Comments (Page 262)

This is a very nice detailed Figure, its the Advantage when they have a Large Size to fit in a lot of Detail a 7" Toy cant!

This really is a VERY nice Figure, shows the advantage of a Bigger Model that allows for some better Detail!

Can you imagine a HOT-TOYS Queen?  all 30-35" of HER!

Regarding my Rant on Fanboys and Tropes...

I did not intend it to come over harsh, we are all Fanboys, thats not a Bad Thing... what i was referring to was that their is a selection of Fans who prefer or do-not see the scope of the Franchise beyond the Xenomorph and Queens.  

But when looking back at ALIEN, then the Space Jockey was the Bigger Picture... it was surely NO Coincidence that the Derelict and Xenomorph had a similar Atheistic and so there was a Connection... it was not like the Ship/Space Jockey appeared to be a Unconnected Race that just came across the Xenomorphs and tried to exploit them like the USM company did in Alien Resurrection.

There appeared to be a Connection between the Derelict and Xenomorphs.... Ultimately the Idea was that the Ships Technology and Xenomorph were Designed/Engineered Weapons that were either Created by the Space Jockey Race, or Stolen/Reverse Engineered by them from something else.

Getting to the Bottom of this Connection was something NEW to explore that potentially could EXPAND beyond the Limitations of a Alien Organism that Procreates via a Queen then goes around to Invade/Infect a World to Procreate its own kind.

There is ONLY so much you can do with this Formula (Queen and Eggs), before we explore its Reason/Origin.

Ridley Scott had intended to show the Space Jockey Race had Created these things (Derelict/Xenomorph) to be used as purely a BIO-WEAPON and in effect once you have revealed this Reason, then the Xenomorph is just like GUNPOWDER is to Mankind... you can explore many uses for Gunpowder and Variants but there is something BIGGER about Mankind than we Discovered Gunpowder and then the Game Changer as far as Warfare goes with this...

The History of our species, WHY would we need to USE the Gunpowder and Various Weapons that employ it... so its the WHY that becomes the Bigger Question, for what reason, and what CONFLICTS.

I feel this is something RS was more interested in, the WHY rather than the HOW/WHEN the Engineers as Creators and would be GODS.. Chariots of the Gods Plot also opens up massive Scope, Many Worlds, Races and Conflicts.

Back to the Alien Tropes....

If we ignore the WHY and Origins of the Xenomorph, then what we have is a Organism that Procreates via Eggs (laid by Queens) , that Require a Host, that we see are either came across by Mankind who become in Peril, or these Helpless Victims are Set-Up by the Company Military who wish to Obtain the Xenomorph as a Weapon.

It comes down to Company wants said Organism for Military Division and a Ripley Comes along and Puts a Stop to that!

After Alien 3, Miss Weaver wanted to be KILLED off... when she returned in the Alien Resurrection Plot... we see a Company has Finally Obtained their Xenomorph and then it was a case to WHAT END would they attempt to use it, we also saw there was Hybrids.

But it still came down to a Ripely putting a Stop to THAT!

The same applies with Amanda Ripley... it would likely take a similar route if we had Alien Isolation Sequels and Movies. Company Want Xenomorph, people killed by Xenomorphs while trying to Run/Hide, and a RIPLEY comes along to Put a Stop to the Companies Plans.

The Xenomorph had been done over and over, in Movies, Comics and Games... to the point that apart from ALIEN and ALIEN 3 it was a Organism that could get its ASS handed to it by Ripley, Marines or Mercenaries.

The AVP movies reveal the Predators USE the Xenomorph to give them the Ultimate Prey to HUNT as a Right of Passage.  While it does-not give us the Origins of the Xenomorph....  i feel the Xenomorph was not too Damaged by the Movie... apart from the Queen!

The Sequel However... well enough said about that!

Alien Covenants Xenomorph, was shown to be aggressive but also it was not used well enough and DID NOTHING to regain the Threat it was in ALIEN.... but it was not FAR OFF... the whole David Created it ARC is what Damaged the Xenomorph however.

so my point about the FANBOYS... is they seem to be disappointed in Movies that are not as much Action Based, they want Queens, Eggs, Multiple Xenomorphs and seeing Humans Run, Hide and Shoot... which is all very good.. but these things have been done OVER and OVER in Comics, and Games and the Movies.

The Big Problem with this, is its always usually the same Plot... Company Secretly or not so Secretly want the Xenomorph and a Ripley comes along to Save the Day!

If this Formula is Repeated, its a case of HOW long can we have this GO ON and especially with a Ripley Savior Connection before it gets Repetitive?  Even if we have Amanda Ripley, or other Ripleys or a Newt... if the Female Protagonist is Molded to much in the same Fashion as Ellen Ripley, and especially with a Family Connection.. it would get repetitive and Predictable.

This is what RS was trying to Change!

A Cameron i feel would just bring back those usual Plot and Tropes and Ripley....    Then we start to become just a TERMINATOR wanting to be a Star-Wars like Franchise.

The Terminator Franchise does-not have to be about Sarah/John Connor or Arnold Schwarzenegger but it seems to be STUCK in only having these connections..

There are many other Variants of Terminator and other Threats that a Skynet  and Cyberdyne could introduce,and it does not have to be about Schwarzenegger Doppelgangers or Connor Family.

Likewise the ALIEN Franchise should not be limited to Queens, Eggs that the Company Want and a Ripley Family Member comes and Saves the Day!

"Lol, I know Dave, I was just trying to have the baby Queen fit into the survival scenario."

Well the Queen is a Pivotal Part of the Franchise, and the Xenomorph History, where it came down to the Chicken or the Egg.  That was a BIG Question that maybe has No Answer just as the real Chicken or Eggs Question.

The Prequels and Especially Alien Covenant, now seem to steer us in a certain direction, because it indicates there was NO Queen at the time of Davids Current Xenomorph's by the year 2105.

The Pathogen, does look like something that can adapt to different situations, and we saw the Xenomorph appeared to have that Trait in the Franchise.  Many have tried take sides on the Egg Morph or Queen Route since even before the Franchise... i was always lead to the Egg Morph leads to a Queen being the best Explanation.

There are some who still only take the Alien DC version of the Egg Morph and prefer our ALIEN Big Chap compared to Camerons Queen and Semi-Clear Carapace/Dome  missing Bug Xenomorphs.  But when we look at the Alien Engineers Draft, it indicates and RS had confirmed the Derelict had 8 Different Cargo Holds... Each One having a Variant of the Xenomorph.

This opened up the 1979 Style Xenomorph that Egg Morphed as one Variant to Try, and Cameron's Egg Laying Queen and slightly different looking Xenomorphs as another Variant the Engineers could have been Testing.

Quite how much Alien Covenant may have Muddied the Waters to explain either of those, is left for debate and maybe something that would have been answered?

