New Alien: Covenant photo welcomes you to PARADISE!

I made a topic about this image just awhile ago, this is a great image of the planet the covenant is on.

Can't wait to see more ;)

I think we have known for a little while that this planet is not their destination, but I wonder if it is really a wise decision to send this colony mission, the largest scale deep space colony mission in history or whatever, to an unknown planet? 

We know from Alien that it is probably in their contracts to investigate a distress signal if deemed worthy or whatever, but it doesn't totally seem like a good idea to send this important crew down to some unknown planet with a distress signal emanating.

Cuponator-

I think you're on to something here. What if something bad happens to them? That would be a twist.

Eh, they'll be fine.

that picture is so moebius inspired, Ridley is so boss

Centauri, do you know Nausica? I think it can be relevant a little bit as well. The same outfit, killer spores and monsters...

I like how Walter disembarks first, unless another person is out of view. 

@Neomorph

I think it makes sense as being an android he is the strongest and fastest.  Therefore he probably has the most servivability, and probably the most lethality of the group. 

suwhited

My thoughts exactly, it would be cool to see him utilize some of his android strength in the film, and I think we'll see Fassbender running his robotic ass off as Waterson previously stated that he does "the most amazing robot run" in the film. 

@Neomorph

Yeah...I think it would be cool to see what these 'droids could do toe to toe with Neomorph...The one from the movie :)

WHAAA... *gets butthurt yet again*

*reads the last part and calms TF down*

Oh... ;) 

Suwhited I would've preffered Walter arm wrestling with another guy (instead of two humans against each other like in the feauturette) to showcase his strength, and also to echo the knife skill game by Bishop in Aliens and a nod to Cameron at the same time. 

@Ati 

yes, I grew up watching that before the revised version with Shia LaBeouf. Always loved that film. Nausica was inspired by Moebius art (Arzak rhapsody). Covenant does indeed have all of  these cool qualities from Moebius and Hayao Miyazaki, all peppered in the Giger stew  ;)  Wow so another distress call? they were detoured?... what a bad idea for the covenant crew lol the  horrors await. love the discussion about androids running, or showing extra strength. 

"the Covenant vessel is detoured to this remote location in response to a strange distress call (sound familiar?)."

I think we can safely assume that this "remote location" isn't Acheron. I would also have to suspend my disbelief that the location is LV223, as that planetoid had no visible greenery and I find it difficult to believe that greenery could have grown and flourished in the 10 years that had past since the Prometheus mission.

Maybe a planet with another crashed space jockey with cargo of horrifying shite?

I wonder what their intended destination might have been and how they knew it was a paradise, perfect for colonisation, since Zeta Reticuli was the frontier (at least 10 years earlier)?

An SOS would naturally be necessary to investigate? In this case they would probably know it’s a distress signal and from humans (in contrast to the signal The Nostromo picked up)? They would probably even know that it’s from survivors of the Prometheus expedition (there would probably not be any holiday travellers out there)?

The sleeping colonisers (2000?) would stay on The Covenant together with some of the crew that we have seen, and the rest go down to the planet in a drop ship to investigate? The Covenant should be safe if they just follow quarantine rules . . .

excellent point and I still say the Sulacco was much too large a ship for just one company of colonial marines

Hi N4!  

The location appears to be the planet that David and Shaw set out for at the end of Prometheus. Whether or not it is the Engineer's home planet is not confirmed.The crashed juggernaut at the beginning of the trailer is presumed to be the one they took off in.

Centauri, my favourite Moebius film is Time Masters.

Thought i commented on this unless it got deleted? then cant think why... and forgot what i put lol

Mind you wont remember as been out on 12 beers lol

May had been on another Topic same image and i think it was about how we thought Prometheus crew was silly, now these guys have landed on a Lake without considering tide lol then again a lake etc wont have a tide so silly me ;)

So, do we need to suspend belief, or do we suspend disbelief?...hmm...

Anyway i think the new Viral seemed to celebrate the longest journey man had made...... which some 10 years after Prometheus since they arrived so 12 years after Prometheus departed.

Seems to me rule out the Zeta 2 System etc...

It depends if we take the Weyland Viral Site as Canon, but it has some serious flaws... as well

Pol 6362: Jabob-Tellis

Discovered in 2071 was the furthest manned Mission...  which was 3249 LY from Earth...

