New Replies (Page 232)

@ Leto,

In nature, ovipositors are only ever used to transport and place eggs, the eggs are produced in the abdomen of the insect/animal. In Aliens there is no evidence to the contrary with one egg being placed and a few more being shown moving through the ovipositor.

Alien Queen Full Scene

James Cameron's statements that his Aliens were older is valid...

The Alien in Alien was alive as an adult for 24 hours, In Alien 3 the Alien was alive for 2-3 days, and in Alien: Resurrection the Aliens were also alive for 2-3 days. In Aliens the Aliens had been alive for 2.5-3 weeks before the USS Sulaco arrived there...

10 days/one and a half weeks for Gateway Station to stop receiving communications from Hadley's Hope (Supervisor Al's comments about three weeks to wait for a reply - 1.5 weeks for a signal to be received by Gateway Station, and a further 1.5 weeks for a response to be received).

2-3 days for confirmation that no signal is being received from Hadley's Hope, and Ripley's indecision to join the Sulaco to LV-426.

7 Days/one week for the USS Sulaco to arrive at LV-426 from Gateway Station (Hicks states 17 days until a rescue would arrive - one week for the Sulaco to return to Gateway Station from LV-426, 2-3 days leeway period in case the Sulaco is late, one week for another Colonial Marines ship to travel from Gateway Station to LV-426).

10 Days + 2-3 Days + 7 Days = 2.5-3 weeks.

The Aliens at Hadley's Hope were more skeletal in appearance, with missing carapace's and, at least in one scene, blades attached to their forearms...

The bladed forearms are not evident in most of the movie, with this scene being their only inclusion. Cameron's answer that such changes are from these Aliens being older is the only viable answer we have, especially as no other Aliens have been shown to include any of the features unique to the Hadley's Hope Aliens.

Gavin

No point clinging to words. Ovopositor or something else. The point is that it is in this "hanging" thing that eggs are produced. Not in the Queen.

BigDave

About eggs, egg-morphing and queen. I think, we should ask: how David get all these eggs - small and normal? Well, maybe answer - he used Shaw, but it's not an answer! We still don't know HOW. The process.

the Xenomorph in Alien and Alien 3 were Juvenile and when they get Older they loose the Clear Dome Carapace.

Between Giger's Big Chap and Cameron's xenomorphs much more differences than just with dome head. Another numbers of fingers, another jaw structure, etc. details, like blades on hands. No xenomorphs in Aliens is not a older. Some people talk about another cast of xenomorphs (well, you know - drone, warrior, etc.) and this is have a more sense.

Indeed regarding the Face Hugger Growing inside a Host, as suggested on here, maybe the ALIEN DC scene is showing that Brett is being changed into a Egg  Casing that will host a Face Huger he had maybe been implanted with?

Prometheus we saw that Dr Shaw had a Type of Face Hugger growing inside her...

We see from David's Notes that he had a interest in some Mermaids Purses that he Discovered.

It is possible he used these in his Experiments to Engineer from them what became the Egg Casing for the Face Huger Embryos.

A lot of the Errors and Conflicts come from Various Cuts/Edits of the Movies, then Changes that the Next Director/Writing Team make without considering what was shown prior.   Other Members of Production/The Studio also add what they want Changed Also!

With Cameron he decided to make the Xenomorphs more like a Ant/Bee Nest/Hive and introduced the Egg Laying Queen, which he was in his rights to do so, as the DC Egg Morph was not considered Canon at that Time. (not many would have been aware of the Deleted Scenes, Cameron may of, but as they was Deleted it means he Did-Not have to consider them for his Project).

I am not sure if we would ever see a EGG MORPH or have it Contradict the Queen, i think at some point it would be interesting to find out HOW those Queens came to be though.

"When Ripley shoots ovipositor - from there yolks pour out, not mini-eggs."

Silly Me...  i should have consider this, as indeed it did show something like YOLKS that was spilling out the Center after Ripley had Shot at it...  

Can we rule out a Queen Producing smaller Eggs? Who knows, if we do go solely by ALIENS then there is a Process from the Queen through the External Egg Sac/Womb  that are Finally Once Fully formed are deposited by the Ovipositor

Which when i now consider that then indeed the likely hood of having a Small Egg like we see in AC, that goes along the Process to become Full Size, appears to be what is NOT going on with the Queens Eggs.

So again thanks for reminding me of that Little Oversight when i proposed that theory ;)

Regarding David's Eggs and if those Small Ones can Grow i think thats something thats open for debate, we cant say for sure either way.

