written out. Regardless, many are pleased to hear of her return. Perhaps her involvement was meant to be a surprise?
We discover Paradise, but nobody is home.
If you're expecting a vast kingdom run by Engineers on a lush planet, you'll be severely disappointed when you see Alien: Covenant. According to the film's official plot synopsis, David 8 will be the only inhabitant of Paradise upon the Covenant crew's arrival, as mentioned above. However, we may get a few flashback scenes explaining what became of the Engineers and their home world. Leaked set photos suggest something major caused mass hysteria and chaos for the Engineer population. Beyond our own assumptions however, little is actually known for sure why Paradise remains a barren wasteland and what became of the Engineers which once inhabited it.
Alien: Covenant is one of three sequels Fox has planned for Prometheus.
Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox are planning a serious expansion of the Alien franchise. Building off of concepts introduced in Prometheus, Alien: Covenant will act as a semi-sequel to Prometheus and a semi-prequel to Alien. Interviews with Ridley Scott as well as John Logan, one of the film's writers and last to revise the script, have suggested that Covenant will lean closer to concepts more familiar to those of Alien instead of Prometheus. However, that's not to say the expansion of the franchise's mythos won't continue to be explored. What we really know is, Alien: Covenant will focus heavily on the Alien and the creation of such a being. The what and the why of the Xenomorph's purpose will be explored and somewhat explained, while leaving many questions unanswered. Given that this film will act as one of three planned sequels, fans should expect there to be quite a number of open-ended plot points.
Fox will not be showing a trailer for Alien: Covenant at this year's Comic-Con.
In an attempt to preserve the film's secrets and quality from piracy, Fox have decided not to debut footage from Alien: Covenant at this year's Hall H presentation at Comic-Con. We expect a teaser debut may occur closer to the Fall or Winter of 2016, but likely not before then.
There are still so many things we don't know about Alien: Covenant, but that only makes this process of waiting all the more fun. Fans from around the world have contributed some great theories and discussions right here on Scified in our Alien: Covenant forum. As filming continues and as we near the release of the film's first teaser trailer, we can only expect the number of questions we have to grow exponentially. Alien: Covenant is clearly one of the most highly anticipated and most actively discussed upcoming films we're covering and we can't wait to learn more.
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