The Prometheus Class Ship came out in 2072 a year latter the previous Model since 2034 Heliades and this ship was the Flag ship prior to Prometheus.

Sorry even if the Heliades class set off in the year 2034 and was as fast as Prometheus then it would only had traveled 74 Light Years so yes the Viral site back then was flawed.

But if we rule out Travel Speeds, this site claims the furthest a Manned mission as of 2071 some 33 years prior to Alien Covenant was 3249LY i think they made a mistake in reality.

10 years at Nostromo Speeds would take us to just 470LY and the Nostromo was re-fitted with new Engines in the year 2116 some 14 years after Alien Covenant and the Nostromo was commissioned in the year 2101 so prior to a re-fit with new Engines some 15 years latter it would not have Traveled at the Nostromos 47X Light Speed... speeds.

So yes a lot of flaws...

But i get from the Viral that the intended destination was far far away much further than Zeta 2 System...

But who knows if when they was awoken on the way to find Davids signal if this new destination is much closer than the original one.

BD: I agree. With the speed Prometheus could manage (20x LS), it would take them about 162 years to reach Pol 6362. They would therefore have started the expedition before The First World War.

On the other hand, they might have come up with the conclusion that there was a paradise like planet far, far away by the use of advanced telescopes? They could then set off and sleep for hundreds of years? But on their way to the distant paradise, they pass an unknown planet and are awoken by a distress signal . . . (on the other hand, why hadn’t they discovered this lush but inhospitable planet?)

Like others have posted, it's really bothering me that this big important mission to populate another planet is taking the tremendous risk of responding to a distress call.  I can't remember at this moment, but is Weyland/Weyland-Yutani sponsoring/paying for this mission?  If they are aware of the events in Prometheus (and where they occurred) surely a reconnaissance would be top priority.  I'd imagine this Covenant mission is in the public eye; why would Weyland publicly get everyone killed? Oh, ok, they could easily just lie to everyone on Earth, BUT... I'm sure the people on Covenant are able to communicate with their families back on Earth.  Am I thinking about this way too much?  Lol.  Forgive me, this is my first post on here. 

What if Weyland knows about the distress call? Surely, their long range satellites would pick this up. They would surely  want to know what has happened to the Prometheus. 

also Weyland-Yutani can create an story about the Covenant...the crew can be expendable or useful for the bio-weapons division.

I cannot wait for this to come out in cinemas. Big Aliens fan. it can also help me get some ideas as i am trying to write my own concept script which is a sequel to Alien. However, I do hope that Neill Blomkamps Alien 5 is made. From what has been heard about it from some of the aliens cast and Sigourney Weaver, it would be a shame to cancel it.

Hi Noob;

I'm assuming that Empire haven't quite got their facts right. You will know that I know as well has you do, that Shaw wanted to go to where they (the engineers) come from.

However, according to EMPIRE;

"This planet is not their (the Covenant's) original destination: they have detoured to answer a distress call. And given this franchise, it’s a good guess that “distress” will soon be too mild a description."

Ok, so from what I make of EMPIRE's description, Shaw and David's head didn't arrive at their intended destination (The Engineer's homeworld,) because what I've seen from the trailer, the image in the OP is where the Covenant dropship explodes. So I'm assuming it's where all the action takes place.

I don't know, but we will sure find out in May! Looking forward to it! 

Evidently, it's the first expedition out of the ship. So... shouldn't they where breathing helmets? I mean, even though the air might be analysed as breathable, there might be undetectable airborne pathogens--i don't know--maybe like from spores or something yunno?

N4-

It can still be the Homeworld, it's definitely a planet that supported some kind of humanoid population, maybe Engineer, or maybe another planet they seeded? Could this be another Human planet that was exterminated? Whatever it is, it appears to be the resting place of David and Shaw. More likely than not a new planet.

Stan- 

I think that vacuum suits and helmets in particular are dispensed with for the sake of expediency in story telling.

It should probably be understood that their Fancy Futuristic Alien Atmosphere Testing Technology is adequate to the task of ensuring their safety. David the mobile AI assured our astronauts in Prometheus that the air was safe to breathe which should have settled it then and there, as far as that particular universe is concerned. Ten years later, such sniffing tech has surely advanced...

I hear you Noob!

The picture I uploaded are dead jockeys! It's obviously their homeworld..