I think maybe the best Solution would have to be the Multiple Cargo Holds/Different Xenomorph route!

A lot depends on IF we get another Movie that shows the differences or HOW a Queen comes to be, so FAR the only information we have IF we throw out the Alien DC Cut is..

As James Cameron had stated the Eggs are Laid by a Queen, the Xenomorph in Alien and Alien 3 were Juvenile and when they get Older they loose the Clear Dome Carapace.

@ Leto,

An ovipositor is not a sexual organ, it does not produce eggs, it merely is an organ used for the placement of eggs (with parasitic ovipositors also used for piercing hosts). However, ovipositors are not unique to insects, as some fish and seahorses also possess ovipositors.

As such a Queen Alien could still produce eggs without an ovipositor, and as BigDave mentioned the possibility that the eggs can grow could explain why Ripley did not discover them (the assembly cut of Alien 3 shows two Facehuggers) aboard the Sulaco.

@ daliens,

Liking the idea of a Facehugger growing inside a host. We not only saw this, in a fashion in Prometheus with Shaws child. but it could also be an interpretation of some concept art from Giger for Alien 3...

However, the idea that Bishop stowed the Facehuggers onboard the Sulaco is, for me, a stretch. Yes, he was fascinated by the Facehugger in the colony's med lab (could David have spread a virus among synthetics that would make them become beguiled by the Xenomorph?), but after the marines destroy the only two live specimens from the lab, the only Facehuggers remaining (not including the derelict Juggernaut) would have been in the Queens hive. The only opportunity he would have had to gather any eggs would have been while Ripley was rescuing Newt. It is possible but unlikely.

As for how the Egg got into its uncharacteristic position I have a theory about that...

You will notice that the alien egg, or Ovomorph, has some tendril/tentacle-like appendages at is base. Some have speculated in the past that the Ovomorph is in some way alive, and not just merely an egg, while others retain that it is just an egg and that these appendages are merely roots.

What if the Ovomorph is a creature either laid by a Queen, or formed from a reconstructed host (a la Brett) that incubates and protects the Facehugger, and that with the tendril/tentacle-like appendages the Ovomorph it capable of moving around - ergo, once laid by the Queen while she was hiding within the Dropships landing gear, the Ovomorph grew to full size and managed to maneuver itself to were we saw it in Alien 3.

Regarding the egg on Sulaco, what if Bishop put the egg there. He seemed very interested in studying the dead facehugger.

There was no special order 937, but Bishop was still an android programmed by W-Y and he might have saved Ripley & Co. to serve as hosts. Or due to a malfunction.

However the egg must have grown on board the Sulaco, otherwise it would have been spotted by Ripley before going into cryosleep. 

The egg was also hanging on the ceiling, the queen, no matter how smart it was using the elevator and all, would have put it on the floor.

I have another theory: an adult xenomorph can implant a mini facehugger into the body of a host that slowly changes into an egg. The facehugger grows inside the victim's body leading to the classic ovomorph. 

Probably this is how David intends to use the 2 mini facehuggers.

No. Queen can't produce eggs without ovipositor. When Ripley shoots ovipositor - from there yolks pour out, not mini-eggs.

I think, mini-eggs it's just a... mini-eggs with mini-face-huggers for rats, birds and another small life forms. They do not grow.

Agreed....   what you said is exactly what i had mentioned, i also felt the Egg Morph = Queen as it made most sense... but later movies would contradict that.... so then i agree with the Derelict having more than ONE kind of Egg Cargo could be used to explain the differences... its certainly what was indicated in Alien Engineers.

The Sulaco Egg was always a Mystery that Bugged People!

Could Bishop had done it? did he have time?, was there another Crew?  It really came down to purely a Plot Convenience that was NOT thought out because it NEVER mattered.

But THANKS to Alien Covenant we could have a Answer for the Sulaco Egg!

We see here SMALL Eggs, that are the same as the Larger Ones that infected  ORAM... we see David had sneaked some Face Huggers on the Covenant that where Small that he had Ingested... 

so it could be possible the Queen Produces Small Eggs that GROW in the Egg Sack/Ovipositor as these make their way along they GROW and are Finally Laid.

So the Queen that got on the Sulaco could have Produced a Few Small Eggs that where Stuck against the interior of the Sulaco and  GREW!

I think that could explain how they got Aboard the Sulaco ;)

Will have to check those out ;)

Indeed the Themes have been covered in Numerous Movies.