But indeed the Xenomorph Organism is a Survivor, its not hard to imagine it would have a number of ways to adapt and survive.  I think the Cabbage Regeneration Scenario would be VERY fitting, especially as a Purposely Designed Bio-Weapon that can be used to Clean-Up Worlds.

If the Xenomorphs and maybe Black Goo Monsters, have a Limited Life-Span and then when they Die, they Dissolve into a Pile of Matter that then Sprouts Small Eggs/Spores that are left behind, then this is VERY useful as a Bio-Weapon.  Would fit in with RS and the Regeneration Aspect, and maybe used to explain the ACID Hole on the Derelict.

I certainly think there is potential to explore a Weyland TV Show, and having the Show simply Called WEYLAND could work, maybe have a secondary Title depending on what the TV Show will cover... its most Famous Motto was Building Better Worlds which maybe would suit a TV Show that would be about the Space Exploration and Terra-forming of Worlds.

Things to take not with the Weyland kind of angle, would be do we cover a younger Weyland and what he achieved and his Company which include.

*Medical Advancements in both Technology to perform Procedures and Diagnose, and also in terms of Medicine/Vaccines and Genetic Engineering to reduce, cure and Eliminate various Genetic Ailments, Disabilities and Viruses.  Maybe also including Artificially Creating Organs or ways to decrease Organ Damage/Degrading.

*Genetic Engineering and Technology for the Food Sector.  Such as better ways to Grow Crops/Fruit/Vegetables both on Earth but on other Worlds.

*Robotic and Machine Advancements.. which include various AI implementations inc Software/Computer Systems and Robots/Machines, not limited to maybe Cybernetic Limbs or Enhancements that could be used for MILITARY but also for Rehabilitating Injuries such as lose of Limbs etc.

*Technical Advancements to the Transport Industry, not limited to Advanced Vehicle's for the Economic Sector, but Public and Recreation too, Planes (other Flying Craft), Cars, Trains, Boats etc.

*Space Exploration and Technology, which include Space Ships, Rockets, Space Stations.

*Terra-forming/Building Better Worlds which can encompass a whole manner of Technological Advancements.

*Military Advancement the use of various Advancements from above to AID with the Military.

Plus other Possible things...

We discover that Weyland may have a Agenda behind such Advancements in the Hope of Extending his Life-Span.

We can cover conflicts with the Yutani Company who are also Rivals in various industries, but it seems that the follow are a Main Area of interest for Yutani.

*Telecommunications, Networking and Espionage. 

*Computing and AI, include Robotics. (a Major Rivalry to Weylands Projects).

*Military Advancements.

So a Weyland TV show could cover a number of things, and would be better suited to cover the Rivalry between Weyland and Yutani.    A show would NOT have to feature Weyland, or David not even in any Cameos

It would depend on the Time-Line as far as WHAT we could be covering, because we have KEY Time-Line points from a Young Weyland and when the Company is Starting Up, to the Point they become a Big Player which is around the 2020's  to when they become a even Bigger Player in Space Travel and Building Better Worlds which is likely around the 2060's and 2070's

Right to the point when Weyland is hitting his Older Age in the 2080's

These are all before any Merger.... the Disappearance of Peter Weyland in 2093 would trigger events that would eventually lead to a Merger of the Company some 6 years after the Disappearance of the Prometheus.

I think the History and Lead-up to the MERGER is certainly a Important/Untold part of the Franchise.

Lol, I know Dave, I was just trying to have the baby Queen fit into the survival scenario.

Yeah, I wonder where Ridley would have gone with the regeneration idea or was he going to simply avoid any explanation?

Regarding why pursue Ripley & clone her as an alternative? Perhaps something happened during the process of evolving the Biological Alien into the Bio-Mechanical version, (how that happened, we have yet to discover) which affected its ability to regenerate? Or even that in evolving it was so well protected & adaptable that it no longer needed that ability?

I'm just throwing things out there off the top of my head. I'd really have to take some time to think of a suitable reason.

All attempts to harness & breed the Alien have ended in disaster, as even the events of Resurrection have shown. Of course the Ripley-Alien clones became an unexpected by-product of that process. 

God forbid, we might have a future movie with a Ripley clone army! Jim Cameron is waiting in the wings to make his entrance, so who knows. For those of us who complain about resurrecting Ripley yet again, just imagine that! Hahaha

I like your cabbage patch regeneration-clone scenario too. I think we discussed that a while back? It does sit nicely with the human Egg Morph, which we are both supporters of. It provides a satisfactory explanation for the derelicts cargo being eggs rather than urns.

Question: what do the queen and the lifter from Alien Covenant have in common?

It is an impressive figure for sure and the Ellen figure has a nice bum and all- but the AR Queen was basically immobile. 

The pics look more like the OG Queen from Aliens. 

Not complaining since it looks impressive- I am just being a geeky whiny bitch right now.

A snap-shot from the intro menu/s of the PROMETHEUS Blue-Ray... This is how I feel a WEYLAND and/or ALIEN-based TV show would be like in the intro credits...

(It originally said WEYLAND CORP, I Photoshopped-out the "Corp" part in favor of just the: WEYLAND name & logo & added: "Building Better Worlds" at the top)

In Ridley Scotts Defense he had No Control of how the ALIEN sequels spanned out, i am sure he would wanted something Grand, Epic and not about Ripley going around kicking Alien Ass while others are running and hiding.

For FOX it was a case of where do we continue with ALIEN now Miss Weaver is a certain AGE, do we try a movie that has nothing to do with HER.... if we make such a movie and introduce the Xenomorphs how could this conflict with the Franchise (Why Pursue LV-426 for Eggs, and then Ripley), do they continue with a ALIEN 5 but then how does a Ripley 8 who can Regenerate look so much Older... and ULTIMATELY once we have done this, and its a case of WHAT NEXT?

If we got a ALIEN 5, and 6 its a case of can we keep having this Ripley 8 Age 3-5 years between movies?  Eventually they would have to consider a PREQUEL as a way to make more MONEY!

Ridley Scott lost control of HOW the sequels to his Alien could have gone, but he has a Chance to Create the Origins in a way that suits him... and NO-ONE ever answered the Xenomorph Origins, the Space Jockey Origins/Species or HOW/WHY and WHEN he had that Cargo.

They expanded the Plot with the Chariots of the Gods/Engineers Plot... they (mainly FOX) then felt this was the MAIN thing to concentrate on, and something that could then Expand the Franchise beyond Face Hugging and Chest Busting  and that maybe leaving the Origins of the Xenomorph and Space Jockey Event a bit of a Mystery was something thats right to do....  

In Hindsight failure to replace the beast with something similar and being too vague was a Problem... Neomorphs in Prometheus would have helped or similar.

Problems came from the reaction to Prometheus, FOX took on board the lack of Answers, No Xenomorphs, and how Fans was not a massive Fan of Dr Shaw or the Engineers.