Well they are definitely dead. But are they Engineers? Without more story, or a sense of scale, we just don't know.

Shaw and David appeared to be off to the Engineer home world. However, given what we saw in Prometheus, one would imagine their civilization to be quite a bit less rustic than what we've seen so far in Covenant images. So I do think it's reasonable to imagine that this might not be the Engineer homeworld.

RIP Bill Paxton :(

R.I.P Bill Paxton! My favorite quote from Bill in Aliens, "Why don't you put her in charge!"

RIP Bill!

Is it just me that thinks looking to colonise a planet which the journey to passes an unknown Earth like planet seems a bit unlikely and too much of a coincidence?  I mean, what are the odds and why not look to colonise that planet (paradise) in the first place?

It's either lazy writing for me or suggests WY are more in the know than we may assume . . .

Question then is, how?

Well where do i start here....

First Chli indeed this is what i thought could be to explain the distance and journey time, however once the Covenant Badge was released i could see it was a Weyland-Yutani Mission and so we have to Safely Assume the Covenant Ship would have had to had departed after the events of Prometheus and so past the year 2094.

I also think Weyland would want to use the fastest ship he had available as he was dying after all and surely he would want to get to the location of Shaw and Holloways Maps ASP and so we have to Safely Assume no other ship could have got to LV-223 faster than Prometheus  unless it was a rival company Tech.. but then Weyland would just pay to use them or make a Deal?

Unless its a company they have a bitter feud with... i think maybe Yutani could fit this bill... however the Viral sites have shown us that Weyland Ships use Yutani ECU's and Software and it looks like Yutani is a major telecommunications player.

The other thing would be what if the Prometheus could travel faster but it was meant to get there slower for a Agenda...

Well surely Weyland would have asked what year it is when he was speaking to David and also it would appear Vickers was not pleased being so far away from Earth and on this mission so i would assume she would want to get it over ASP as well.  And so if the Prometheus could have got to LV-223 faster than 2 years i am sure Vickers would wanted to do so and not hijack Weyland by taking longer.

We can assume Cryo-Sleep keep him alive a bit longer and regardless if he was in Cryo-sleep 6 months, 12 months, 2 years or 5... if Weyland had weeks to live once he came out of Cryo-sleep i dont think the time spent int Cryo Sleep would make a difference to how less he would live or die once he was out of Cryo-stasis...

Regardless he would have weeks anyway... so Vickers would want to get to LV-223 and get this over and done as fast as she can so she can head home and TAKE OVER the company.

So Chli i think we have to assume that there was no quicker way to LV-223 (39 LY) at the time Prometheus set off and that Technological Advancements happened a few years after.

I think while the Viral Site may apply i think the discover worlds part is seriously flawed and has to be thrown out of Canon.

As far as the EMPIRE and where Shaw and David was going...

Its safe to Assume the Planet David is on is the destination of the Homeworld...  it is likely that the Covenant was on its way to some other place prior.

I think we can Safely Assume the destination they was going is further than LV-223 here are a few reasons why.

*When Holloway gave that briefing on the Prometheus regarding the Star Map he claimed they had found one system, that had one Planet that had a Moon that could potentially support life and they arrived there that morning.

Was Holloway mistaken? did the Star Map point to LV-426 or some other near by place and Holloway got the data wrong and directed them to LV-223?  Surely David and the ships Sensors etc would have pointed out Holloways mistake?

*The Alien Covenant Last Supper Viral seemed to show that Daniels was celebrating the fact the crew would be "First Ever Large Scale Colonization Mission to come this far into our Galaxy, we are making History"

This gives me the impression they are going to be going further than 39LY but it depends how you read into this.... it could be that Mankind has Colonized further worlds just not on this scale as far as how large this Ship and its Crew could be.. this is on a Large Scale.

*The Nature Boy Song is aimed at David, its Lyrics Suggest there was a Boy who Wondered Very Far, Very Far... this to me implies much further than where David was but where he is which could hint further especially as far as from LV-223 to where ever David ends up.

*When David said he could help Shaw... and mentioned getting to Paradise would be able to once he has worked out the broad strokes.... to me i think thats a odd thing to say if he knows where Paradise is and its actually in the same system i.e LV-426

I have a number of other things i can add that would show Paradise is not LV-426.

"So I do think it's reasonable to imagine that this might not be the Engineer homeworld."

You touch up a good point and my next point....