I just find it interesting in HOW we had Ridley Scott refer to the Engineers in Alien Covenant as the ORIGINALS... we saw they looked different which some fans noticed/complained about as our Prometheus Engineers looked more Godlike and Superior to our Planet 4 Engineers.

So they are NOT worthy Creators.... where as those in Prometheus looked more worthy!

But a thing to remember is Peter Weyland was a Creator and does he look more Godlike and Superior than David? The Answer is NO!

so when RS mentions our Engineers on Planet 4 are the Originals, then it does suggest that those in Prometheus are Created/Evolved much Latter... and THIS is something i think would be interesting to consider.

Its always considered that a Creator/God would be more Superior to their Creation... but maybe thats NOT always the Case.

@Chris what you and other people don't take into account is that films made by Cameron are bleeding edge technically speaking (talking about the gimmicky post-Avatar 3d craze). While Scott movies have gorgeous cinematography the last think I recall him being proud in the technical department is the sand storm CGI (perfected in Prometheus and in The Martian) ....

@ BigDave,

My position is that matters such as canonicity any really matter to the fans, and the version of any movie, especially franchise movies such as the Alien movies that matter to fans will in most cases be the extended home release of a movie, whereas theatrical releases are more geared towards general audiences. As such when it comes to Alien I view the Directors Cut, and ergo egg-morphing scene as canon.

As to how egg-morphing can fit in with the rest of the movies, which predominantly follow the Queen based lifecycle introduced by James Cameron, I feel there are two possibilities...

#1 - many moons ago I proposed the possibility that had Ripley not discovered and torched them that once Brett had fully 'morphed into an egg that the Facehugger within would implant an embryo into Dallas, which could have burst out as a Queen Chestburster.

#2 - a more recent proposition of mine is that the biomechanical egg-morphing Alien is sourced from the thousands of eggs stored within the derelict Juggernauts, whereas the more organic Queen variant of the Alien is sourced from the collapsed "hammer" arm of the derelict Juggernaut.

Option one answers the question of how a Queen would come about, whereas with option two the mystery of how a queen would be formed remains a partial mystery.

We know that Ripley ended up with a Queen Chestburster gestating within her, sourced from a Facehugger attacking her while she was in hypersleep aboard the USS Sulaco. This Facehugger, likely the royal variant pictured above, as seen in Alien 3's Assembly Cut (if we are to consider the Assembly Cut as the canon cut of the movie), would have come from egg onboard the Sulaco (pictured below), which was highly likely left there by the Queen that stowed away aboard the dropship.

This would mean that the Queen is capable of producing, collecting, and guarding eggs that would produce more Queens, using them to create a new hive if and when needed.

Their music is brutal but THEY aren't brutal. Not much sense in killing your fans- hard to pay bills with that kind of business model.

I'm pretty sure rebellion has been in movies ever since. In Terminator (1984), humans created Skynet, it turned against humanity and created an army of
robots.
In another 90's cartoon, I forgot its name but in it, humans created a genetically enhanced version of themselves and used them as slaves on other planets. Those humanoids rebelled against humans and soon took over the entire Earth.
In Blade Runner, humans created an enhanced version of themselves called replicants and used them off-world, and throughout the series, replicants rebelled against
humans.
Similar thing in Matrix (1999) and how it all started, the war between humans and machines (it was explained in Animatrix 2003 "The second renaissance" parts 1 and 2). There's another film Automata (2014) but I don't feel the need to talk about it.

As far as Engineers creating the pathogen and then wanting to use it as a weapon, writers and Ridley stated engineers didn't originally create it.

I'd like to mention one underrated horror film from 2017 called Trench 11. In it, during the final days of WW1, a group of soldiers was sent to investigate an abandoned German facility deep underneath the ground. There they discovered Germans were experimenting with some kind of parasitic worm that produces itself inside the host's body, causing the infected host in the process to become extremely hostile and attack others by infecting them. Those things got out of control so Germans attempted to blow the whole facility up but something went wrong with the explosives so they just shut the whole facility, leaving the infected trapped inside.

Also in Overlord (2018), a small group of American soldiers during WW2 discovered that Nazis was conducting experiments in an attempt to create an army of soldiers with enhanced strength, speed, etc. It was also stated in the film and Germans didn't originally create the serum that causes those mutations, but they discovered it deep underground in France and experimented with it.

What's even scarier is that in reality, Nazis were actually experimenting with performance enhancement drug called D-IX that was supposed to give their soldiers superhuman strength and be harder to kill. Luckily, the war ended and the drug was never introduced.