And so Alien Covenant was BORN... and FOX kick-started this Change of Direction... it was not helped by Blomkamp putting his ALIEN 5 Fanboys Wet-Dream out there.

But then when we came to Alien Covenant, it was a combination of Flaws... a attempt to please everyone, by giving a little to everyone but not enough for everyone.. with one Emphasis on David... and his Character ARC was a bit flawed for some... and the revelation of HE creates the Xenomorph is something that had Pissed Most people off.   I am sure revealing the Predators Created the Xenomorph to kill the Engineers would have not been as bad for the Fans!

But indeed RS was still a Champion for this Plot Change and Character ARC of David, and the Execution of some of the Scenes, but also he is limited by the STORY which i think Logan and Harper did not do too well... But RS agreed and liked what they had to offer.

I think the Franchise Regardless who takes over the reigns and regardless of Plot Change is ONE more Disappointing Movie away from becoming a bit of a JOKE!  well becoming Damaged Beyond Repair... apart from Flicks about Ripley for Fanboys Cash Grab!  

But to we want to see the Franchise be full of usual Tropes and become more of a Marvel Hero Type Flick?  That would be Very ALIEN to what ALIEN was.

"green light another alien project or more projects - films/tv series/streaming."

Financially YES i think there is quite a bit you could do with the Franchise that does-not even have to be about Ripley, Xenomorphs, that Zeta 2 System and Engineers.

Indeed a TV Series/Streaming would not be that expensive, and if it does-not revolve around the events of Prometheus/Alien and Xenomorphs or Engineers then Financially it would be Cheaper to Create due to NOT needing such Special Effects to bring the Alien Monsters/Races to Screen.

I think the Problem is Marketing.... if we have a Spin Off that does-not carry the ALIEN name, then maybe people would not know it is in the same universe, maybe it would attract less attention... so the ALIEN Prefix is a Marketing Ploy to Attract more to go and see and find out what any such TV/Streaming Show would be about.

But with such a ALIEN Prefix, then some Fans or casual viewers are going to be asking, HOW does this connect to ALIEN, where is the Xenomorph and Ripley... so a ALIEN Prefix is Cursed/Shackled to having the expectation for those things.

A Example is the Alien Covenant Origins Novel... which was about the Covenant Mission and NOT about Xenomorph Origins which some may have thought it was/should be about.  It should have maybe been called COVENANT... then under have the secondary title  A Alien Covenant Prequel.

Even the Cover was Misleading...

Where as something like this would have been more fitting.

But while those who know of Alien Covenant may know the connection or about the Book, they often mislead us with Titles and Posters... This was a Prime Example below, just to HOOK people into paying up to see it.

"The path to paradise begins in hell."

Again that also misleads us....

I think that there is potential to explore more in the Franchise, that does-not have to revolve around Xenomorphs and Ripley, i could mention a number of things they could do... but its going to be  a case of USE the ALIEN Prefix to draw more attention and make more Money, but then have people disappointed and expect more Xenomorph/Ripley connections..  or NOT use the Prefix of ALIEN at the risk of some Fans not being aware there is a Alien Universe Spin off?

"Hmmm... I wonder!!??"

It still is a Mystery who Ripleys Parents are.... maybe the Secret has been revealed?

;)

Regarding the Franchise, i feel Ridley Scott has been getting a lot of Stick, the Studio that calls most of the Shots... if Disney say that he wants the Sequel to Alien Covenant to have David try and infect Daniels with a Face Hugger, and Tennessee rushes in with a Joint in his Mouth, and Grabs the Face Hugger and throws it to David, who gets Face Hugged and Chest Bursts a Bio-Mechanical Queen, and this is the end of the 1st ACT.... if RS is like "no frickin way, i am not doing that" then Disney could just call up Cameron and see what he says... and he could be like "Yeah i would do that, One Condition... make it Ripley or Ripleys Mother who rescues Daniels and count me in"

I think the main thing RS should take the blame for is Championing the TWIST that David Creates the Xenomorph, instead of say he Perfects his own Version. Plus maybe a lot of Blame for the Character ARC of David which i dont have a massive Problem with...  But i think right now the Biggest Gripes with Alien Covenant has to be that we was expected more about the Engineers, and having Dr Shaws Answers.... which we hardly got... and the Xenomorph was a Creation of Davids..

Ridley Scotts other ideas are interesting to me, but maybe not to some, i feel Prometheus had a lot to offer and expand upon, BUT once you take the route to make a more Literal Chronological Prequel about the lead up to HOW/WHEN those Eggs got onto the Derelict... then this STOPS being a Spin-Off and becomes a ALIEN movie in which case, the ideas and themes of Prometheus become a Distraction because at least 40% of any Movie NOW has to be about the Xenomorph or at least it would be expected to be.

So i do think there is not much chance of Ridley Scott returning to the Franchise, in part because they (Disney) could see his ideas and being NOT what Alien fans may want now we are on that path to ALIEN and maybe also because RS may not want to take part in a more Traditional Action Run, Shoot, Hide and Hello Ripley kind of Alien Flick that Disney may feel is the Direction to take.

They may feel they need to do a Star Wars, where it has to connect to a Ripley Saga just as much as having Xenomorphs... where actually you dont have to...  Star Wars Rogue One was a Good Movie, it was not about Jedi, and Skywalkers....

I think that movie would still had worked if we never had the Vader Element, or Leia Cameo, and just ended with the Information about the Death Star being transferred to the Corvette Transport and then seen those Rebel Ships go into Hyper Drive!

The Problem with Star Wars would be any movie would have to have some degree of connection to the Force, and it would also have to have some connection to a Empire/New Order as far as Storm Trooper type Force.

So by the same Token... the ALIEN Franchise would always be expected to be about the Xenomorph, or at very least similar... i think a Alien Covenant with Neomorphs would have been fine.... leave the Xenomorph for a sequel.. or Cliff Hanger  but we had that with the Deacon and that disappointed people with Prometheus.. 

IF we had a Fifield that was more Xenomorph Hybrid and then the Crew was attacked by another different Monster that Chest Busted from Milburn, then i am sure that would have been sufficient...

You would still get some fans who would be displeased we have NO Xenomorph though, and to a lesser extent NO Ripley either... but thats Life!

The same would be said if a Star Wars movie did not contain at least 2 out of these 3 elements...   Force/Force Users, Storm Troopers/Empire or similar and Classic Characters or Characters who are connected to them!

One of those and it would get a lot of Criticism, NONE and it could Bomb!

Ridley Scott saw the Franchise had to be more than just about Ripley and the Xenomorph, seeing Space Jockey/Engineers and Mankind as being more important...

But as i said, a Star Wars movie would require more of those Tropes Listed above as far as Disney seeing this is what would MAKE MONEY.... and by the same Virtue they would see the Xenomorph and Ripley Tropes as being needed to MAKE MONEY for the Alien Franchise.

