Comments (Page 157)

With some Franchises you can Churn Out Sequels because you can introduce New Characters/Hero's this applies with the DC and Marvel Universes, with other Franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek their is the Scope to keep Expanding due to the Various Races and Size of the Galaxy that the Franchise Occupies.

Back to the ALIEN Franchise, then RS had said that he felt the Franchise had the Potential to be like a Star Wars and Star Trek, a Very BOLD Statement.... This would actually be UNLIKELY if we stuck to Earth/Humans and the Weyland-Yutani Company and Xenomorph Eggs.

which is where the Vision he had for the Prequels via the Introduction of the Engineers would have OPENED up many Possibilities... but again CHANGE is something that some Fans are not Happy with.

In the Fans defense there was something Special About the Cosmic Horror that was the ALIEN Franchise that maybe STICKING to what we got works...  but then your Limited to HOW MANY times you can Repeat the Plot of the Quadrilogy Over and Over before you RUN OUT of Ideas.

This is where EXPANDING on who the Space Jockey could have Broadened the Franchise, the Creator Angle does this but at a Cost that Humanoids from Space is maybe NOT as ALIEN as the Franchise Deserved.

while this TOPIC was about Movie Ideas in General.. i am merely saying that some Franchises have a Advantage in how they can Churn out Movie after Movie that can Differ quite a bit between them.

Sometimes you get a Unique Idea something Fresh that then is BEST to be kept to a Stand Alone or a Run of a Few Movies.  Maybe in Hindsight the Quadilogy should have been LEFT as it was and what preceded a MYSTERY.

David overpowered Walter and took over his body. he transported his soul to Walter and fled with him. and left his old body or duplicated that there are two David's and Walter's software has replaced his or simply turned it off. he had the same wounds on his face as Walter and a severed hand. he had to somehow take over his body and everyone on the ship thought it was Walter. took Walter's body because it was perfected. I wonder what about David who was on the planet 4. turned off or there will be two of them and they will create stories together.

It's true that there are too many sequels out there in theaters- but the paying audience seems to love them too, so there you go. Streaming services have made serious inroads. There are very good series and one offs out there. It seems this is where one has to go to find decent original content. The theater experience seems to be where a lot of sequels are and they will likely continue as long as they make enough for the bean counters.

.Thoughts_Dreams, you forgot to mention Avatar.

Those films have their fans in large supply and it seems they are easier to please, because of their age  they have to be accompanied at the theaters, so the studios smelled the easy money.

Otherwise, we are no so different, we do ask for more sequels, prequels, even tv series, except we are difficult to please and overly pretentious and quick to criticize.

It's hard to make us all happy, it takes time. And it takes a director with a vision and little concern for what the fans want, to deliver something original.

Instead of David returning to LV426 or LV223...How about he starts finding derelict Juggernauts on his way to Origae?

He locates wrecked juggernauts(and other Engineers type starships)orbiting gas giants or the stars .....Boarding them, he finds more burst Space Jockeys, the cryo chambers store Engineers that have also been burst.

Many of the derelicts have ampules that David retrieves.

They also have different types of ovomorphs....4 chamber ones, .......Ones that contain a dozen facehuggers!

He takes them back to the Covenant.(to test them on the crew)

He also finds flatish ovomorphs ...that when disturbed...Spew thousands of spider like insects, they swarm him...He casually removes them from around his eyes, not wishing to harm the little babies....he lets many of them remain clinging to his 'skin' as he returns them to the Covenant, he returns with a empty space suit to collect the rest of the spiders.

David fills Daniels cryochamber with the spiders and wakes her..that'd be fun!

Or have David discover the spiders excrete a polymer and they are soon transforming the interior of the Covenant to something similar to a Juggernauts. 

Also many of the ovomorphs he finds are fossilized(no longer living/active)

chli, thanks for mentioning Félicette. I pasted below some info from Wikipedia, Félicette was not as lucky as Jonesy:

"Félicette was the first cat launched into space, on 18 October 1963 as part of the France space program. Félicette was one of 14 female cats trained for spaceflight. The cats had electrodes implanted onto their skulls so their neurological activity could be monitored throughout the flight. Electrical impulses were applied to the brain and a leg during the flight to stimulate responses. The capsule was recovered 13 minutes after the rocket was ignited. Most of the data from the mission was of good quality, and Félicette survived the flight, the only cat to have survived spaceflight. A second feline was launched on 24 October, but the mission resulted in a fatality.

Félicette was euthanized two months after the launch so that scientists could perform a necropsy to examine her brain."

RIP Félicette.

I thought the eggs were on board the derelict because there weren't enough money to make the pyramid from the original script. There was also the theory that the ship was producing the eggs (the egg sylo by Giger).

Now, after the prequels, it seems impossible to go back to the original ideas, since the eggs have been replaced by black goo urns and David had nothing better to do while marooned on planet 4 than to experiment on the local fauna until he created the xenomorph. So we should ask David what's the purpose of eggs, other than for his sadistic amusement. I think the engineers have no part in this.

What was the purpose of the vehicle and what was the purpose of the eggs? That’s the thing to question — who, why, and for what purpose is the next idea, I think.

I would also ask, how did the eggs got on board? I have difficulties imagining somebody carrying them one by one, so there must have been a queen on board. David said he had one more thing to perfect, his queen. Let's say he succeded, but how did the queen ended up on a Juggernaut? And who is the Space Jockey? 

If whoever will direct the next alien film wants to forget that David created the xenomorph, the easiest way would be to show the Deacon from Prometheus evolve into a queen, laying eggs on a Juggernaut from LV223, then the last surviving engineer taking off to find David and Shaw, unaware of the deadly cargo that eventually would lead to the crash landing on LV426.

I have missed some Replies on here, i think i will PASS on replying to them (as the comments i would like to reply to are by Posters who MAY-NOT be back to respond).

So i will reply to you Michart

First Welcome aboard ;)

Those Engineers do look more like a Hybrid of Human and Engineers, you could be Mistaken to think they had taken Humans to Interbreed with, that Certainly would FIT.  As would if the Engineers could not PROCREATE and so our Creation/Evolution was to allow them to be able to Procreate again (if they Ran out of Females).

What it could be is that the Prometheus Engineers are to those Planet 4 Engineers as the Replicants in Blade Runner are to Humans ;)

Regarding the Black Goo... well with the Revelation its a Form of Radical A.I it becomes a McGuffin that can be MOLDED to do what ever they see FIT for a Plot Convenience.

It could be the Ship did something to those URNS that would Cause a Different Reaction to the Pathogen... Think of this like the Arming and Activation of a Atomic Bomb!

Where as the Fallen/Leaked Urns on the Crashed Ship, and those in Prometheus are like a Nuclear Weapon in Storage that Suffers a Radioactive Leak!

I think the Prometheus connections are Multiple, such as other Mythos that is Connected to the Movie.

Overall the Context of a Prometheus, such as a Satan or God is to NOT be placed down to a Single Entity as with the actual Mythos/Religion but it maybe is to Connect to a Group.