I saw this the other week. Winters Dream 2307 (Winter Soilder)

Seemed to use some ideas from the Alien/Prometheus and Blade Runner Franchises...

Plot is that in the year 2307 the Earth has became VERY COLD that Mankind has to Live Underground, but they Create a Artificial Humanoids to Carry out Tasks, These Humanoids (who look like our Prometheus Engineers) become Sentient, Rebel and are then targeted to be Destroyed by their Creators (Humans) but some of these Humanoids Escape.  so a Task Force is used to HUNT them down.

Why is it relevant?

These beings are like the Prometheus Engineers, they have White Skin are Psychically Superior and have Black Blood.  The movie uses some of the Philosophy of Prometheus, and indeed from Alien Covenant to a degree (yet THIS movie was out in 2016) there are parts that discus the SOUL and how these beings HAVE no Soul, like how David does-not... but then its shown actually they do have a Soul, depending on what is a SOUL. (if its not the Spiritual One that goes off to Heaven)

It touched upon a Fear of what happens when these Created Humanoids could Procreate, and this worry becomes a Reality which is in part WHY the Humans then Order the Destruction of these Beings who just want to live among us (very Blade Runner).

I am not saying its a Good Movie, some interesting things but its NOT well executed ;)

But in Context to this TOPIC....  i think we could ponder if the PLOT of this Movie (Winters Dream 2307) could FIT with the Prometheus Engineers Creation/Relation to maybe the Planet 4 beings?

could the Prometheus Engineers had been the WOLF?

I certainly are drawn to them being either a Engineered Creation by those Planet 4 Engineers (or their Creators) like say David and Replicants are to Mankind...  

Or those Prometheus Engineers are a Faction of Planet 4 Engineers who took to Enhancing themselves without the Consent of the Hierarchy.

I am very Drawn to the Prometheus Engineers being more connected to David, as far as Creations meant to Serve.  Or they used the Creation Secrets to Enhance themselves to CHEAT Death and Upgrade themselves.

Oh that Movie has the Lead Bounty Hunter with the Name Bishop!  And the Leader of the Rogue Humanoids is called ASH-393 who comes across quite a bit like David.

Can see where it took some influences from ;)

Forgot to say... saw it last week, and WELL DONE.. thanks for those who worked on this, and i saw the Trailer too and so i look forwards to other Installments

Forgot to reply the other week!

This is Pretty Awesome ;)

But do those Robots have the Symphonies of these Pair?

Symphonies my Brother!

LOL

Regarding the Future of the ALIEN Franchise...

I felt this Alien Day was the ideal time to tease and market such a Project.... being the 40th Anniversary of the Franchise. But the Take Over and Disappointment of Alien Covenant and Criticism at that Movie (and some of its creative decisions)  had had a Negative Effect!  As far as Movies go!

Disney know the Franchise will always have a Market for Books, Comics, Games and Toys and other Merchandise.

I think if we get NO News by Next Alien Day, then we maybe have to worry about NOT seeing anything any time soon, and especially as far as a continuation of the Prequels.

I am having to accept i MAY never see a continuation, maybe i would get to see another ALIEN Franchise movie though,  but 2026 is a Long Way off ;)

Regarding AVATAR!

I attempted to watch it but could not get into it, maybe NOT my kind of Movie, i will have to give it another GO!

But it made MONEY.... the Question is have they LEFT it too LONG?   They would be better of making a Second Movie thats OPEN ENDED... so it would not 100% have to have a Sequel... but could lead to one should it be a HIT.... then if its makes Big Bucks... then surely Role out the Rest!

Committing to 5 such Movies is a Risk!

It would be like say if the NEW Star Wars Franchise was to be a 6 Part New  Kylo/Rey Franchise, at Present they would have to make EP9 set up a EP10-12 and well if EP9 does not do well, they would be DEAD in the Water a Bit!

I think AVATAR would make $$$ though.... there is that Market for it, that say attracts those who would watch a Guardians of the Galaxy 3, 4 and 5 etc.

Fair Play to those putting on this Show and Michael Biehn hope it raises a lot of $$$$$ for a Good Cause.

Just hope there is NO Atmosphere Processors near by that could Overheat and Go Critical ;)

@daliens

I think considering a Limited Number of times a Xenomorph can Egg Morph would be some kind of Safeguard certainly. So indeed if we assume a Xenomorph could only EGG Morph a single Host, and then Cocoon another, then Certainly that would explain the Xenomorph actions as far as KILLING (or attempting to) the other Crew Members to Protect the Egg Morph.