IF we see Ridley Scotts TV show Raised by Wolves do well, and gets praised, and IF his Merlin likewise does well, then i guess there is the OPTION for Disney to discus the Future of the Alien Franchise, but i think RS would have to make just as many (if not more) Compromises as he had to for the Prometheus Sequel

Supposedly Ridley Scott is doing a Merlin franchise for Disney or a Merlin film that could become a franchise, or so I read before. So, if that is the case, then maybe that is a commercial project that if complete & successful acts as a "down payment" between Scott & Disney to automatically green light another alien project or more projects - films/tv series/streaming.

Agreed, He should produce while other grittier talents unleash themselves upon the franchise in streaming shows & films.

I often thought there should be a tv show simply called: "WEYLAND" then followed by the sub title: "Building Better Worlds" much in the same vein & asthetic look as WESTWORLD's intro credit sequence.

Then the show could progress into WEYLAND-YUTANNI merger & so-on from there with the tag-line "Building Better Worlds" perhaps. I've touched upon this a while ago & may do an updated thread on it as We know more now & have seen more content as the afore-mentioned WESTWORLD & other topics like STAR TREK: DISCOVERY & some of there ideas, STRANGER THINGS, BLADE RUNNER: 2049, HALO games dealing with technologies & so-on so there is an ever-expanding scope for a WEYLAND-like streaming/TV Show. 

Welcome! The Quadrilogy is what it is. Prometheus and AC seem unrelated in hindsight imo. Big picture it looks like someone trying to advance something for no other reason than a cash grab and/ or for vanity reasons. Yep, I mean you RS. I may have bought it 15 years ago but the last two movies- good in their own rights- make things feel sort of bloated and over done.

To the OP- I had read stuff to that effect. Here we are. I don't think RS has much control anymore. I say that we should mush on with the possibilities this forum has discussed over the past year. Sorry RS, your reign is over in this franchise. 

Hmmm... I wonder!!??

I see where your coming from, hence my joke in that Article and Picture ;)

I suppose it could work, if Oram had been her Father but that he had left before knowing he had a Child, or knowing he had someone Pregnant but the Relationship Broke down so they separated.

He then begins his NEW Life, and as part of this he becomes enrolled in the Covenant Project.

He has a similar look to Ripley when he is in Davids Chambers for want of a better word where all His works of "art" are being studied by Him (David). The lighting on Christophers face & when He goes down into the lower Chamber where the proto-petal Facehugger egg is.

The lighting on his face is very reminicent of Ripley running around with red on Her face, sweat, damp hair & so-on...

" I'm writing this post to share my personal preference as to where the story should have gone"

I think thats a interesting take on it.... certainly something to ponder when you saw the Space Jockey in Alien.

*Was this Being Transferring the Eggs for Study (as in the Starbeast Draft) that they discovered on some place/world.

*Where these Eggs something they Created from something they Experimented with that they had discovered on some place/world.

*Had they created these Eggs from Scratch and if so HOW.

Those were the 3 Main things to consider before we had the Prequels...

Your idea touches upon Option 2 and this is what the Alien Engineers draft seemed to indicate while being a bit Vague.

I think there could be a 4th Option that ties with the Themes of Prometheus and HR Gigers Concepts... which is maybe the Engineers are a Engineered Race, or a Race Engineered from a Humanoid Race, or a Encountered Humanoid Race, that are used in some kind of Symbiotic Sacrificial Relationship for some other Races Agenda to Procreate some Organism.

This Race of Engineers have some Covenant and Benefit from Sacrificing some of their kind...  they eventually either Rebel against this and have a Conflict with their Masters/Slavers..  which they are then Punished for, but Survive and Use this Punishment to Overthrow their Oppressors and then Steal/Use their Masters Technology. 

OR they Sub-Create/Use their Masters Technology to their own Gain, of which their Masters then attempt to Destroy/Punish them... which Fails and leads to the Engineers overthrowing their Masters/Slavers.

I am drawn to/assume something roughly like this when i consider the Prequels Plot/Themes and look at HR Gigers Concepts/Ideas.

Regarding Various Forms of Xeno-MORPHS... indeed its interesting to ponder what the effects of a Face Hugger or Black Goo has on various other Organisms.

Edit:

To expand on that idea that revolves around HR Gigers Concepts... i like you had the idea of some GIANT World these Beasts came from...  ONLY... it was not a world, but a Giant Turtle like Living Craft of Great Great Size.

A HR Giger take on the World Turtle... which i pondered would Grow/Create the Derelicts.   They would also Produce Eggs (look like the ALIEN poster) and these Eggs are the Source of the Creation Goo, but some of these Eggs can be Manipulated to Explode and in effect Create a Star/Solar System.   They can be Manipulated to then Create Basic Life/Plants on a World....

Basically Combine the World Turtle Mythos with the Cosmic Egg Mythos, but connect it to ALIEN with a HR Giger take on it.  i pondered do we have ONE very Large Bio-Mechanical Turtle Craft, or Multiple Smaller Ones?  But still like Death Star Size!

I pondered what powers these, and what is the Computer Core, a Life-Form, a Computer or something very very Alien, maybe some Cosmic Void/Shapeless Form!

I also pondered do these Turtle like Bases, have Guardians who have some Elephantine look to them, Truly Giant Beings... Far Larger than the Space Jockey!

And what other Species play a ROLE, upon these Ships/Bases, so it was a way to also MERGE the Starbeast Idea with these Mythos.

OH BOY!

Welcome aboard and Brace Yourself... this is going to be a Big Reply ;)  (get used to it from me sorry).

Firstly Nice Posters..

"(and like most fans, I totally hated how nonchalantly they got rid of Hicks and Newt)"

I know many of the more Aliens Fans feel this way, but they sometimes dont seem to think about how they could had carried on, you see it was a very Problematic Production, Originally they wanted a Aliens Sequel to be made in 1988/1989 and even wanted Ridley Scott and Cameron to work on the Project, but they had other commitments.   Once they Finally had a Draft to work with, and Production began it was 1991, and so this was 5 years after ALIENS, and so a Carrie Henn. would have been about 15 years old, and certainly gone through some Biological Changes to pass off as say a 9 year old as she would have been when Filming Aliens.

This would mean to KEEP her Alive they would have either had to use a different Actress who would resemble Newt in Aliens, or set Alien 3 some 5-6 years after Aliens or longer.  There were various drafts for Alien 3 between 1988 and 1991,  and its a case of the Plot they settled with they had those Characters Killed off...  and IF they wanted to keep them alive, then you would either have to cast another Actress for NEWT, or set the Movie 5+ years latter.

" I kinda agree with the fans who thought the story took away the mystery from the xenos."

The Prequel was always going to be Tricky... its a case of what do you do in a Prequel?  and within the Alien Universe it was always likely going to come down to explore either the Origin of the Xenomorph, or WHO the Space Jockey Race was.