It was kept Very Ambiguous as to HOW the Mythos could Connect, but the MAIN ELEMENT at Play is Forbidden Knowledge and HOW it is that Knowledge is a Powerful Tool.

The other MAIN ASPECT is about Going against the Wishes/Intentions of the Hierarchy/Leader/Gods and the Fear they have about Losing Control and the Punishment they are willing to INFLICT to Maintain this Control or upon those who have BROKEN the Rules.

To TRY and Connect HOW/WHO is the Figure of Prometheus in the Franchise is Tricky as with the Ambiguity we could look at many Possible Explanations.

The Closest Indication we have is RS saying the Big Head Statue is Prometheus.  But is this in Context to a Single Engineer, is it the Engineers in General or a Faction?

Yep Original Ideas seem in Short Supply ;)

You get the ODD decent Movie that offers a Different take on something, but to TRULY find something thats NEVER been done before is Unfortunately RARE

Sometimes Churning Out sequel, after Sequel is what Makes Money, sometimes Fans do-not like Change too Much!  Once we have Done that Over and Over...  If its not Broke dont Fix It just COOK IT!

A lot of stuff is done for Nostalgia, and sometimes it works but sometimes for some Fans they dont like people MESSING with their Beloved Franchises.

When they cant figure out a Sequel they sometimes go the whole Reboot where again Nostalgia sometimes SETS them up for a FAIL.. despite how NOT BAD the Reboot may be, its always going to be Compared to the LOVED Original and Destined to Fail!

Do you do a Sequel and Carbon Copy the previous Movies.. i mean how many more Times we gonna get to see Jason Voorhees before he is any Different, and will he EVER be as Scary as the First Few Times we saw HIM?

You could try and Change his Story a Bit... but then some Fans will not be HAPPY...

Take Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 i never thought it was that Bad... it tried to be a bit more Darker and Serious with the Background Plot... kinda like the Dark Knight Series of Batman compared to the more COMIC BOOK Franchise of the 90's

Was it really as Bad as some of the Later Freddy Movies?

The Robocop Reboot likewise... it was not as Good as the First, but it was on Par with Robocop 2 and lets not talk about the REST lol

So to Continue with Franchises you have to be Careful, you do Risk the Chance of More Harm than Good.. (The Predator)

when Faced with some Franchises that have NOT been MILKED you Face some Tough Choices... lets take BACK TO THE FUTURE for a Example.

*Do you leave it as it was... where NO HARM can come to it or do you MILK it and Run the Risk of Damaging the Original or making a New Series thats a JOKE!

Your then left with the Following.

1) Make a Sequel... but some Nostalgic Fans would expect Marty McFly if you made a New Franchise that does-not connect with Doc Brown or Marty then some Fans would be PISSED OFF... for Instance if some Unconnected Guy ends up Rescuing the Delorean from the Scrap Yard.

It would work better if some Family Member inherits the Car, and we have a Cameo from Marty McFly (like Pass the Torch/Keys).  But you are always going to have to Compete with the Original Movie and when the Torch is Passed would Fans be Interested in BTF Pt5, Pt6 etc.?

2) Make a Reboot!  Now this would be much HARDER to Pull Off, as the Nostalgia Brigade would be out in Force... and well it would take something SPECIAL to Replace the Originals and so this Option is BOUND to Failure.

Sometimes a Sequel and Reboot can Work However...

The Newer Planet of the Apes series is a TESTAMENT to getting it RIGHT.

I would ASSUME if we went back to 2013 and they Decided you know what we DONT need to Answer LV-426, we DONT need to show the Xenomorph, lets keep the MYSTERY.

Then i would Suspect that the Sequel would STILL had been more about David i would still think by the climax of a Sequel that Dr Shaw would have been Curtains.. either by Self Sacrifice, at the Hands of the Engineers (in which Case David would seek Revenge) or David would become the Antagonist and be responsible for Dr Shaws Death.

I think we would have go more Answers about LV-223 that could make us Conclude more about LV-426, as well as more insight to the Engineers, i dont think Dr Shaw would have got the Answers she Hoped for...  and that David would have Unleashed/Created HELL!   its a Question of would this had been as a Savior or a Slayer.  It is likely he would have still eventually wanted to become a King/God.

I think Fans would have rather seen Prometheus 2 go Steer Away from giving us Xenomorphs and Answers to LV-426 as intended than to U-Turn with a Plot and Set-Up that the Path to the Xenomorph on LV-426 is via the Hands of David.

Quite a Pickle we Find ourselves in now.

"Yes, before the Covenant, this was never the story about David"

I would say they was BOTH going to be on a Journey, it appeared that RS interest was about David... There is a lot of Philosophy at Play and it seemed at the time (Prometheus) they felt  that there are more Important things to Expand on than to give us Xenomorphs and LV-426 Answers as these after-all would just have been that the Xenomorph Eggs on LV-426 are either.

*Merely One of a Number of Horrors Created on LV-223 to be used as PEST CONTROL

*They are a Unintended Result of a contamination of their PESTICIDE.

The Xenomorph being No More to the Engineers as say a Predator Drone is to the US Military.  Or so it seems, as it does look like those Engineers did take some PRIDE in what they Created. 

The Prequel Expansion seemed to be more about Themes like Creation, and to Sub-Create, and then what Effect that Free-Will and Knowledge has on a Creation as far as Control and seeing their Creator as Superior/The Boss!  It was about How Playing God and messing with Stuff can lead to Trouble.  A Tale of Hubris on Multiple Layers.

They all Connect down the Ladder to David as a Sub-Creation who is Superior to his Creators, who is Given Free-will and so can gain Knowledge, who becomes Rebellious and feels he is Mistreated and Not Respected as a Superior Being... who then One Day discovers his own Creators Creator... The Engineers and sees them as Not Much different to Humans, they are Separated only by Eons of Passed down Knowledge, Technology and Tools...    MORTAL AFTER ALL... 

And so with David giving the keys to the Engineers Tool-Shed, he could then become a Creator in his own Right, there is MUCH more to it than that.

But ALAS.. it puts the Emphasis on David too much where a lot of people just see him as a Robot and Not a Main Character.

The Plot is Bold... its Thought Provoking, it does touch on a bit of Blade Runner and Space 2001 but when the ALIEN Franchise came to a PAUSE... i am sure these are NOT the Things that Most Fans would have expected a Prequel to Prioritize on.

In Hindsight maybe such a PLOT should have been a Stand Alone Franchise, inc the Engineers, we just Change the Aesthetic of their Ships/Suits, Change the Weyland Company and it could have been its OWN kind of Franchise.

When Fans back say prior to 2000 thought about the Derelict and the Eggs Origins i dont think many would have even Conceived a Direction of the Prequels.

They would have Expected the Space Jockey to be more ALIEN, and to not be Super Humans who where FOOLS or that a Synthetic Android with Daddy Issues and a Dislike for Humans would be in effect DESTROYING the Space Jockey and then taking their Horrific Creation Tool to go and play Doctor Moreau/Frankenstien and Create the Iconic Monster.