I think as far as a Engineered Bio-Weapon this would make sense.  As indeed having the ability to Egg Morph as many Victims as possible would make it a Bio-Weapon they could Loose Control over...

The same can be said for the Queen though, not really a Ideal Weapon, unless the Queen has a Limited Life-Span, or if the Weapon has One Purpose and thats to Eradicate a World/Threat while leaving the Place  a Hostile Environment to go back too...   So a bit like using a NUKE... but maybe the Xenomorph Queen with a Limited Life-Span would mean after a World is Cleansed a Period of Time passes as all that remains are EGGS... then as Gavin pointed out it would make a Viable Weapon.

"Though scorned by some Alien purists, James Cameron's addition to the Alien lifecycle makes the creature a much more effective biological weapon."

I think Gavin it depends, on one hand YES having a Queen that can Lay Countless Eggs makes it a more Mass Producing Threat...  However.....  A lot depends on the Process of HOW a Queen comes about... what Process does a Queen come from, this is something we have YET to be shown and does have a BIG impact on the Organism as far as a Threat!

Example...   Queen Lays 40 Eggs... then the Queen Dies... what makes one or more of those Eggs Host a Queen?  Is it just a RANDOM number/chance, surely NOT?

If it was a Egg Morph then should all Egg Morphs be killed too, then does that leave ONLY standard Xenomorph Eggs?

So a Queen is a threat as long as she is ALIVE, it then depends on HOW does another Queen come about when the Queen is Killed Unexpectedly?

This is something the Movies have not answered (i cant say for any Novels though).   The ability and process of how a Queen can come about is what raises or lowers the Xenomorph threat as far as a Egg Laying Species via said Queen.

A Egg Morphing Species however.. would have the ability to Procreate Eggs at Will, provided it is given ample time to get Hosts and Egg Morph them...   It would NOT depend on a Queen, and thus Halt Egg Production with the Death of a Queen.

As far as a Bio-Weapon from the POV of those who intend to use it, then Egg Morphing would maybe NOT ideal as once you have say 20 Xenomorphs unleashed then they could go around and continuously Egg Morph Hosts and so you would have less control over how to HALT the Infestation..... with only a QUEEN as the route to the Eggs, then if the Queen has a Limited Life Span and a Fail-Safe or you could have a Fail-Safe to Kill the Queen, then you HALT the infestation... depending on HOW a Queen could come about.

Either way as a Bio-Weapon the Xenomorph has its draw backs... its a bit OVERKILL.   Unless we say ONLY had ALIEN and the Egg Morph and as daliens mentioned if a Xenomorph can ONLY perform a single Egg Morph.. 

Then this is a Weapon that while it would have less Killing Potential/Threat due to Limited Procreation, it would make any World they are Unleashed upon, something that you have some Control over as far as Retaining that World after a Infestation.

10 Eggs Deployed...   After Killing Spree...  having up to 10 Eggs (Egg Morphs) remaining... or if 3 of those had Hosts then thats 7 Eggs (potentially) and 3 Xenomorphs left over that could potentially lead to another 3 Eggs.

Compared to 10 Eggs/Xenomorphs that can Egg Morph as many times as they like... that could leave a HELL of a lot of Eggs/Threats.

The Queen likewise.. especially if their is some Efficient way to replenish Queens once a Queen has died...  then your left with a Massive Clean Up Problem.

So as far as the OT goes....  YES they could Co-Exist, its trying to think HOW, as in what does a Egg Morph create, i think as most would not be aware of Egg Morphing i think it could make a appearance in Future...  but as far as being the Procreative Route of the ALIEN Xenomorph as its only shown in the DC, then it can be down to Personal Preference, until we are shown a Egg Morph and Result in Future...    Also it would be interesting in Future to be shown HOW does a Queen come about.

@setaverde, I agree with you 110%. I would take a flawed Alien film over a repetitive narrative like Avatar any day, let alone 4 more films full of it.

@daliens,

Speaking retroactively, I think the Ovomorph and Facehugger parts of the Alien lifecycle allow reusability of the creature as a deployable biological weapon. let us consider the deployment of a direct-implantation variant, alongside the traditional Facehugger implantation variant.

Scenario #1 - Direct Implantation Deployment

Adult Xenomorph deployed subjugates hosts spreading until all viable hosts have been exhausted/killed. Adult Aliens die, leaving behind a devastated ecosystem.

