The Alien franchise is one of the most enduring in film history, with a fan base that is not only forgiving, but extremely patient. The fans have stood by artist H.R. Giger’s dark vision of the Xenomorph throughout the subsequent sequels, crossovers and prequels, most of which have received a less than stellar reception from viewing audiences. But that hasn’t dampened expectations for the latest film to be tied directly to the Alien universe, and now some of the first images of Ridley Scott’s latest installment in the series could mean a renewed interest for audiences everywhere.
The batch of new set images from the filming of Alien: Covenant offer fans a glimpse of a dark and disturbing dystopic future and a plethora of destruction and several ashy beings. The context of the images is hard to speculate on at this stage of production, but they’re certainly an interesting peek into the next stage of progression in the Alien universe. Of course one has to wonder whether these people are from planet Earth or if they’re part of the film’s storyline that reportedly delves deeper into the story of the Engineers and their part in creating humankind. The images could very well be depicting Engineers who suffered a horrific fate similar to the people of Pompeii, or the figures could be human in nature.
At any rate, hopefully the new film will tie into the Alien franchise in a way that will be befitting the franchise. The original Ridley Scott Alien film, released back in 1979 to rave reviews, sparked a legendary 1986 sequel. Aliens brought now well-respected action director James Cameron into the fold and spawned what is still considered by many to be the quintessential film in the franchise. The third Alien film hit theaters in 1992, this time with a fresh take from director David Fincher, since Cameron was fully committed to building the Terminator franchise at the time with T2: Judgement Day. Fincher offered a fresh take on the universe, but for the first time in the franchise history Alien 3 received a mixed reception from fans. Aside from Alien: Resurrection, the remainder of the 1990s would relegate the fans to their Dark Horse comic books to get their Alien fix. It wasn’t until the ill-fated Alien vs. Predator crossover films in 2004 and 2007 that the fans would finally get not only another set of Alien film appearances, but the epic showdown that they thought they wanted on-screen.
Click Here to See the Alien: Covenant Set Photos
Alien: Covenant may sport the title name from the franchise, but this newest Ridley Scott addition to the mythos is absolutely a sequel to Prometheus, which is still a prequel to the original Alien. We do know that Covenant takes place a full decade after the events of Prometheus and we’re set to get two more films before the movies will catch up to the Alien movie timeline. It’s unknown what exactly the tone of Covenant may be, but we know that by the end of the movie fans will be seeing the all too familiar sights of the Alien eggs, face huggers, chest bursters and maybe even the queen mother herself.
Ridley Scott is returning again to the franchise he first made famous and he has given us a few vague, but important, plot details. In Covenant they will be exploring the planet that the Engineers came from and the reasons by they first made the terrifying Alien Xenomorphs. If the film really does answer the question of “why?” this predatory race of creature was created, then fans will have not only more depth to the mythos, but endless debate on whether they like or agree with the explanation given. This is an area that filmmakers will hopefully craft carefully and certainly not take lightly.
Alien: Covenant hits theaters on October 6, 2017.
Source: The Daily Mail