It's all about the money. Big studios play safe, and you can't get safer than another instalment of Avengers. Whatever they dream up for the next Alien movie, it will be with popcorn in mind, and it won't be too challenging for the audience. Think that studio interference on Alien 3 was bad? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

David is a anti-hero and a fresh take. Darth Vader is running this ship.

We'll be back to the story dictated by a superhero soon enough.

"I also think that Fox is to blame for making a mess of all this because it could have been interesting. I do not think that Scott alone is to blame even though his obsession with David is crappy."

Yes, before the Covenant, this was never the story about David. It was Shaw's journey in search of answers. And David was... well... a talking head that controls an alien ship and speaks with engineers.

Hello. I think the sacrificial engineer at the beginning of the Prometheus is Prometheus from myths. he created the human race, gave us knowledge, science, religion and for that he was sentenced to death on earth for what he created against the will of engineers - the titans, they was greater. they gave himthim drink black goo to disappear, dissolve his body. at the beginning of the movie you can see that this engineer looks at the departing ship, that sadness and how he drinks black goo wonders what will happen to him. it's the same goo that David dumpedat the planet in the Covenant. and the title alien may have once lived on earth long ago, created by engineers, also a hybrid of engineers and some form of life from the earth. arose these giants and cyclopians, terrible creatures that devoured people after them can be the dinosaurs. engineers decided to create black goo to kill these creatures and forbade further research and creation of life on earth but Prometheus objected and created people. engineers decided to destroy the work of Prometheus and kill people 2000 years ago, but they themselves fell victim to goo or other invaders who did not want the death of people. david wants to finish the work of engineers and kills beings like humans in the covenant and also wants to destroy. David is pride and wants to create life, but he is forbidden so he creates the perfect essence of the hybrid of the beast from alliance and robot. gives the alien armor and bio suit that the engineer has to survive in all conditions. in white gloves decides to destroy people just as he destroyed creatures on the planet from the covenant. sends gives to the earth about a stranger and the company Weyland Yutani is interested in investigating the stranger without knowing what they are dealing with. David knows that aliens will win people.

"I do not want to see another robot movie or about characters no one cares about. I'm sorry but my patience is finite. The fact that RS got 2 movies out and people are still feeling meh about these films says it all."

Hell yeah, I totally agree

I also think that Fox is to blame for making a mess of all this because it could have been interesting. I do not think that Scott alone is to blame even though his obsession with David is crappy. The scene when you see the differences between Walter and David is alright although too long and too slow but the movie in general is too much about the androids. His interest is not about the Xeno, it is about David which I think is kind of obvious from watching the prequels this far. To me both Prometheus and AC has had about 2 or three characters that I find well enough written, the rest have been background pieces. Compare the characters in the prequels to Alien 1, 2, and 3 and what you have is a rapid decline in quality combine this with and obsession for the robots and you get movies with pieces that are alright but a movie that is not very good in general.

The Engineers seem interesting, make it more about them and less about the robots. Also show that they have got more to do with the creation of the Xeno than David has. Get another writer and a director that does not interfere with the story.
"Do we Brush under the Carpet what we saw in Alien Covenant regarding David and the Xenomorph?"

I would rather have that compared to where we are now.

"I think for a lot of Fans they would still want a Movie that is a LOT less about David. . ."

Yes please although notice that it does not mean to copy the movies that came before. More Engineers please, that was interesting and something new hopefully they will not abandon that although they have got to make sense while at the same time have some mystery about them.

"Just throw away the whole philosophy of fingering and give people information- technology, culture, society of Engineers."

Yep, less flute shit and more about the Engineers although you could have some philosophy with the Engineers and also show how and why they are a danger to humans without over-explaining it. Hopefully it will be more impressive than the Engineers living in stone huts because that was so disappointing. If there are interesting ways to have a story with philosophy while keeping the Engineers and focus on the humans I am for it but not the way that it is now.

". . . the . . . philosophy of fingering. . ."

That sounds like the title of a book, ha ha ha!!

"I would not be Surprised if the Space Jockey would be Revealed to be one of Davids Creations.."

Then they have damaged both the Xeno and the Space Jockey, nice work. ;) Can they be that dumb?

"It would have been LIKELY the Next Movies 3rd/Final Act would have introduced the Engineers and Ships, and these would be the Introduction to HOW it is Eventually we get the Derelict."

That could have been alright, just do not make David into the pilot.

".... i dont think many Fans would want to SIT though a Movie that will NOT give us the Xenomorph again and NOT show us HOW/WHEN/WHY we get to ALIEN/LV-426"

That was the purpose for starting the prequels, right? It is just that they went into a territory that few were interested in (if you doubt it just look at the box office result).

"Thats why we are in a Pickle at the Moment, as far as if we ACCEPT that David will take the Covenant to Origae-6 and that from his Xenomorphs will eventually come the Eggs that are on the Derelict."

The thing is that I will never accept that, it is bad story telling with too much emphasis on David.

"Again such a Plot would FIT with Prometheus etc... but would NOT please Fans who was not Happy the Prequels and Origins of the Xenomorph are about DAVID."

It makes sense the way that it is planned now but I would not want that because to let it be about a robot is just boring.

". . . would NOT have happened if say Dr Shaw allowed David to take them HOME to Earth or if Dr Shaw never put Davids head back on."

I do not like that idea within the alien franchise, leave it to other movies to explore things like that.

". . . and i think a lot of Fans may want to By-Pass at least the First Half of those Dots."

As long as it is about the humans, the monsters and the Engineers I am fine with that. Better human characters and less androids. As long as they do these things I am fine.

". . . but i also suspect that something David had Created would be the Space Jockey too."

Disney is in charge now and I hope that they are smart enough to keep that from happening. In a way I am kind of hopeful with Disney in charge because it was not working under Fox.

"Waltermorph"

Well i think thats possible...  considering that Walter is a Newer Model than David... it is likely he would want to UPGRADE his Body....  It seems that the Walter Models could be Part Organic...

If we do get shown that Walter Models (or a New Model thats Incoming on another Ship) are Synthetic Constructs like ELDON was from the Fire and Stone Comics.

Then indeed this Synthetic Construct could play a Role in how the Organic Xenomorph from AC gains its Bio-Mechanical Aesthetic.

I do suspect that this Eventually would be a Revelation that RS had intended, but i also suspect that something David had Created would be the Space Jockey too.

"If these planets had biomechanical aesthetics/buldings"

Certainly i know that one Disappointment with Alien Covenant i am sure MOST of us would have expected to be shown a Engineer World that would be like maybe Krypton from The Man of Steel with a HR Giger Twist.

And see Floating Bio-Mechanical Cities.. like HR Giger versions of this.

However it seems they decided to TONE this Aesthetic Down... to Continue with it they could have came to a agreement with the HR Giger Estate i suppose.