This is what we had, the Problem was ONCE you answered the Xenomorphs Origins what do they do then? They also saw the Xenomorph had been done over and over, and suffered some damage in how the AVP movies had degraded the Beast (especially AVPR).  So they had a idea of a Plot to Expand who the Space Jockey was, which was the Ancient Aliens/Chariots of the Gods Plot.  While still covering the Xenomorph.

FOX felt that actually the Engineers Plot was interesting and maybe they never had to cover the Xenomorph, because maybe some things should be kept Mystery and they can open up to explore the Franchise in more of a Adventure and Thought Provoking kind of set of Spin-Offs.

Xenomorphs removed, clues to its Origins Vague, and replaced with Organisms that had some connection, but not enough and a Toxic Avenger Fifield, a Space Cobra Petting, and a Deacon Chest Buster that we never got to see what happens!!!  Sadly never had that ALIENY Vibe Fans expected.

The Engineers disappointed some because some expected something more ALIEN, and also that the Space Jockey was a Skeleton and not a Space Suit!

At Concept (Starbeast)... yes... the Space Jockey was a Skeleton of a Giant Alien Race who came across the Xenomorph and attempted to carry some of the Spores/Eggs for Study but they became infected.

But at this point there was NO actual Space Jockey as per say... the Space Jockey came from a latter Draft and HR Gigers Concept work..   If you look at his Concepts, and Mural intended for ALIEN, then the Space Jockey looks like a Space Suit, a very Bio-Mechanical one, the occupants are BALD Humanoids.

Regardless... i think some fans are disappointed with those Engineers, for me the Scale was not Quite Giant!  But as of the Drafts, they was intended as 12-15ft then revised down to 10ft... but in reality the LACK of using Special Effects only created a Illusion of 8ft Space Jockeys and not 12+ Foot Tall.

"I mean, why the hell did he killed Elizabeth after she saved him and reconstructed him? And why the hell did he released the black goo on the engineers?"

I can see this was confusing for some, how can he had feelings for her, to then just KILL her... well thats a bit of Bad Writing... if we dig deeper, i would assume he had no intentions of killing her, but she had found out what he had done, and maybe his actions/affections towards her, that she felt a bit freaked out and afraid, and David does-not take Rejection Well, considering he did all he had done (Bombarded Engineers) to Save Her!  When really he also wanted to save Himself.

You see if these Engineers are NOT fans of Mankind, and they had the same outlook on us as those in Prometheus, then there is LITTLE chance that Dr Shaw would get her Answers, and more Chance she would get her Head Bashed in with Davids...  

Dr Shaw is willing to Die for her Answers.  But David is not prepared to be Destroyed or see Dr Shaw die in pursuit of such things, instead he sees it better if he KILLS the Engineer, and then he can maybe get Dr Shaw some Answers from the Ruins... and perhaps offer to Start a New Paradise once this World is Cleansed.... which she Rejected.

I could go into more detail beyond Davids Motives and Outlook, but its to do with the Themes of Creation, Sub-Creation and what being a Creator/God is all about.  But i dont want to take the Emphasis off you Topic/Ideas.

I am drawn to David seeing the Engineers as Wicked, and Flawed, and also that Mankind are the same (Majority) it does-not mean he had a HATE for all Mankind, he certainly could have been ok with those who Treat him KIND.. 

Mankind and the Engineers are stuck in their ways/rituals and ways of Life, that in general David does-not feel is KIND.  He is looking at BOTH Races as GOD may have with Mankind at the Time of his decision to cause the Great Flood.  

GOD chose to save Noah and from Noah Mankind could Repopulate but follow the ways God had intended...  And i assume David would have seen Dr Shaw as a way to Create a New Eden, where potentially her Off-Spring could be brought up to be KIND... and not Fall Corrupt and Wicked like Mankind.

This had been my assumption..... and after i made this then years latter it appears the Plot for Alien Covenants sequel would likely had been about David seeing a Second Chance for Mankind but ONLY via the Embryos which i think he would have Engineered as his OWN Children.

The Engineers reasons for wanting us Destroyed?  Because they saw we had become Corrupt, Rebellious and a Potential Threat!

"Could the androids be from Weyland-Yutani and the children from a lost and forgotten colony?"

I do wonder if Raised by Wolves borrows ideas that RS had intended for Alien Covenants sequel, that he has NOW taken to explore in his TV Series, knowing that his kind of Alien Covenant sequel may NEVER see the light of day, in light of the Backlash to Alien Covenant.

I speculate that the sequel would have been about David creating a Colony that has Engineered Human Embryos... that are likely raised by David and Fed some BS story about Creation and Religion, that when another Human Ship arrives, those Humans Interaction with Davids Engineered Humans, causes things to GO TO POT!

You can bet the Final Act would also see another Human Ship and Engineers come into play, to set up another sequel that would become a War of the Worlds or set up such a Plot.

@LONE

You certainly can see the Xenomorph can take some Punishment,  well apart from the Action Run/Shoot Movies.   I would SAFELY assume the Furnace had Destroyed the Queen in Alien 3 and had the Runner been tossed into the same Furnace it would be Curtains Instantly.

Regenerating Xenomorphs would raise the Question of WHY do they pursue Ripley in Alien 3, and resort to Clone her 100 years after?

But certainly Ridley Scott suggested the Xenomorph would Regenerate... i think YEAH... to a degree that would work..

But i would much prefer the Cabbage Patch Regeneration/Clone route.... when a Xenomorph Dies, from its Dead Body, it Breaks Down and then Eggs Form from the Broken Down Mass of Xenomorph Body Parts.

In effect giving us a bit of a Egg Morph like Twist.

This could kind of Explain the Egg Cargo if we assume the Space Jockey Chest Buster, died... it then Broke Down, Dissolved through to the Cargo Hold, it then somehow infected the Urns, to then end up producing Eggs.

Finally i will add...

The Plot i Outline above, could maybe even be the TRUTH to our Creation in light of where the Franchise could have gone..    Replace those Engineered Humanoids with Mankind, Replace David with the Engineers... and well the Incoming Humans with Who-Ever Created the Engineers to reveal the SHAM of their Creation (Engineers) and thus TRUTH about our Creation being just the Creation by some Rogue Engineered Humanoids who are NOT Gods!

This is how Prometheus 2 could have gone, and certainly the Direction i was taking with my Prometheus 3 (my Prometheus 2 was based mainly on Earth/Mars).

Back to the OT...

In context to Engineered Beings... we could explore this via the Engineers, and explore WHY those LV-223 and Planet 4 Engineers are different, and open up a Whole History there.

I am led to think those LV-223 Engineers are just the Replicants of the Engineer Society, maybe the LV-223 Engineers Rebelled and this caused some Ancient Conflict?

Certainly looking back at the OT... and it applies to Predator Franchise too....  ONCE  Species goes about to Genetically Alter and Improve their own Species, to Create a Superior Version, and Especially if this Superior Version is created to Serve some Purpose...  

