[Rumor] Alien: Covenant's connection to Ellen Ripley revealed? (UPDATED)

Haha! I've just posted a comment and link about this on Aorta's topic, Franchise Rants just before you posted this Chris.

I really hope this isn't true!

I really hope this is not true. It would be so unrealistic, and make the universe feel way too small. So Ripley goes through the exact same thing as her mother? But somehow it never gets a mention? No.

I don't see how it's possible, unless she suffers from amnesia. But yes, a connection was promised though I, apparently like N4, didn't need one. 

I can imagine the powers that be want to tie all this up neatly and imagine this as a way to excite those who love the Ripley character, and lament Blomkamp's film being delayed? If so its just a common thread and it can't really impact the story negatively. It might account for the re-write and jump in timeline.

If it's true, we haven't really learned anything terrible, other than that she survives, which given her high profile we could have assumed. What's interesting is that they say she isn't the lead, which is cool and raises new questions. And hey, this story is all about reproduction so why not?

Yeah... I seriously doubt this is legit. It's been a fan theory since Ridley made comments about Ripley's connection. I like The Playlist, but they've been fooled before. Time will tell, I guess.

Remember too, Scott can be cryptic with his words. And oftentimes he can also contradict himself. The connection he refers to could not necessarily be to Ripley herself or her family, but maybe LV-426? The planet which begins Ripley's struggle with the Xenomorph? He never indicated how far or how intricate the connection would be.

Its nothing to worry about. Unless A:C is really just a romance in space. Which it is not.

Exactly, there would need to be way more character development and relationship building to suggest such a possibility. The Playlist also says Daniels isn't a main character, but part of an ensemble like Prometheus - somewhat contradicting their claims, as it would suggest Daniels gets the same screentime and attention as everyone else on board the ship.

Actually, when I think back, wasn't it Ridley himself that said that there will be a connection to Ripley in A:C?

Maybe, with all the negative comments and reviews about Prometheus, they (FOX/Brandywine) have reverted back to type and thought that this new instalment needs a real selling point. Ripley's character was always a big selling point. Obviously they can't have Ripley herself in this one as she'd be what, 10? 11? (The events of Covenant are apparently 10 years after the events of Prometheus and I think Ripley was about 1 year old during those events?)

The fact that Ripley's surname is Ripley could be a result of her being adopted after her mother didn't return home?

Or, it could be that Ripley's mother re-married before she went off on the covenant mission and Ripley kept her fathers name?

Both are plausible explanations. And let's not forget that Brandywine are involved in this!

I really hope it isn't true, but something tells me that it's possible.

I said this 30 some years ago when I first saw Alien. The fundamental question to the entire series is this: how did the company know to send the Nostromo to investigate the derelict? how did the company know that there was a hostile organism there? The other question that needs to be answered is: how did the Yutani corporation get hooked up with Weyland Industries?

EEsh I do not like the sound of that. I mean, I guess it could work, but I do not know, man. Necronom made a couple of good points so it is possible and even a little bit plausible. 

 Whoa I checked Necronom's link in the franchise rants discussion and the article ends with: 

"Late last year, she was cast as the main female character in Ridley Scott’s prequel “Alien: Covenant.”

Spoiler removed at the request of the studio."

This does not mean that the news was totally true, but I would think a studio request to remove the info means that it is more likely than not true. Huh. This will be interesting. So Daniels, Ripley, and A. Ripley all had an encounter with xenos or something worse. Runs in the family I guess. 

This sucks. The funny thing 
Is prometheus remains the 
Only movie in the franchise 
That has no tie to Ripley.

Off topic.

In ome of the alien scripts
Ash informs them that the 
Company was able to 
Deduce from the signal 
That there was a dangerous
Organism on the planet.
The Nostromo just happened 
To be the first available
Ship. Luck of the draw.

What worries me slightly is that they spend so much time and energy thinking of clever ways to promote and sell the film, that the film ends up being under stimulated and almost a second thought.

     How many starships are there in the early 22 century? 50-100? 1000? One? two? (spaceships are really expensive!!) can't believe there are more than 20 at a time...probably crew of 5 -10 on each?

5 or more Space Stations with 200 + aboard?

   maybe 2500 or so humans in space at a single moment? Maybe 300 couples? Your mother or father work in space...you'll probably follow in their path. I imagine it's a tight knit group of people.