Regarding David and Star-children then indeed thats the kind of idea i am drawn to more.... if David was to Engineer those Embryo's to become Superior to Humans i would think he would try and Incorporate some of the Xenomorph DNA into them.  So you have a Creation who see you as GOD, they OBEY the Rules you have for them, David is their Religion!   Should these Creations eventually Discover the Truth and the Lies... then thats WHEN things can Change and if a Rebellious Movement Starts with a Superior Creation and IF they have some kind of Hive-Mind/Telepathy then David could be in TROUBLE!

If these Creations can Procreate then he is in even more Trouble!  This would be a bit like a Blade Runner however, but i do think that RS would have been going for that kind of idea.  But alas its been done with Blade Runner.

The Problem we have is how do you introduce the Engineers and give them a lot of Depth, how much of a Movie do you get to Revolve around them and Uncover more about them?

I know some Fans have Speculated that Origae-6 could actually be a Engineer World... even a Dead One would be too much of a COINCIDENCE.

If i go back to the Original Topic... then if we are talking about the Direction that Ridley Scott would have wanted to take us, then indeed it seems he would be going the route that would Center around David, where it would be shown that those Eggs on the Derelict and even the Derelict ending up on LV-426 would NOT have happened if say Dr Shaw allowed David to take them HOME to Earth or if Dr Shaw never put Davids head back on.

Then here is where we STAND at Present..

Year 2105: the USCSS Covenant resumes its Journey to Origae-6 after the Unfortunate Events on Planet 4

The ETA to Origae-6 would be the Year 2112 leaving 10 Years until the Nostromo Crew discover the Derelict on LV-426

From what RS has indicated...

The Covenant would be heading to Origae-6 but there would be some incoming Parties/Players.  At some point which we can assume would NOT be shortly after the Covenant has left Planet 4, the Engineers will Return and Discover the Destruction and would WANT to get to the Culprit, they would at some point be going to where David is heading and its UNLIKELY they would Intercept him before he has Established some kind of Base/Home on Origae-6

At least one of the other Parties would have to be a Human Ship, and again we have to assume this Ship does not arrive on Origae-6 until after David has set up a Base/Home.

Thats 2 of the 3/4 Parties... i think its likely ONE of the other Party will be another Human Ship and ONE that is aware of what David has done via the ADVENT message, i would assume this SHIP would arrive maybe after the First Incoming Human Ship (maybe another Colony Ship).

So i think David would have some time on Oriage-6 to do what ever he was going to do (that wont be about Mass Production of Xenomorphs) then we see a Incoming Human Ship.

Latter its a case the Engineers and another Human Ship arrive but who knows what Order.

What we have then is with the Engineers we maybe have HOW we could obtain the Derelict... what for sure is that Origae-6 is located Much Further from LV-223/LV-426

So at some point we have to get to either a Engineer Ship leaves Oriage-6 and head towards LV-426/LV-223 or David (or his Eggs) will get to LV-223 by a None-Engineer Ship and the Derelict will come from LV-223 at a latter point.

The Climax would seem to be that either a Engineer Ship leaves for LV-223 with the Eggs... or the Eggs are Engineered on LV-223 and a Engineer Ship attempts to leave LV-223 with those Eggs.

Where the Final Part is this Ship regardless of which of the above TWO only gets as FAR as LV-426.

Kinda a lot of DOTS to be covered in a Single Movie and also within the Time Constraints of 10 Years.. and i think a lot of Fans may want to By-Pass at least the First Half of those Dots.

These humanoids aren't looks Like Engineers but like humans beings. Females has Black Hood on head and all of them hasn't so white, shining skin like Engineers. They can be humans took from earth long ago to paradise and they live in this times. Maby Black goo when feel noise and agitation when David dumps pathogen from vessel, its changing to agressive pathogen and destroy all of life but when is calm goo live like normal microorganism, and search host to life and  asimilates to xenomorphs. Xenomorphs hate noise. In spiderman, venom hate noise and can be furious. 

Ok here goes...

What i was thinking about was to go back to the Engineers, you see it seems the Indication was they Predated the Xenomorph (like it or not) and certainly with the Direction of Alien Covenant.  What we seem to get with the Engineers and its what Ridley Scott calls them more than anything is CREATORS and so Creation was more Important to them than Destruction.  What the Concept that Jon Spaights had began with seemed to Indicate our Engineers had became Quite Good at Genetic Manipulation and they have been able to Extend the Natural Life Span of their Species... this is something that Mankind would be able to do within Hundreds of Years, imagine our Life Expectancy in 500 Years?

But alas this does not mean we LAST forever... and from Spaights Idea it seemed with his Pitch he was indicating the Engineers were NOT contempt with Living in their Engineered Bodies and Living for Thousands and Thousands of Years... they appeared to want to LIVE for Longer and not be Constrained to Bodies that Can and Will eventually Fail!

In the Absence of a Real After-Life, in the Absence of a Spirit, then their Collective of Memories, Experiences that Shape them into who they are the SOUL would simply Cease to Exist.

You can be sure that Weyland had tried to Advance Medicine etc to Extend his Life, he then was hoping that our Creators would Posses a way to Extend his Life.

If we take his Creation which is David and we see David has became Sentient, has Ambition, Dreams, Desires and Emotion... as a A.I it is likely that David could have his SOUL uploaded into a NEW Body should his Body Fail or should their be a Upgraded Body for him (Walter) so in effect what we have is that David is kind of Immortal he has what Weyland had Wanted, he has what the Engineers likely Wanted.

How does this apply to the Ovomorph or certainly what ever Organism had Predated it all?

Fast Forwards to Alien Resurrection and with Ripley 8 we see that from her Merging with Xenomorph DNA, she was able to recall some of the Memories from Ripley, as time goes on maybe she would recall more... Could it be that the Xenomorph in her Blood in her very being had allowed for some kind of Genetic Memory to take place?

so how do we connect this with the Starbeast?

I think we could explore a Ancient Organism that predated the Xenomorph, that Predated the Outpost on LV-223.  We take the Starbeast Idea and we Change it a little.

So we have a Ancient Organism that has some kind of Culture, Ritual a Civilization of sorts... but a Organism that has a Life-Cycle that is similar to the Xenomorph.  The Starbeast could Egg Morph a Victim to Change them into the Egg Stage of the Organisms Life Cycle.

What if we Re-Invent the Starbeast so that from Death they have Resurrection.  What if say each Starbeast could only Egg Morph the ONCE!

The Egg Morph happens either as with the Idea of Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett that the Starbeast requires a Host Organism to Turn into a Egg Morph... or we could CHANGE that and have it the Starbeast at the END of its Life-Cycle would CHANGE itself into a Egg/Cocoon.

The Egg Morph/Cocoon would actually Carry the Starbeasts Genetic Memory its SOUL so that it can then be Re-Incarnated again....  the Victim of the Face Hugger like Stage becomes the Host for the Starbeasts Total Re-incarnation.

If their was some Organism as such a Starbeast that Predates LV-223/LV-426 a Organism that we can see has some similarity with the Xenomorph, Deacon and Neomorph.