The HUBRIS is there for the Sub-Created to Rebel and become the Greatest Threat to their Creators/Engineers. And i think this kind of Theme was one of the Big Ones that Ridley Scott wanted to explore...

But Fans wanted Xenomorphs, Queens and maybe Ripley's!

The Context to this Topic was discussing Genetic Engineering of a Humanoid. It does-not have to be about David.

So it could go the route of Engineered Humans, but as i said in the other post prior, its IF we can make a connection with them and so its likely better to have them as the Antagonist against a incoming unsuspecting Human Ship/Crew.

Imagine they (Humans) arrive at the Colony,  they see a Colony Built/Set up, that seemed to be Void of Technology for the most part and looking more like a Med-evil Settlement and they notice a lot of Religious Architecture like a Church, Crosses. 

They dont see any Humans... they enter the Wooden Church and see a Cross/Mural with either David 8's Body Attached... as the Christ!  or a Effigy.

Then the Engineered Humans could enter and while they look different  they could claim they are peaceful, and come up with some Reason for WHAT this place is, and about HOW they was Engineered to Survive some Outbreak that killed off the Normal Humans.  Then latter we could reveal a Sinister Motive to these Engineered Humans.

OR what if those Engineered Humans are told lies about WHO Mankind are, and the Colonist... how would they feel when beings who are like them but NOT like them turn up, and INFORM those Engineered Humanoids about the Covenant Mission and WHO Mankind are... 

HOW would those Humanoids respond to discovering that this WORLD was intended as a NEW Paradise for Earth's Humans and NOT a World Created for them by their GOD David? 

If these Humanoids had been brought up with a kind of Religion and set of Rules by David, how would those Humanoids Feel if the Humans who turn up, show them that their GOD/Creator is a Creation of the Humans to Serve, and that Humans are somewhat special and divine, compared to a bunch of a Mad Robots Experiments that these Humanoids on Origae-6 are...

This would be especially interesting of the incoming Humans are also Very Religious like Oram and Dr Shaw and would view the World David has Created with he Church, the Crosses as a MOCKERY...   And we have to ASK how would those Humanoids Respond to the Humans claiming their Entire Culture is a SHAME/LIE and Mockery, and the Humans Religion is TRUTH.

HOW would a Humanoid Species that had David as their God/Creator react when say a Walter Model arrives with those Humans and Proclaims the Humans are Correct, and REVELATION  that David is merely just a TOOL, a SERVANT.. Gone AWOL!

These are just how interesting a sequel could have been, that does-not have to be about Xenomorphs... my idea which is Alien Ascension is very much about the Above... only David is ALIVE and not Dead... but you could KILL him off screen... but have the Origae-6 Humanoids worship him as a GOD..   But it would not have to revolve around Fasbenders.. it would be more about Creation, Religion and what impact Faith/Religion, and Rituals have on a RACE and then what happens when those Beliefs proven to be a SHAM or contradicted.

HOWEVER.. again this would be steering away from what a ALIEN movie should be about, but it could SET-UP a sequel that introduces the Engineers and Xenomorphs, or they appear in the Final Act.. where it sets up a more ALIEN movie NEXT!

I think this may be the Plans RS had...  But yes it would not be very ALIEN for what the Fans want... the Problem is PROMETHEUS was started to Steer Away from ALIEN.

By Virtue of the Studio wanting to connect to ALIEN and give the Fans Xenomorphs, then all the Prometheus/Engineers stuff should have been placed as 3rd Fiddle to Xenomorphs and Humans Running from Said Xenomorphs.

"“Certainly Interesting themes, that The Planet of the Apes also cover in part..”

Keep it to those things then, the theme is alright and the characters are probably better but don’t push that into Alien and focus on an android.

I can see this is one of the things that causes a split in the Fanbase, some may like those Themes, some do-not and while interesting they do seem to be a Distraction to what many fans would expect the Franchise to be about which is usually Xenomorphs!

But as you have mentioned before, a Great Deal of what made the Franchise work was seeing Human Characters placed in Jeopardy and Peril in Situations they are NOT Equipped or Prepared to Deal With.

Prometheus in part attempted this, Alien Covenant definitely did this, HOWEVER... the Characters just never connected as good with the viewer as they did from Alien, Aliens and Alien 3.  Alien Resurrection is a example of it just NOT working right, we just could not connect to the Characters as well as the First 3 Movies.. and this Trend Continued with the AVP movies and Prequels.

The AI element was likely to be about Artificially Created/Engineered Humanoids.

While Interesting to some, i think a point of concern would be IF our viewers can have any connection to a Genetically Engineered Species, as opposed to one with Weaknesses and Flaws.

We could have David Killed off... and have the World inhabited with Perfected Humans, the Jeopardy would have to come in the Form of a Incoming Group of Humans who expect to see the Colony inhabited by the Covenants Colonist...but instead find its inhabited by Engineered Human Embryos.

This would WORK.. Provided we have these Engineered Humans maybe Welcome the incoming Humans, but then have a reveal that these Engineered Humans have a very Sinister Plan for the Humans.... maybe Hold Sacrificial Rituals, for Davids Xenomorphs... or even in the Name of David... but some Fans may-not like this as it may put some Emphasis on David again.

Something like this could have been done for Alien Covenant... imagine if Dr Shaws Corpse was found hanging up against a Wall, in Cruciform Pose, with a Empty Egg to her Bottom Left, and a Dead Face Hugger to the Bottom Left, so she represents the MURAL in Prometheus a little.  With maybe a Trap Door, that would open in Front of this Mural/Tomb of Dr Shaws and send Human Crew down below into the Room with the Eggs.

"it would have been boring go go through another movie with her annoying crap"

It maybe could be the Studio had taken note of Fan Reaction to Dr Shaw and the Engineers, as Fans were disappointed with both...  but i discussed this before, what we got was a way to show how you can take a Interesting Character from the First Movie and well Screw It up of sorts for the Sequel.   on the Flip Side they could have taken Dr Shaw and gave her a interesting ARC to make her more interesting as Noomi surely was limited a bit by the Character Given/Written.

They have to get out of the Habit of just Writing Off Characters, instead of looking how we can learn from the mistakes and improve them for the Sequel....  The Plot Set-up does make things a little Limited Though..  because you have to have David be a part of the Sequel, but a lot of Fans have lost interest, but just killing him off screen would not be the way to go... he would have to play some role!  Then its do we continue with Daniels?

If we decide to in EFFECT write them both off, then the Studio have to ASK, how many movies NOW do we do that connect to ALIEN.. because they cant introduce NEW Characters, that maybe their Future would Hang-on HOW-WELL the next movie did..  AND... we cant really introduce NEW Characters to then have them KILLED OFF in say Alien Covenant 3 or killed off prior!