Scenario #2 - Facehugger Implantation Deployment

Ovomorph deployed. Facehugger subjugates host. Adult Xenomorph gathers hosts for further Facehugger subjugation, spreading until all viable hosts are exhausted/killed. Adult Xenomorphs die, leaving behind a devastated ecosystem and hordes of Ovomorphs, ready for future deployment elsewhere.

In layman's terms - you drop one egg off, wait a few weeks/months and return to a world devoid of hosts and thousands of eggs. A highly effective, self-sustaining biological weapon. Direct implantation would remove the self-sustainability of such a weapon.

on the other hand, Gavin, it would be more appropriate if the xenomorph would have the capability of direct implantation, they could do it on spot, without the need of dragging the hosts to the nest. 

I was reading some interesting facts on Wikipadia about the commercial use of parasitoid wasps and the use of xenomorphs as pest control would be perfectly plausible if the Engineers started to see the humans as pests. This would not exclude the theory of the xenomorph being a species of its own right discovered and deemed useful for the Engineers' purposes.

"Parasitoid wasps are considered beneficial as they naturally control the population of many pest insects. They are widely used commercially (alongside other parasitoids such as tachinid flies) for biological pest control, for which the most important groups are the ichneumonid wasps, which prey mainly on caterpillars of butterflies and moths; braconid wasps, which attack caterpillars and a wide range of other insects including greenfly; chalcid wasps, which parasitise eggs and larvae of greenfly, whitefly, cabbage caterpillars, and scale insects."

@daliens,

The second scenario you infer to b egg-morphing is actually "direct implantation", an idea that was used by the Pred-Alien (Chet) in AvP: Requiem. The writers/directors the Brothers Strause retroactively claiming that the Pred-Alien was an immature Queen and that she was only capable of direct implantation for a short period of time before she evolved into a Queen. This idea makes sense as it allows the Queen to establish a small brood before becoming defenseless, but conversely, the Queen would be putting herself at risk by doing so.

Egg-Morphing has always been referred to as what we saw in Alien's deleted scene - whereby a host, likely after being forced to consume something passed to it by the Alien, metamorphosizes into the Ovomorph stage of the Alien lifecycle. More specifically an Ovomorph slowly encases the host, reducing the host to viscera, and likely reconstructing components from the host (such as the spine, hands, lungs) into a Facehugger.

If we are to look at the Xenomorph as a biological weapon, then it would likely be classed as a WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction). Once released into an ecosystem, the resulting spread of the weapon would devastate said ecosystem, supplanting all viable hosts with more of its kind until all such hosts were exhausted, after which the adults would eventually die, with only the eggs remaining. Reducing the number of possible hosts the Alien can egg-morph reduces its R Nought (reproductive rate), but in no way can be viewed as a safeguard, because as Alien showed, the creature eliminated potential hosts it viewed as a threat to its young. The spread of the Xenomorph would therefore slow, but the fatalities from a gradually rising number of Xenomorphs would grow quite rapidly. The safeguard against the Xenomorph is its reliance on hosts to propagate. Without viable hosts, any brood/hive of Xenomorphs will die out.

This is where the Queen as an insect-like mother-caste, capable of producing thousands upon thousands of eggs makes the Xenomorph a deadly and more efficient biological weapon, as one Queen could wipe out within a relatively small time frame an entire worldwide ecosystem. Though scorned by some Alien purists, James Cameron's addition to the Alien lifecycle makes the creature a much more effective biological weapon.

But here's some food for thought...

in Aliens, Ripley says towards the end of her hearing with Weyland-Yutani that Kane told her (and the crew of the Nostromo) that he saw thousands of eggs. Yet in Alien when Kane wakes up all he relates to his crewmates is a nightmare about smothering.

By-the-by, James Cameron has a habit of doing this. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day Sarah Connor is shown to know the exact date of Judgment Day; August 29th, 1997. But in The Terminator Kyle Reese never once related that date to her.

XD Happy Mother's Day!

Do companies still make movies to satisfy all the updating JC talked theaters into doing in the early OOs? Back when 3D was going to be the next big thing since.................the red and blue lens 60s/70s?

Merlin is sounding REALLY good right now.

Avatar had success, because it was something new. Now, after all This time, it's a big risk to do  five movies in a row. Money is important but it isn't everything. I bet we are going to see an expanded shitty universe in the new Avatar films. X-men meets jurassic Park + titanic + abyss. God saves us all from the blue giants flying dinosaurs, with mnemonic powers. I prefer One minute of alien covenant, with all its flaws, than 5 hours of dances with wolves , where the apaches are blue giants.