The Engineers could have seen such a Organism and its ability to Re-incarnate itself as the SOLUTION to the Engineers quest for IMMORTALITY...

This could give a GOOD reason for the Engineers carrying out Experiments upon these Starbeasts... WHY you could even go further and have it that the Engineers Ancestors were Enslaved and Reproduced (or even Created) by the Starbeasts to use as IDEAL VESSELS for the Re-Incarnation of the Starbeast.

Until a Rebellion... where the Starbeast suffered and then the Engineers then saw to Exploit the Starbeasts Technology and then try to Exploit a way so that they could try and Figure out how the Engineers could discover a way to Transcend their Souls into New Bodies....

But they FAILED.....

Such a PLOT would give Greater Purpose to the Eggs, it would FIT with he Engineers and Prometheus themes, it would ELEVATE the Ancestry of the Xenomorph.

It would show that there was Great Potential with the Experiments and Xenomorph but there was NO success in Unlocking that Re-Incarnation that the Starbeasts had... and so the ONLY use for the Horrors the Engineers had Created from their Quest for Immortality were only ideal to DESTROY LIFE...

But the Xenomorph Ancestry of the Starbeast still LIVED in the Xenomorphs DNA... just NO-ONE could unlock the ability to use it to GAIN a Immortality themselves...

UNTIL the events of Alien Resurrection via the Mixing of DNA the Clone Process where Ripley 8 had gained that Genetic Memory... unlocking that PATH to Re-Incarnation that the Starbeasts possessed..

This would give a Back Ground to the Prequels and take the Franchise FULL-CIRCLE with Alien Resurrection.

So there you have it FOLKS... what do you think?

I think it could WORK... certainly beats just having it that the Engineers or David purely wanted to Create a Horrific Killing Machine to KILL the Humans they HATE...

That would then Plague a World like a Infestation of Termites.

I don’t think that re-visiting such dead places as LV-223 and Planet 4 is a good idea.

We know: LV-223 is a rocks and a stone catacombs. And Planet 4 is a forest like in your backyard, with some primitive dolmens. If these planets had biomechanical aesthetics/buldings, it would be interesting to return to them. Well, so? Sand and bushes... xDDD

This is good food for the book, but not for the film. In addition, Ridley has already designated the destination - Origae-6. It would be simply ugly in relation to people who still keep a credit of trust - to deceive them and go to places already seen.

My opinion is that if the stories of Prometheus and the Covenant were not told everything or missed something, then so be it! This must be left and move on.

"With Infrastructure in Place he would Engineer those Embryos to Create his Own Humanoids"

I like this idea. David creates his Star Children. But what if they become uncontrollable and aggressive. What if they have a... Double-Y chromosome?! O_o

I remember how in the early rumors of the Covenant there was a character named Morse. And it was not just a coincidence.

This is just a rumor. But in the Covenant there are story arches that consist of rumors about Prometheus. You will not find this in the various scenarios of Prometheus, only on the news sites of 2010-2011. It makes wonder - will Alien: Awakening use rumors of Alien: Covenant?

I mean:

- Waltermorph

- Morse

- Young Engineer.

So much doom and gloom in the movies and the franchise.

Maybe they should change tack a bit?

Give some hope....(then take it away lol!).

The pathogen could actually SAVE Earth and give it hope(Engineered correctly)....And with a little help from the Elders, we'll watch humanity step to the next level.

I entered the theater knowing the crew of the Prometheus was dead, same as the Covenant.

Aliens I didn't know if they would survive.

Alien3...yeah everyone was gonna die(or dead already)

A:R: yeah, everyone was dead...it was a surprise and a happy ending for how many survived! lol!

"In Hindsight.... we should have had a Prometheus 2 where a Investigative Mission goes to LV-223 and use this to give us more clues about the Xenomorph"

I think this is still on the table? Don't think this would stall the franchise ...make it a pure horror flick without any deep meaning.

Just strip it down to: space monsters eat humans visitors. Shut the brain down for one movie.

Regarding the Egg Morph vs Queen...

The Egg Morph could have been something more Disturbing, but as far as Efficiency then a Egg Laying Queen makes more Sense...

I have a Feeling that IF we saw RS get to make another 2 Alien Covenant Sequels then he would have explored the Egg-Morph again.

Certainly the Eggs are Cool and Horrific....

But from a Destructive Stand Point when the Engineers have Black Goo then for purely wishing to DESTROY or WIPE CLEAN a Worlds Inhabitants then the Black Goo Urns are FAR more Efficient for that Task!

From a Human War Perspective.... then  NUKE is the Best Way to Destroy a Enemy, Quick and Easy... or you round them up and Shoot Them Dead!

But you do have some Individuals who would see to give more Horror and Suffering to their Foes... not Content with simply to round them up and SHOOT them or Bomb them... they conduct more Horrific Ways to Slowly Kill and Torture their Enemies... 

Such Sadistic and Cruel People they would be... and well its got to be that kind of Depraved Thinking that would make someone Rather use the Eggs as opposed to the Black Goo.. Unless the Eggs could provide another Purpose ;)

The other way is if the Creator of the Eggs takes Great Pride in the Horror they Inflict or for some other reason they have a Great Pride in the Xenomorph.. for this reason it makes sense that David had Created them..  The only other Reason would be a Enslaved Rebellious Faction of Engineers become Obsessed with the Xenomorph and so its MORE to them than just a WAY to Eradicate Humanity.  The Black Goo is better for that.

I will reveal my idea latter...

I will tease it a little now ;)

Jon Spaights had envisioned a Back Story for the Engineers, a Ancient Humanoid Race who was Once more like us.. They had Evolved and Advanced themselves, Managed to Prolong their Lives so they could LIVE for Thousands of Years, this Eventually caused them to become Sterile.

While they may Live for Thousands of Years, they are still MORTAL and can be Killed and Eventually will Die... what Happens when we DIE?

"The Engineers believe themselves to be on the verge of a great evolution, a Transcendence in which they will abandon their physical form"

From Alien 01 The Master Narrative by Jon Spaights.

So this implies the Engineers were NOT content with living for many many Thousands of Years or their Limitations of their Physical Bodies... they was looking for some kind of IMMORTALITY.

So HOW could they achieve or attempt to?  What could provide them with such?

This is where we can then TURN the Starbeast Plot onto its Head ;)

I will ask you to Consider the Franchise... what could be seen as the ULTIMATE advantage or Gain from the Xenomorph or indeed the Experiments that Predate it?

Have we seen something that would have MET the Agenda of the Engineers searching for Ever Lasting Life?

I think with HOW we had Alien Covenant, and considering we are at the Moment seeing David off with the Covenant in his Control which is NO-DOUBT heading to Origae-6... i think its hard to in a SINGLE MOVIE to give us more about the Xenomorphs or Engineers especially if we want more Depth to the Engineers than Prometheus Military Goons.

There would be Too-Many Components to TRY and Juggle... which is WHY some Sacrifices had to be made as far as Dr Shaw and Engineers in Alien Covenant.