Getting Characters Right is Paramount, its ok having a Character Pass the Torch, so say Daniels Survives until ACT 3 then passes the Torch to another NEW introduced Character who appears by ACT 2

But to By-Pass Daniels and David like the Engineers and Dr Shaw was in Alien Covenant,  would not be ideal, unless the NEW Characters are going to appear in AT-LEAST a few movies.... or the NEXT MOVIE would be a ONE-MOVIE connection to ALIEN and the Prequels are then DONE/DUSTED.

Regarding the Engineers, certainly they was not to everyone's taste in Prometheus, but those in Alien Covenant seemed to look even LESS Un-Awe Inspiring than those in Prometheus.  Chances are any return would be of those LV-223 Engineers who will just be on a Rampage, they will give No Answers, Ask No Questions and just Turn-Up to Kick Ass like the Predators....

I expect them to basically be portrayed like the Predators apart from the Aesthetic Difference in Appearance of their Ships and Physical Appearance...   so they would both be portrayed as 7-8ft Tall, Alien Species who go around Killing Humans and Xenomorphs using their Superior Strength and Technology.

I certainly agree the writing Process of Alien Covenant was Chaotic and i dont think was not the best way to had pursued a sequel.

Maybe you could be on to something there?

Billy Crudrup Leaves Pregnant Partner

She does have that Ripley look... but joking aside, The Time-Line would surely conflict any direct connection, unless its a Older Sister/Brother, Uncle or Aunt etc.

I always wondered if She would have, in some way, be connected to the character: Christopher Oram. Even though He dies, I always thought when You look at Him & His dark hair, eye's, swarthy features that He would in some way be connected to Ripley.

Look at Her in ALIENS when She's hesitant to enter into the colony with the Colonial Marines, standing in the rain & Hicks says: "Are you alright?" Many other moments in Alien makes Me think that She & He "could" be related if they wanted to make that canon.

But, no evidence yet that there is any family connection (i.e.) Grandfather, Father just "The" closest one in My mind of the entire Covenant crew that could have served as some relative to Ripley, even if it was in the early stages of Her family line. Like Shmi Skywalker to Luke & Leia in Star Wars. . .

He could have had a child that He either did or did not know of or even wanted to know. . .

No evidence though, as-yet, that there is a connection - if any. . .

Ash informed Ripley, Lambert & Parker that the Alien was a Survivor. That’s an important point as the Alien/Alien variant always appears to survive, in one form or another. (Note I’m omitting AVP & it’s sequel from this scenario, nuff said!)

ALIEN: Ripley jettisoned Big Chap out into space. It remained alive, not even appearing to be damaged, despite the harpoon & the thrust from the engines. Tumbled out into space.

Excuse me as I digress for a moment, notice how the Alien doesn't appear to be weightless in space? Probably the constraints of Special Effects at the time, but The Queen acted similarly in the vacuum of space.

ALIENS: Ditto, Queen jettisoned out the airlock, tumbles off screaming & screeching into outer space. Still alive.

ALIEN 3: Ah yes, this hypothesis now appears to fall flat. The baby Queen births as Ripley falls into the furnace, presumably dies. But here’s something to ponder, the Runner Alien survived the hot metal dump & rose from the furnace, it was only the rapid cooling of the water from the sprinklers which caused it to shatter into pieces. However unlikely, the baby Queen could theoretically have survived.

ALIEN RESURRECTION: Newborn sucked out the airlock in highly dramatic & excruciating way. Then all other Aliens presumably blown up when the Auriga explodes? However, we have the hybrid-clone in the form of Ripley remaining alive.

PROMETHEUS: Baby Deacon flexes his fine dental lineage over the body of the chestbusted Engineer. Presumably still kicking around LV-223, or is he? Did he hop a Juggernaut following David & Shaw, fly a Juggernaut full of eggs to LV-426, or perhaps he fancied a longer trip out to Origae 6? Whatever, Baby D was a survivor too.

ALIEN: COVENANT: One Proto-morph gets taken out of the airlock impaled by the giant truck, damaged but alive. Whilst the one who was hell bent on smashing Tennesse's sunroof appears to be destroyed by Daniels, falls out the cranes claw in acid dripping pieces, surely has to be dead? Right? Naw, Ridley tells us that it can regenerate, so it’s basically indestructible! It makes sense when you apply it to all of the above.

Thoughts_Dreams As a fan of the Quadrilogy, I can understand and agree in some ways with why there is hate for everything after the first movie- and I am not calling you a hater. 

I need to defend AR though. First, it helps me to think of the Quadrilogy as something different people were involved in over a long period of time. The basic way to look at the franchise is that A1 was horror; A2 was action; A3 was tragedy and A4 was comedy. I respectfully disagree about the characters of AR. I agree there were some forgettables, but the main cast was pretty solid and Ripley got to stretch out a bit by being a hybrid. I loved that dynamic of Ellen and a Xeno occupying the same body and mind. I also liked some of the comedic relief from Ryder and Pearlman. It should be remembered that AR had some of the most brutal scenes too- the Xenos killing their own to escape and Ripley's horrific discovery of the room with failed clones 1-7- killing herself in a strange kind of way. We should also remember these movies were all made at different times when certain things were in vogue. I can understand your points, but I am fine with the Quadrilogy warts and all. 

I agree that the protagonist should start out not necessarily weak, but just not too confident and maybe a bit green. Gender doesn't matter much, but I would like to see a female be the one just to be consistent with tradition- that formula just works imo. Fortunately, we have Amanda at the ready!

I agree with that Alien 4 is the weakest part in the series. Some months ago I watched Alien 3 but it wasn‘t so much fun anymore like the first time I watched it. Its always the same haunted-house scenario. Prometheus was fresh as it felt more like an adventure film. I like your aspect that new motifs should be introduced for example a variation of characters strenght. If there is an variation of the motifs, then the franchise could break up from its usual traits and become fresh and new. Secondary characters that appear in more than one film could be a start. So for the next one, I‘d like to see Daniels and Tenesse again. Because introducing new characters takes always time...

I read that Ridley Scott is currently working on a tv series called ‚Raised by Wolves‘ which is about androids raising human children on a mysterious planet. I thought about how it would be, if this is part of the Alien universe? Could the androids be from Weyland-Yutani and the children from a lost and forgotten colony? And the androids protecting them from monsters? Aliens? 

Bringing other types of plot in would be worth a try, sure the haunted-house scenario still could be a basis. I was also disappointed when I watched Covenant, but I still enjoyed a lot of it. I think its all about the viewers expectations. If we would see a whole new crew and a different storyline, then we would be disappointed, but if it follows how we were left behind at the end of it, then I wouldn‘t be like Covenant. I‘m pretty sure that the fans will love the sequel, if it is how Scott described it... War of the worlds-scenario with engineers on a new planet, thousands of colonists and the juggernaut crashing consequentially? Sounds interesting!

That is totally fine, I like when different people start threads. Having some variation here is good I think.

