Director Ridley Scott’s “one foot in, one foot out” approach to the Alien quasi-prequel that was Prometheus all but confused/angered fans; and things have only gotten more knotted, since Scott delayed Neil Blomkamp’s planned sequel to Aliens – with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, Michael Biehn’s Hicks and Carrie Henn’s Newt returning – in order to make his Prometheus sequel, Alien: Covenant.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Little has been known about Covenant during its production; casting details let us know that Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace will return, and new characters are played by Amy Seimetz, Danny McBride, Demiรกn Bichir, Billy Crudup, Carmen Ejogo, and Katherine Waterston. The synopsis for the film reads like a classic Ridley Scott sci-fi/horror blend:
Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world, whose sole inhabitant is the synthetic David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
Scott recently put out an official tweet announcing the end of principal photography on Alien: Covenant, and if you look closely, there may be a new mystery to ponder, regarding the storyline and characters:
Filming has wrapped. The next phase begins. #AlienCovenant pic.twitter.com/tH19MTGjfB
โ Alien Anthology (@AlienAnthology) July 19, 2016
Pictured there with Scott is actress Katherine Waterston, known for her role in P.T. Anderson’s Inherent Vice, and she looks conspicuously like Sigrouney Weaver’s Ripley, no? Of course, it could just be an head nod to the series’ past (one that would be a little too on-the-nose?), and Waterston’s character could just be a minor one in the overall mythos, rather than a major one. Or… she very well could be a new “Ripley-type” for us to root for.
We’ll see when Alien: Covenant hits theaters on August 4, 2017.