Thats why we are in a Pickle at the Moment, as far as if we ACCEPT that David will take the Covenant to Origae-6 and that from his Xenomorphs will eventually come the Eggs that are on the Derelict.

What we have to have Happen prior to ALIEN on top of what ever David may have planned.. is as Follows.

*Davids Xenomorphs have to go through more Evolution/Engineering.

*A Engineer Ship has to come into Play.

*This Ship will Load Up with the Eggs and then would be OFF to some place for some Reason that takes the Ship to the Zeta 2 system.

You could Completely By-Pass David by having a Movie that shows another Ship that either..

1) Goes to LV-223 and explores the Temples and Uncovers more Horrors and Clues, and awakens Engineers or some come to LV-223 and we get indications that the Xenomorph does predate David and after the events on LV-223 the Company Discover there is a Ship on LV-426.

2) Have a mission go to Planet 4 and come across Horrors on that World Again, and then we see some Engineers come in and then at the End we indicate they take those Eggs on a Ship and we are shown they intend to go to LV-223 to Re-engineer and Mass Produce them!  (We can Figure out what Happened Next).

so both of these would just IGNORE what David does Next... But i doubt this would be the Route RS would have taken us.

I think in Part we would see that David would Charade as Walter and come up with some Excuse as to what happened to the Crew, he would awaken some Humans to then Set-Up a Colony, where then he would likely GET RID of them...

With Infrastructure in Place he would Engineer those Embryos to Create his Own Humanoids, who would be Superior to Mankind and he would Basically tell them that he Created all this and Them and basically try and pass of as a Pseudo King/God

But something will Happen that would reveal to those Creations that David is a Sham!   They will Discover he is actually a Creation of Mankind and that they are Human before David had decided to Experiment with them at Embryo Stage.

When your Creations gain Knowledge that you would NOT want them to have (Discovery of the Truth) then you have a Rebellion on your Hands... and when your Creation gets out of Hand then you have to Result to Punishment! (unleash the Wolf on your Lambs).

This is HOW i have interpreted what kind of a Flick we may have been in for... i could be COMPLETELY WAY off Base though ;)

Again such a Plot would FIT with Prometheus etc... but would NOT please Fans who was not Happy the Prequels and Origins of the Xenomorph are about DAVID.

I think there is Potential with the Prequels to continue with what Prometheus was doing and NOT have to be Confined to giving Fans the Answers to LV-426 while they maybe Clutch at Straws the Revelations would show the Xenomorph had Predated David.

My Opinion.... David = Xenomorphs is a Mistake... he should have Created something that is more Different..

But then some Fans would want Xenomorphs Boo Hoo! well go and Put Alien Anthology on ;)  A Story about seeing David create something similar could give us Clues to HOW the Original was Created Thousands of Years ago... while Retaining some Mystery.

In Hindsight.... we should have had a Prometheus 2 where a Investigative Mission goes to LV-223 and use this to give us more clues about the Xenomorph and even show us something Very Close and clues about HOW/WHEN the Engineers had experimented with such Horrors and indicating then that one of their Experiments had escaped as far as LV-426.

Then they could have released a Spin Off Sequel that follows David and Dr Shaw in search of the Engineers and Answers without having to be Shackled Down by ALIEN.

The Prior Movie (LV-223 one) could leave it open to go and bring back Xenomorphs by Virtue of indicating that the Derelict was NOT the only Ship that managed to leave LV-223 with a Deadly Cargo of Eggs.

But ALAS with Alien Covenant we have got into a Pickle!

@Leto

You make some Valid Points in regards to when i was talking about By-Passing.

What i mean is that Movies do By-Pass certain Periods of Time, with Alien Covenant, there are Periods that are NOT Necessary to cover in Detail in a Movie, such as WHAT it was that Dr Shaw had done after she Collected David to when they Left LV-223 in a Juggernaught. We had The Crossing which Summarized a bit of what they did between leaving LV-223 until we saw David Arrive at Planet 4.  There is quite a bit that HAPPENED after the Bombardment, what happened to Dr Shaw and HOW long was she alive, did any Engineers Survive for a while, more Detail on what David was doing to obtain his Beastory

There was NO need to cover these as there are Clues and Evidence to what Happened...

So this is what i mean by you could By-Pass a lot of what David would do NEXT....

We can Assume he is off to Origae-6 which will take him 7 Years and 4 Months, we dont need to see much about what he does during that Time, would he Continue his Experiments  on the Covenant and its Crew during the Journey?  We dont really need to spend a lot of time on this... ONLY any Results.

When he gets to Origae-6 what does he do then? Does he awaken some of the Colonist and begin to Build the Cabins and the Infrastructure the Colony would need to begin (surely pretending to be Walter). So again we dont need to see a lot of WHAT KIND of a World he would Build.

Looking at what RS had said then the Movie would NOT have been about Xenomorphs but about A.I and he also claimed the Replicants are A.I and so what he is talking about is indeed Artificial Life if we look at A.I as being solely Connected to a Artificial Set of Computing that can act as a Intelligence.

We can ONLY really Speculate on what his Next Movie would have been but i would say that the First Act and likely a Hour of the Movie would show us what ever he has Helped to Build/Create, as in we could see some kind of Colony Established and likely David is not playing the Humble Servant Walter....

So what we would have is David in his Paradise that he has Created that WOULD NOT be a Xenomorph Nest..... and then we would be seeing some incoming Parties which means at least ONE other Human Ship, which their Arrival and Revelations could UPSET the Paradise/Colony that David has set up.   Then the ENGINEERS would likely Rock Up in the 3rd Act.

It would have been LIKELY the Next Movies 3rd/Final Act would have introduced the Engineers and Ships, and these would be the Introduction to HOW it is Eventually we get the Derelict.

The Process of the Evolution/Engineering of the Eggs to become what we got in ALIEN and the Eggs getting on the Derelict and Explaining WHY it was in the Vicinity of LV-223/LV-426 before we get the Space Jockeys event are all LIKELY what a 3rd Connecting Movie would have shown.

The Problem is a LOT of Fans would see this as a Process where the Emphasis was again on/about David and Creation, and Knowledge and Control (restricting Truth/Knowledge) and so would NOT please Fans who just want to get to ALIEN already....  i dont think many Fans would want to SIT though a Movie that will NOT give us the Xenomorph again and NOT show us HOW/WHEN/WHY we get to ALIEN/LV-426

Which is WHY i said that maybe they would be better off giving us a SINGLE Movie that Connects to ALIEN were a Human Ship does arrive at Oriage-6 where they would be expecting by NOW that the Colony would be Set Up.

They get NO Signal, No Reply but they detect that a Colony is down their, and we see that a Basic Colony has been Built but as we Touch Down we arrive Years or Months after something has GONE very WRONG!

You then in the 2nd Act introduce some Returning Engineers and the Final Act would be showing a Engineer Ship leaving with Eggs on-board but NOT show us where it was going... so we have some Ambiguity here.

"PEST CONTROL"

I like this.