“The Alien franchise is marked with this year an anniversary. 40 years ago, the first film in the series was released.”

One thing that is interesting for me is to see how much in quality the movies have fallen since Alien, with the exception of Alien 3. For me it is because after the original three they forgot how to make characters so the movies suffer from that.

“With a potential TV series in production and other releases such as comic and book releases this year, I want to discuss with you the traits of the film franchise.”

After Alien 3 most of the characters have become secondary since they do not have the same quality of the first three. Not even Ripley lived up to the first three in Alien resurrection. AR is worse than Covenant and Prometheus so that should tell you something.

Having new monsters is totally fine by me. It is interesting to see what kind of things that they can come up with. New characters (mainly) for every movie bothers me because that means that there is less reasons to get interested in the characters if we know that most of them will die (except for the fucking robot).

Androids do not interest me in the context of the franchise, the human adventure do. Still I think that it is interesting how far technology can take us and what advantages and disadvantages that might come from that but I am not interested in that in an alien movie since they are about other things to me. They can have the same, or the old, I don’t think too much about that.

The motifs can get a bit repetitive at times so hopefully they will introduce something new. Maybe instead of strong female characters they can make them less strong, at least so they are not like Ripley and make men and women more equally strong. I do not say that the women should be like Snow white (yuck!) but they do not need to be absurdly strong otherwise we will end up with characters like Rey that are not relatable, the same goes for the males too. All characters have flaws so make them more like that, that is my point.

“I think we can expect a sequel to Covenant.”

I am already worried, Scott only cares about David. I want relatable and well written human characters that I can support and care about, the rest comes after that but if Scott insists to still have it about David then we will have another disappointment (like Covenant in quality).

“Probably David won't engineer nothing fancy because of budgetary constraints. He most tighten the belt.”

I don’t know why but that response is fun, thanks. If they would not have made android focused crap like AC (although there are things about it that I find alright, mostly the first half of the movie until it becomes that David show) they probably would not be in this situation.

“Its interesting to ponder what RS may have planned, because it was NOT going to be about Xenomorphs...”

Probably more android boring things. I do not want him to interfere with the story because then we get things like Alien Covenant which has a lot of crap in it, mostly after they get to David’s place. Fluting androids? Yeah right ;)

“I dont think we are likely to ever explore such things about the Engineers, or what ever David would create in Future..... i think such things are Dead as far as the Franchise.”

That’s too bad about the Engineers but thanks for the fact that they would most likely stop the David stuff.

“Certainly Interesting themes, that The Planet of the Apes also cover in part..”

Keep it to those things then, the theme is alright and the characters are probably better but don’t push that into Alien and focus on an android.

To see how humans develop seems interesting but I don’t care about the android part, zero interest in that.

“I think it was a studio call as to why she didn’t return. What a shame”

At least the studio (Fox) did something right, it would have been boring go go through another movie with her annoying crap at least if she would have been like she was in Prometheus. She was better in The Crossing

“It’s no wonder many people are unsatisfied with Covenant, it never followed through on Shaw’s quest, nor the Engineers or their hierarchy."

Lone, I never gave a damn about Shaw but the Engineers were interesting. I would have liked to see more of them in what became Covenant. Getting rid of the Engineers made the movie worse if you ask me.

As far as studio interference goes I do not blame Scott for everything but his ideas are not very good. I think that Fox or whatever they are called now should have nothing to do with the story telling, leave it to those that are able to do that.

About David and the Xeno, I felt like the Xeno was just thrown in there without Ridley caring about it. It got smashed by a crane very shortly afterwards. Ridley only cared about the robot and we have what we have.

“I suspect that some at FOX would also be part of the Proof Reading the Writing Process and have a lot of their INPUT into how things progressed.”

No thanks, they do not know what writing is. They all did a mess because it is a collective effort. Blaming one persons (like they did with Lindelof in P) isn’t fair, they all messed up in their own way. Get someone that can write characters or else it will be crap.

That short clip looks really good, hopefully the rest will be too. It will be interesting to see what kind of things that they have come up with. Hopefully we will not see more fluting androids.

123Engineer: What will be left? Well since this is the 40th anniversary of Alien I guess that there will be many things coming this year. I think that this is possible. Maybe we will not be getting much at April 26 but there is the rest of the year too.

I actually like that picture with what I guess that we can call an evolved Shaw (but David is still an asshole). Maybe it would not have been very good to have it in the movie (to me it is too much at the level of AVP) but as some fan-art yeah why not?

Just checked out the Trailer for Annihilation, seems interesting, it does look like its borrowed quite a bit from Prometheus as far as the Mutation of Organic Life into something NEW (sometimes to Create, One must First Destroy).   Some elements seem to be taking a Prometheus Internal Juggernaught look too.

Yeah I remember that, I am happy that they did not have that in AC because that would have been a really bad idea. They don’t need to throw Ripley connections into every movie, she had her movies so that should be enough.

@Lone

Yeah that was the one interview i remember were he teased it would have a Ripley Connection, and if i recall he and Waterston did some interviews/press releases where the Ripley thing was brought up and there faces seemed to tease maybe there was some kind of Plan.

But i believe it was just in terms of making Daniels a NEW kind of Ripley Character compared to how Dr Shaw was not a Ripley type Character.

I cant see how there would be any other way of a Ripley Connection to Alien Covenant as far as the Crew/Colonist unless its NOT a direct connection,  so it would not be Ripley at all, or her Mother.. but potentially could be a Sister, Brother a Uncle, Aunt or Cousin.

I think it was connected via the ARC of Daniels Character, so that at the End we see her as more of a Ripley, and maybe the Next Movie should would have become even more than Take No %£$^ Bad Ass Ripley Character

@daliens

I have never seen Annihilation i have to check it out, i think certainly if RS had kept his idea it would have added a layer of terror to the already terrifying Beast. 

But i kind of prefer how we got our Xenomorph, and having them Talk would be a bit ODD!   But maybe they took this idea and used it with Predator as those Aliens did Mimic Human Voices.

I think to run with RS idea and expand it would have been interested if we saw the Xenomorph could infect/inject something into a Host and have Control over them. So say in the instance of Ripley we would see her contact the Company, and even via Video she could talk to them but have a kind of Blank/Robotic Expression...  Then when the company arrive they turn up to meet Ripley (or whoever) and then they just appear to be in a trance, and not talk at all...    As the other Humans take a close look... she Grabs them.... and Holds them tight... they ask to be let go, then we see the Xenomorph come from above and attack!

I feel this kind of Control/Mimic Trick would be something interesting to have explored.  They could also use a Human in this way to Communicate.  But alas we had seen similar already done with Independence Day... but as ALIEN Franchise was older, i think IF they had done this First it could have been pretty Terrifying and Interesting at the same time.

IMO to have the xenomorph imitating Ripley would have been terrifying and with a lot of potential for better sequels. A similar effect was used in Annihilation and it was weird and alieny and scary too.