*The Engineer claimed he came from a place we would refer to as Paradise...  Paradise could refer to..

1) Biblical/Islamic as the place where Mankind came from, where we was created i.e Garden of Eden and Adam & Eve.

2) A Place that is picturesque, idyllic  a untainted and beautiful place or a place of such tranquil peace.

3) A Place in a number of Mythos and Religions where the Heroic People and Martyrs who Die in Battle, end up.

4) Also sometimes seen as the place our Spirit ends up when we die provided we have been Good/Just in the eye of our creator.. for example Heaven.

Ridley had claimed they (Shaw and David) are going to where they (Engineers) came from.

Its how do we look at this in context?  Well the Covenant Badge has a depiction of Cherubim which are depicted the same as on the Ark of the Covenant but i think we need to look at how in this movie the Badge has them in the same Guarding position but not protecting the Ark... but a World... which World and why who knows..

One possible explanation i have is they depict Cherubim as those who Guard the Ark... but we need to look at what are Cherubim

They are a High Ranking Caste of Angels who are Tasked with watching over and protecting the Garden of Eden on Paradise.

So the Engineers could maybe had been these Cherubim who was tasked with this mission prior to their Fall and those beings on Paradise could be our Ancestors?

Or the Engineers could be those beings on Paradise who could be our Ancestors?

Unless Ridley has messed up Scale again, those beings we see in Alien Covenant have some important things.

*They are Human Sized Props....

Even when we see the shot of Daniels and the Mystery Male in front of one of these Temples.. we can see the Scale to Daniels of the Temple as far as Slabs are similar to the Scale to those Engineer or what ever beings bodies.

*This scene their Technology was no where near as Advanced.

Not like the LV-223 Engineers, it seemed they was as Advanced as Mankind Thousands of Years ago...... yet they had those Pebble Space Ships?

1) We need to remember the Elders Scene is cut and so we have to consider that its not necessary the same Race who dropped the Engineer off is a Engineer themselves.

2) Ridley explained the reason for its cutting was that he did not want to meet God in the first movie so the Engineers and Sacrificial Engineer are not God... are the Elders God? who knows.. Ridley did say he felt the Elders did not look Godlike enough.

*There are Female beings in this scene...

But this could mean that Engineers had Females at one point but they lost their Women or they had evolved themselves over thousands or millions of years and lost the ability/need to procreate this way. it could also mean maybe Woman was taken away from them at some point.

Gold and Females have always been a pleasure for Men and Downfall for our Greed and Lust... and the Gods in many cultures also had this Greed/Lust for Gold and Females as noted in many cultures and fables.  I made a topic on this being their downfall.

*Ridley did reference Paradise Lost...

And Fallen Angels, and while we cant take this as too literal, Paradise and Fallen Angels related in only TWO Ways..

Paradise was the Birthplace of Mankind home to Adam and Eve, before their Fall and Eviction from Paradise.

Angels (Cherubim) was tasked to watch over Paradise and Adam and Eve.... some Angels had Rebelled against God and they was also cast out from Paradise and Heaven.

Thus as we know Paradise in the Franchise is not on Earth, like in the Bible....

This Paradise could still fit as either and both the Cradle of First Creation and where beings was tasked to watch over them.

If either or both of these Rebelled against the Gods, they could have got thrown out of Paradise and thus expelled from Paradise.

So the Engineers could be either the Ancestors to the Race of beings created on Paradise but some Rebelled, or the Higher Race Tasked with watching over them who then Rebelled.

HOW CAN THIS FIT?

I think i now have that answer and have for a while, it was one i was pondering.. but the Source Information had teased maybe one my theories is correct and well that Engineers Scene in AC now does seem to add up to what they was saying... as i referenced in this post.

I have also noticed a lot of interesting things from the Study of the Trailer, and few images officially released that now the Last Super Images and the OT Image has shed some massive light on.

And a potential Mystery... or maybe Ridley Scott making mistakes with visuals and Wardrobe...but he has done this a few times in the past.