The eggs won't be a problem for the majority of living docile animals...A somewhat peaceful planet is the result.

Curious and large animals will be their target.

Earth would have been far different with a billion or so ovomorphs laying in wait.

Wonder if there are any dinosaur chest bursted fossils? 

"then in order to Confine it to a single Movie you would have to BY-PASS quite a LOT."

A lot of what? Stages of preparation? Spend 2 hours and about 10 years more on a film that is destined to become another prologue?

I heard it before Prometheus. That film was supposed to be the first part, the prologue of a new series of films.

I heard it before Covenant. This movie made U-turn was supposed to be the first part, the prologue of another new series of films.

And now you wants to spend ~10 years for another sequel, but actually prologue? Do you really want it? Ridley already had two chances to make a prologue and a middle film. Now he must take off the last one. Or not. But no "new starts."

"If a Alien Covenant Sequel was to do the same and IN EFFECT to go and By-Pass the Events"

But what events? About how David is building a bungalow? Or how he blissfully walking in the woods and looked at the trees? Or how does he conduct experiments in vitro? Or plays the flute and speaks poetry?

There is no doubt - this will give us a lot of information about xenomorphs, engineers and in general about understanding the world of franchise! We can spend 2 hours playing the flute and about 10 years of waiting for the next film!

Undoubtedly the themes of immortality and AI are worth keeping the franchise hostage. The franchise about alien monsters, civilizations and technologies.

Evolution doesn't work like that. But some kind of alchemy - yes. And if you followed the news about AC, then you know that Ridley said that the creation of the Alien would not be evolution, but rather alchemy. Oh, and now he's talking about evolution. This, plus his words about AI (he clearly confuses Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life) make it clear that sometimes he does not understand what he is talking about.

Why do we have to complicate what is easy?! 

Ridley Scott has to follow the events of Alien Covenant and then, he has to make a hell of a movie.

Ridley,  you have to go crazy. Put David experimenting on colonists, in his new giant lab built in origae six, put David experimenting in himself with the pathogen, in a sick and disgusting way. Use the bloomkamp's idea of a deformed Ripley in David. Make a slaughterhouse of prometheus space ship, and show us long flashbacks of the life of David and Doctor Elizabeth Shaw in LV-223,mostly, Dave attempting to transform Shaw in a queen, causing her lots of pain, during the procedures. Make a parallel between the past transformation of Shaw in a queen and present Daniels mutation.  We want to watch the horror, Ridley. 

I wonder how Aliens would have turned out with Egg Morphs, instead of the having a queen and ovomorphs?

We can only speculate. That is why the prequels should go where they go and not be expected to link up directly to Alien. That ship has sailed imo. The prequels can go in new directions and I know as a fan, I would be ok leaving the Quadrilogy alone.

 "...HOWEVER is that they Procreate via the Egg Morph."

I wonder how Aliens would have turned out with Egg Morphs, instead of the having a queen and ovomorphs?

More cosmic horror and less a bug hunt? hmmm...

1) A Natural Organism that could be Exploited to be used as a KILLING MACHINE by Virtue of how Aggressive and Destructive the Organism is.

Eggs are cool, but I like black goo or spores better...they make sense, but pods and facehuggers make much better props and toys!

I'd think the indigenous species would quickly figure out egg pods are bad and to avoid them...and stop taking them back to their homes/ships.

Do we think one xeno could decimate an entire planet(or at least a continent)? That would be a interesting story.

@LtCmdr Jack Archer

Yeah we had that indication in the Novel, but the Draft that the Novel was Written from did-not have any of this and was more closer to Alien Covenant so it appears the Author ADF decided to add that to CAST some doubt on David being the Creator, but this is a Subject that has been Discussed on here a bit and not really what the OT is intended to discus.

But as far as HOW the Xenomorphs can Procreate and Royal Jelly, these have not been Explored in the Movies but Certainly something to Consider.

Regarding the Purpose of the Eggs well they are MERELY the Starting Stage of the Xenomorph Life form... which as Leto had indicated we could look at it in TWO ways.

1) A Natural Organism that could be Exploited to be used as a KILLING MACHINE by Virtue of how Aggressive and Destructive the Organism is.

2) A Engineered KILLING MACHINE used as a Weapon again by Virtue of its Ability to KILL.

I am thinking we could EXPAND the Purpose... go back to Starbeast and Turn it on its HEAD...   and well WHAT IF the Starbeast are a LOT in Common with David/Walter ;)

But looking Beyond Physical Aesthetic ;)

Humans are Mortal, the Engineers are Mortal...  David has the Potential to be IMMORTAL and what in maybe a similar way IF the Starbeast was likewise?

David holds a KEY to Immortality..... if only mankind could UNLOCK that.... their is a Difference between Our Soul and His Soul.... one for Certain can be Immortal ;)

Maybe the Engineers saw the Starbeast as a means to Immortality ;)  #Ripley8

Absolutely Leto....

The Franchise Evolves/Changes as it goes along, Each Director does try and put their own Stamp on things.

It all began with ALIENS in regards to a Steering Away more from O'Bannon and Shusett initial Idea but we have to remember that ALIEN had changed things a bit regarding Giler and Hill.

But certainly looking back to STARBEAST then the Eventual Portrayal of in Effect merely Advanced Space Ants... or even a Eventually a Creation by a Synthetic Robot that is UPSET with his Creators... are BOTH not really what the Potential a Sequel to ALIEN could have led to... or a Prequel.

"But there is a third way. From the real creators of the monster"

so your REPLY is Certainly along the Lines i was trying to Engage people to think about ;)

When i talk about the Purpose of the Egg, i am also looking at to WHY we got to the Egg.  As you pointed out about 1) Ridley thinks the Alien is a biological weapon. and also 2) Cameron thinks the Alien is a natural, wild form of life

Before we got to Alien Covenant we could have gone the route of (1) from (2) in that the Engineers saw this Organism and Felt they could USE it as a Bio-Weapon which seemed to be what the Companies thought in the ALIEN Franchise.

To be fair this is kinda of what ALIEN ENGINEERS had indicated that the Engineers had encountered a Organism that they then had Experimented on and Engineered a Biological Weapon in 8 Variants that they intended to use on Earth.

With such a PLOT it has to be then to explore WHY? and this could lead to HOW/WHY was this Organism that predated the Experiments on (LV-426/LV-223) seen to have Potential as a Weapon and then WHAT was this Organism like Naturally before the Engineers had encountered it.

Unfortunately it appears the Xenomorph/Egg are just a Experiment or Consequence.... its Story has a Background but i am not sure it can be tied to the STARBEAST..

This does-not mean that the Starbeast cant be Explored, for this could be another Organism the Ancestor to the Xenomorph, Deacon, Neomorph and all those Experiments.. a Organism that would be SIMILAR and yet Different to what we have seen so FAR.

The Starbeast Concept is Interesting... what we see is a Organism that has a Similar Life-Cycle to the Xenomorph, what we are shown HOWEVER is that they Procreate via the Egg Morph.