BigDave we have to be clear what egg morphing is. 

If the adult xenomorph will implant a facehugger embryo into the body of the host and that facehugger will grow inside what has become an egg, waiting for mother really, we can assume the second victim will be the host for the chestburster. Probably one adult xenomorph is capable of a very limited number of egg morphing. If it was a bio weapon that would be a safeguard against having the xenomorphs multiply at a fast and uncontrollable rate.

So if we assume the xenomorph from Alien had one or two embryos only, it is understandable why he killed the rest of the crew. It would have killed Ripley too, but the script was changed.

But can the egg morphing be kind of a shortcut to its life cycle? Can he implant into the host directly the embryo of the chestburster? He could not do this without immobilizing the host, I can imagine a chestburster out of Dallas and Brett, without the interference of an additional facehugger. And in this case the adult xenomorph would act like the parasitoid wasp itself.

You heard mommy, stop stealing her fishnets!

Is there any mention of a film named Merlin on that release schedule?

Avatar has cute bug eye characters that kids probably love along with love/romance/angst (and those consum.....er.....kids can grow with the series!!!) As long as it is cute and semi cartoon looking, all is good.

It seems things are geared to kids. Fine- but guess who buys the tickets and F$$king overpriced snacks for those kids? 

Yeah.. I don't see people staying interested in Avatar for the next 8 years, but who knows...

"what Alien did with Dallas? He looks even more terrific than Brett-egg!"

It was one of TWO options...  They was BOTH being turned into EGGS which would then require a Host Each, or Brett was becoming the EGG and Dallas was Cocooned to be used as the HOST.

Lets try and make some SENSE of it all...

 WHY would the Xenomomorph only want/need TWO of the Crew?  surely if the Xenomorph also had Lambert and Parker then he would be left with the TWO options.

1) Four EGGS waiting for a Host, so the Nostromo would have 4 Eggs, and a Xenomorph awaiting for whoever came across the Ship.... we could have 5 Eggs if the Xenomorph managed to get to Ripley.

2) We would have TWO Eggs and TWO Hosts, so the o the Nostromo would have 3 Xenomorph's awaiting for whoever came across the Ship.... we could have another Egg if the Xenomorph managed to get to Ripley.

But the Xenomorph only had TWO of the Crew, did the Xenomorph need the others for FOOD?  or did it ONLY require TWO Victims?

I had came to this conclusion NEXT a long long time ago...  the Logical way that the Deleted Scene made SENSE... would be IF this was the route to a QUEEN.

Egg Morph = Queen, then the Nostromo would have ONE Xenomorph and ONE Queen and then knows how many Eggs awaiting for someone to come aboard the Ship.   This i felt was the best way to explain what the Egg Morph would have done...

But this would NOT be the case as we can see from ALIEN 3

And so we still have to WONDER what was the Purpose of the Egg Morph, and WHY only use TWO of the Crew? 

So again i think another explanation  could be as Gavin Pointed out that there are Variants of the Xenomorph in the Cargo Hold.

When looking at Prometheus and the Alien Engineers Draft, i think this Became the Most Logical Solution....  But with Alien Covenant things could turn out to be different as far as HOW we get Thousands of Eggs and IF we see a Queen.

"I guess you have to ask the producers who wanted Ripley alive, the last survivor of the Nostromo."

Precisely it was Necessary for the Plot for her to Survive and this applies to WHY it was that Newt Survived, she was also the Plot Device to how we got to see the Queen.

It would have been interesting if Ridley Scotts idea of Ripley being killed off and the Xenomorph imitated her voice PLOT, where would this had left a Sequel?  Maybe it would have been a bit like AVATAR lol

Regarding some of the Plot that would have had to lead to ALIENS...

While we have not 100% Evidence (in the Movie) i think we could ASSUME that the Jordon's Rover had Traveled for at LEAST a Hour, I dont think it was a quick 20-30 Min Drive, and looking at the Rover it appeared to only be doing say 20KMPH.   I think we could safely assume that the Derelict would have been located at least 20KM from Hadleys Hope (Maybe for Plot Convenience of the 30KM Blast Radius at its Destruction)

I cant see the Jordon's Xenomorph taking Host after Host all that FAR to the Derelict,  or go to the Derelict and bring back EGGS.