"Like others have posted, it's really bothering me that this big important mission to populate another planet is taking the tremendous risk of responding to a distress call.  I can't remember at this moment, but is Weyland/Weyland-Yutani sponsoring/paying for this mission?  If they are aware of the events in Prometheus (and where they occurred) surely a reconnaissance would be top priority.  I'd imagine this Covenant mission is in the public eye; why would Weyland publicly get everyone killed? Oh, ok, they could easily just lie to everyone on Earth, BUT... I'm sure the people on Covenant are able to communicate with their families back on Earth.  Am I thinking about this way too much?  Lol.  Forgive me, this is my first post on here. "

Welcome. :)

If they're way out in space and encounter a distress signal (or any other signal) - particularly one in English (assuming it is); how could you ignore it?  Even if they're inclined, if Company contracts are the same as they are in 2122, as has been mentioned, they're contractually obliged to check it out.

The Prometheus mission was classified so it's difficult to say just how much the Company knows.  Hope the new film sheds more light on this.

I would like to touch upon this also....

Indeed while we all associate the company with the Xenomorph, they are a company that has many other Irons in its Fire and indeed SparklingAmbien

You raise some good points as SM has also helped out with and one of the main things the company does is Terra-form and Mine etc other Worlds and so indeed its likely this Colony Mission has no knowledge of the events of Prometheus.

Maybe there is a Twist and a Company Agenda.. but this movie seems to be showing too many Nods to Alien and Aliens that surely they would not be following too many Plot Devices from those movies.

And so hopefully indeed the Covenant is lets say they are heading to Kepler-186f some 500LY away in the constellation of Cygnus

Then they detect a signal from David that turns their attention to another Larger More suitable Earth like World in the same constellation but 620LY away Kepler-22b ;)

I hope this is something they are going for, so that the Covenant does not enter no where near the area of the Galaxy where Zeta 2 is.

And so as SM mentions with regards to Alien, if these guys are on a mission and they detect on their way a signal of Earth Origin as far as a Earth Ship or crew which would include a Android, then i think they would be obliged to check it out for sure.

Especially if its from a David Model and from this message they are informed he has found a very Earth like World.

If your looking to find Silver on a Continent and then someone informs you that there is another place instead that has Gold i am sure  those Miners would go there.

Artist impression of Kepler 22b

And above Kepler-186f

But some Scientist predict it is more Earth like

And so this is what i think we would find out, they are off to a Potentially Earth like World, when they find a signal off David that claims he is on a more Earth like World.

As far as Prometheus goes... i agree with SM that this was more a classified mission, and so i dont it would be broadcasted and celebrated on TV etc like say when Mankind sends its first Manned Mars Mission.

I would think Weyland would want to keep this mission low-key so he can first arrive and see what Secrets these Gods have that he can benefit from....  Spaights Draft seems to also show a importance for the company to acquire Technology rather than go looking for GODS...

The company at some point would want to know what happened on LV-223 i guess it depends as in who would benefit from the loss of Weyland and Vickers... who takes over and would they want to brush it under the carpet?

We also dont know what role Yutani plays or how they Merged, the Weyland Viral sites did seem to show Yutani deal with Telecommunications and the like and so they could be like a Asian version of Apple who may perform a lot of espionage and potential Hacking.... the Quiet Eye Viral site from Prometheus seems to hint this.... and also other Viral information confirms that Weyland has used in its Space Missions Yutani ECU and Software... and so who knows if they have Hardware and Software on the Prometheus set to transmit Data secretly back to Yutani

Its certainly the Plot i was taking my Prometheus 2 Fan draft in as far as how the Merger happened...

I hope the planet the covenant arrives at is not the engineers homeworld but it is very possible. the term paradise is very objective depending on what ur looking for. to people on earth, many of us view paradise as sandy beaches and beautiful sunshine, yet to an expedition looking to colonise worlds they would be looking for some sun, atmospheric make up and rain. all the ingredients they would require for plant life. the fact they have picked up a signal they can understand would make the detour a priority as there arnt supposed to be any humans that far out. the company r aware of the signal on lv426 so even if the crew couldn't decode and understand the signal, my bet is the company would have them make the detour anyway. they can always send out more colonising missions. from what bishop says in alien3, the company knows of everything that went on at hadleys hope. I wonder just how much they know about the events of lv223

I think this film will feature two planets, paradise where David is and the engineer homeplanet where Shaw is. Because the images we have seen so far show a lush- green world where the covenant crew arrives and the red, dusty scorched place where the temple and the all the dead entities lie around ,i cant imagine all this being in the same place and also i cant imagine Shaw being killed "just like that" because she is the one driving the story and pushing for answers, i think they save her for the next film on the engineer homeworld.