Since Disney’s monumental acquisition of 20th Century Fox back in 2019 for a staggering $71.3 billion, the entertainment giant seems to have successfully breathed new life into the iconic Alien series. While one might assume that killer extraterrestrial beings would be a guaranteed hit, the franchise’s history indicates otherwise. Although the original Alien film and its sequel, Aliens, are universally recognized as masterpieces, subsequent installments often veered into less compelling territory. Despite director Ridley Scott’s determined efforts to revive the saga in the 2010s with Prometheus (2012), those films proved too intellectually complex for mainstream audiences and studio executives alike.
However, the tides appear to be turning for everyone’s favorite space monster. Alien: Romulus has emerged as a successful reboot, promising a sequel. Moreover, later this month, Alien: Earth will introduce the xenomorph to our home planet in the first-ever Alien television series.
While we anticipate the fresh sci-fi horrors that Noah Hawley has in store, it’s worth revisiting what is arguably the most underrated and often overlooked movie in the Alien franchise, which is currently available for streaming on HBO Max as of August 1st.
Released in 2017, Alien: Covenant occupies a somewhat awkward space within the franchise. Following criticism from both critics and fans that Prometheus lacked the essential elements of an Alien film, Ridley Scott responded by delivering precisely what his detractors wanted. Covenant blends the deliberate world-building of its predecessor with the familiar tropes of earlier franchise entries, such as derelict spacecraft, intense firefights, and, of course, terrifying space creatures. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of a truly great film, it does offer several memorable moments, largely thanks to the sinister android David (portrayed by Michael Fassbender), who was introduced in the previous film.
Intriguingly, in an interview with SciFiNow, Scott revealed that Covenant was not a direct response to the fan feedback surrounding Prometheus. The sequel had, in fact, been in development for quite some time, which explains why David survives the events of the first film and reappears in the second.
“That’s precisely why we kept [David] alive until the very end,” Scott stated. “He was in two pieces, but we ensured [David and Shaw] were together at the conclusion because I believed, ‘One way or another, we’ll be continuing this story.'”
During the same conversation, Scott hinted that he had already begun preliminary work on a third film within the so-called “David” trilogy. This film intended to conclude his Alien prequel narrative and possibly definitively reveal the origins of both the xenomorphs and their creators, known as the Engineers (the towering, blue, and bald aliens featured in Prometheus). Nevertheless, considering the current trajectory of the franchise, this outcome appears improbable.
In a recent discussion, Noah Hawley, the creative force behind Alien: Earth, even commented that the narratives of Prometheus and Covenant weren’t particularly “useful” to him. While emphasizing that he consulted with Ridley Scott regarding the new series, Hawley explained that the origin story presented within Scott’s prequel films (in essence, the xenomorph is a biological weapon potentially engineered by David, though this remains somewhat ambiguous) held less appeal compared to the original Alien film’s notion of the xenomorph being a “perfect life form,” evolving over millennia to become the ultimate killing machine.
Hawley’s perspective is understandable. There’s a reason why the first Alien remains a cornerstone of science fiction cinema. Nevertheless, he seems to overlook the fundamental purpose of Covenant. Scott’s intended prequel trilogy isn’t merely a recounting of origins designed to populate the xenomorph’s Wikipedia entry. Rather, it represents a comprehensive mythology for the entire franchise, a gritty, almost biblical space epic meant to illuminate the grim, dystopian future of the Alien universe. Without this overarching mythology, we are left to rely solely on the retro-futuristic aesthetics of the initial films, which can only take us so far.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Alien saga’s future may diverge significantly from Scott’s envisioned prequel trilogy (and Scott himself recently announced that he is “done” with the franchise). Even as the narrative progresses under Disney’s direction, it is worthwhile to revisit Alien: Covenant. This ambitious film attempted to provide Alien with the origin story it deserved, and to a certain extent, succeeded.
Alien: Covenant is currently available for streaming on both HBO Max and Hulu.