Which maybe leaves TWO Options for the Outbreak!

1) The Colony send some people down to Investigate the Derelict, maybe to Destroy those Eggs but a number get infected which would leave enough Xenomorphs to then Overrun the Colony.   By the Time Mr Jordon's Chest Buster makes its appearance,  those who went to the Derelict would have been infected!

2) Mr Jordon's Chest Buster scurries away, Grows, and obtains a Few Hosts and Finds some place to Egg Morph them and Create the QUEEN!  Which then is able to Lay Enough Eggs to allow for a Infestation.

Thats the TWO explanations i can logically come up with for HOW a Infestation could have came about.

But we have to Bare in Mind the Face Huggers, we can assume these are ONLY activated with close Proximity to the Eggs, so thats something else to Consider...

As its Pretty Stupid to Store a number of those if they are AWARE of the Xenomorph as far as ADULT... it maybe would not be so bad if they saw the Chest Buster and thought this is about as BIG as they would GROW.

Could the Xenomorph (Mr Jordon's) have gone and collected a few Face Huggers and taken them to Hadleys Hope?  I find this UNLIKELY.

Maybe some others went to Investigate what happened to Mr Jordon, Got Infected, was brought back.... this accounts for some of the Dead Face Huggers and the ALIVE ones, maybe they had prevented them from infecting by Acting Early Enough.

Alien Covenant kinda bums out that idea, due to the Quick Gestation and How Little time a Face Hugger needs to be on the FACE (but thats just one of the Flaws of AC).

I think such things that are needed for Plot Convenience are NEVER thought out, as they just dont care to put much detail into such things as most would not Question them.   So thats similar to HOW the Xenomorph in Alien Managed to Hide the Body's of Dallas and Brett, it does not matter.

Original Egg > Facehugger > Xenomorph > Eggmorphing > Royal Facehugger > Queen > Egg Laying.

Eggmorhing, no doubt, more scarier and alieny process. But I always wondered - what Alien did with Dallas? He looks even more terrific than Brett-egg!

Here some food for thought...

#1 - James Cameron gets the blames for introducing the Queen and insect lifecycle to the Alien. But is he completely to blame.

Production for The Terminator was delayed because of Arnold Schwarzenegger's prior commitment to Conan The Destroyer. Cameron used this time to pen the script for Rambo: First Blood II and refine The Terminator's script. Cameron also met with David Giler (and Walter Hill) to discuss ideas for what would become Aliens. From this meeting, Cameron then penned the script for Aliens and developing the concept for the Queen. The question is this... did Giler tell Cameron about the deleted egg morphing scene?

Considering that Giler clashed with Fox executives and even sued Fox prior to Aliens being greenlit any possibility for a Ridley Scott Alien 2 (Scott instead worked on Blade Runner) went down the pan. Together with Giler's rewriting of Dan O'Bannon's script, and that during the production of Alien many of O'bannon's ideas that Giler omitted in his rewrite were re-incorporated into production, it is highly unlikely that Giler would have told Cameron about the filmed, but deleted egg morphing scene. Being a fan of the first film had Cameron known of the scene before production on Aliens began, he likely would have incorporated the idea into his script in some way. Cameron may have found out about the scene once production began, but by that point it would have been too much to rework the script and schedule to incorporate the theme into his production, considering how much of the movies third act involved the Queen.

#2 - There is no Alien franchise.

The biomechanical appearance of the Alien and egg morphing lifecycle were introduced in, but only ever appeared in Alien.

The more organic (skeletal in Aliens, fleshy in all movies afterward) appearance and the insect lifecycle were introduced in Aliens and used in all movies since.

Alien is one off, Aliens was a sequel based off the theatrical version of Alien, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection continued the appearance and lifecycle introduced in Aliens, therefore they are part of the Aliens franchise.

"Why did the Xenomorph just await (on the Narcissus ) for Ripley instead of track her down being as though its Faster and Stealthy?"

"Why doesn't the xenomorph hop out and mercilessly murder Ripley on the Narcissus?"

I guess you have to ask the producers who wanted Ripley alive, the last survivor of the Nostromo.

Back in the day before Blue Ray, DVD, VHS, Cable and Betamax, we pretty much saw a movie like Alien in the theater and that was all you got- no rewinds, special features or bathroom breaks. If you wanted more, you had to pony up more cash for another ticket for the privilege.

These days we can analyze everything to death. I am guilty of partaking but prefer the latter.

Suck it you Goll Darn Whippersnappers!