The Interesting thing about Starbeast however is that its indicated that this ORGANISM could actually develop some form of Civilization what we essentially had in Starbeast was a Abandoned Birthing Facility, the Eggs/Spores only remained.  And our Starbeast/Xenomorph is merely a Juvenile  that has NO Civilized Adult to Nurture it.

If we take a Human and imagine that we GROW from a Baby to Adult much Faster and a Baby has the ability to Hunt and Feed itself on Instincts...  This Human left on a Island with None of its Species will GROW it will HUNT and try and SURVIVE... it would not be able to Talk, Create a Culture/Civilization on its OWN!

Drop down on a New World say Origae-6 a Group of say 10 Adult Humans and 20 Children and BRAIN WIPE them all.

And they are NOT going to Build a Rome in 10 Years ;)

So thats basically what we had with Starbeast/Xenomorph and with ALIEN it seemed RS wanted to explore the Intelligence of the Organism more and Expand on this in a Sequel.

So Potentially then YES you could go the route of Discovering the Precursor to those Experiments on LV-223, you could have the STARTING point as the Xenomorph but with Alien Covenant it kind of causes a Problem..  But we could surely Explore something that Predates LV-223 with a Organism that is similar and YET still Different.

Could this STARBEAST be revealed as the Mural Organism something that is like a Amalgamation of Xenomorph, Deacon and Neomorph?

Could it be the Creature in the Fresco?

But then we NEED to go and look at WHY would the Engineers come into Contact with this Species and see that it has a use to be Engineered to make KILLING MACHINES.

Because going from above and what i have discussed here then what we have is the EGG/SPORE is just the Starting Point of a Organism that without Nurturing by its OWN kind can become a Killing Machine and that Re-Engineering this Organism could make more EFFICIENT KILLING MACHINES

What i am thinking about is looking at the  Connection the Engineers have and WHY and from this i think we could come to TWO kinds of Story that give more PURPOSE to the EGG than what we have seen.

For me again the Answer lies with the Starting Point  Plot by Jon Spaights  as in Alien 01 The Master Narrative)  and the End Product... Alien Resurrection ;)

Within those could give us the REAL Purpose ;)

Clue would be with when Ridley Scott said that Prometheus was about IMMORTALITY ;) oh and A.I

"Actually, I am fine with the Quadrilogy being self contained and separate from the prequels"

Certainly DK this appears to have been the Intention at the point they Evolved/Changed the Draft from Alien Engineers to Paradise which then became Prometheus.

Unfortunately it seems those in Charge Felt that Fans wanted to see the Xenomorph back and its Origins shown and eventually lead us to HOW/WHEN those Eggs got on the Derelict which leads us to Alien Covenant which by Virtue of its Plot has caused a Stink and NOT pleased those Fans who wanted the Answer and Xenomorph, while also Throwing Away the Potential that a Prometheus 2 had(more about Dr Shaw and her attempts to get Answers from the Engineers).

"The problem with that kind of thinking is why the franchise (and the prequels) got into limbo"

To a degree this is what the Original Franchise had done apart from Alien 3 i think that Prometheus Fell into the same Boat as the other Movies..

While INDEED with Alien Covenant it definitely had LENT itself to NEEDING a Conclusion and this is the Pickle we are in.  The Problem we have is WHERE to we go instead?

Another Movie that is NOT directly connected to the Prequels or  the Alien Franchise, but what would that entail?  Human Ship goes off to a World and Discovers a Egg, or they Intercept a Floating Space Hulk (Derelict/Abandoned Ship) that has a Egg.   This is kind of Familiar Territory that we have already seen,  the Main Difference would come from NOT having any Greedy Person or Corporation trying to Exploit the Xenomorph.

I personally done see much more Millage with the Xenomorph if it Continues to be used/confined in way that it was in the Franchise.

If it was a Engineered Bio-Weapon then you need to look more at the Story of WHY and by WHOM, and also at WHAT other uses can you from the Xenomorph.  The Experiments on LV-223 is a suitable way to EXPAND on Eggs.

If it was revealed to be some Native Organism to some World, that act like some kind of Insect Hive, then i think your Limited... you need to Elevate it Beyond just a Bug, and Expand the Xenomorph to be more than we have currently seen.

But its how do you do that with what appears to be the Origins of a Created/Engineered Product, it would appear the Origin of the Black Goo or what had the Sacrificial Goo been used on to Create those Experiments on LV-223 is the ONLY real way to Expand a Background to the Xenomorph... The Xenomorph Sadly just seems to be a Consequence from Messing about with something that the Engineers/David should have LEFT alone.

Regarding making a Single Movie... my point was that the Way that Alien Covenant is Set-Up which is that at some point 18-28 Years before ALIEN we have David begin to Create the Xenomorph that eventually gets on a Engineer Ship that then Lands on LV-426 at some point over the NEXT 8-17 Years after the END of Alien Covenant.

But YES i would say you can make a SINGLE movie that Connects to ALIEN but if this Movie is a Continuation of Alien Covenant then in order to Confine it to a single Movie you would have to BY-PASS quite a LOT.

Alien Covenant did this with Prometheus, it had By-Passed the events from the End of Prometheus to the point that the Covenant Ship arrived via detecting the Signal from Planet 4.  So we had the AFTERMATH of the 10 Years that passed between Prometheus and Alien Covenant, with only the Flash Back Scene and the Destruction left behind for us to see what had Happened.

If a Alien Covenant Sequel was to do the same and IN EFFECT to go and By-Pass the Events that are likely Planned Next then YES you could get a Movie that Connects to ALIEN in 2 Hours.

We basically have AC then Skip past AC2 and arrive at AC3

UNLESS you are to attempt a Prequel that will give Answers to LV-426 that DONT Connect to Alien Covenant and basically go to show that the Eggs/Derelict have either been on LV-426 before the Prometheus Mission or they occur After but are NOT connected to anything that Happened in Alien Covenant.

"So COULD or DOES the Xenomorph or prior Experiments have some other Purpose, or some Agenda to attempt to GAIN something more than a Face Hugging, Chest Bursting Killing Machine?"

Used correctly the pathogen creates beauty...contaminated pathogen is another story.

We've only seen the pathogen used improperly(David). 

If Engineers created or stole the xeno/ovomorph idea, i'd think the xeno would be much larger than it is, right now it's human size, the xenos are small enough to fit aboard our starships, crawl around in our cooling/heating ducts. It really seems like they were created with humans in mind,.........also the facehuggers are just the right size to 'hug' a human face, the eggs are the right height to capture human children and adults.

 I always thought the Space Jockey from Alien was huge and whatever had burst from it would produce something larger(egg wise).   I can imagine facehuggers as large as cars(you'd need a ladder to look inside the eggs)!

Shaw's baby(trilobite) from Prometheus is what I consider alien, a large creature that a engineer could barely handle.

Later, I found out that there have been cats in space. The first one was Félicette. :)

BigDave: First cat in space - instead of a dog (Laika). :)