Guess I don't really care one way or the other...

Hi Odu! The assumption that ASH and MOTHER were collating/have a conversation with WY hq (from 39 light years away,) and getting a reply from them in a matter of seconds just isn't believable!

In my opinion, MOTHER was programmed BEFORE the Nostromo's departure, to investigate any possible contact with an intelligent lifeform (the beacon was a sign that contact with intelligent life was made.)

The above also rings true when thinking about ALIENS and the fact that none of the colonists (sent to LV426 by WY) were there for 20 years and not directed to the derelict, (I don't buy the argument that they would have had trouble finding it, not with their technological capabilities!)

The fact that the WY directors/members of the board thought that Ripley was lying when she told them about it.

Nope, I firmly believe that WY didn't have a clue what was on LV 426 until Ripley told them in ALIENS.

I think the signal from
The derelict was deciphered
Well before the Nostromo 
Was sent there.

According to the script
The signal was quite 
Specific that it was an organism  and a dangerous
One. 

@cuponator, that foot note must have been added very recently... if this is in fact a true spoiler, I expect I will receive a similar email soon. I'll keep you guys posted!

Who came up with the 'crew expendable' 937 order? A board of directors? This sounds insane...Who's going to sign off on such a order?

Honestly, i think thats cheap and very lazy. There isn't really a need for another Ripley.

It's a bit of a joke, all this shit seems to happen to the Ripley family and only the female members.

@Odu; "I think the signal from
The derelict was deciphered
Well before the Nostromo 
Was sent there.

According to the script
The signal was quite 
Specific that it was an organism  and a dangerous
One."

Maybe it was deciphered, but in my opinion, it wasn't WY who deciphered it. That information never made it back to WY.

Because if it did, surely WY would have sent out another crew to secure a specimen after the Nostromo didn't arrive home?

Are you telling me that a company that was so hell bent on securing a specimen would have waited 37 years before sending another crew out there? And then once there, they're not sent out to the derelict until Ripley gives them information, 20 years later, if they knew about it? 

Nah, I'm not buying it.

It wasn't luck of the draw, they replaced the regular science officer with Ash for that purpose, and if you look at the crew they are all a bunch of misfits, except Ripley.

Dallas is a horrible captain, just going along, does whatever Ash tells him to do, etc. Brett, well is Brett, not to bright or motivated either. Parker is the hot head, loose cannon of the group, poor Lambert is just a complete mess, if she says "lets get out of here" one more time. And then the company needs the ultimate patsy, the one to dive in, kiss ass and think about anything and that would be Kane. The only level headed person in the entire group is Ripley, the company specifically chose these group of people, because they knew they would be easily manipulated by Ash, and the company could get want it wanted, they just didn't rely on Ripley.

It WASN'T blind luck or fate.

It wasn't luck of the draw, they replaced the regular science officer with Ash for that purpose, and if you look at the crew they are all a bunch of misfits, except Ripley.

Dallas is a horrible captain, just going along, does whatever Ash tells him to do, etc. Brett, well is Brett, not to bright or motivated either. Parker is the hot head, loose cannon of the group, poor Lambert is just a complete mess, if she says "lets get out of here" one more time. And then the company needs the ultimate patsy, the one to dive in, kiss ass and think about anything and that would be Kane. The only level headed person in the entire group is Ripley, the company specifically chose these group of people, because they knew they would be easily manipulated by Ash, and the company could get want it wanted, they just didn't rely on Ripley.

It WASN'T blind luck or fate.

I honestly don't think there was a real signal. I think the signal was made up by the company, to give the crew the excuse to go down there. 

Well...

   What if Ripley's mom pisses off David 8? fights with him. David keeps a grudge towards the family. David survives the Alien Prequels......Or keeps the David program running...maybe as David 9 or 10.

David 9 keeps tabs on Ellen. Has a say in her future.  helps get her some nasty jobs....including the Nostromo.

"Ellen, I'd like you to meet someone...."

hmm i dont know how i feel about it.....that would mean that ripley has always been a byproduct of waylandyutani and has always been manipulated by the company since birth?   that would contradict and conflict with ridley scott's claim for reinvigaration, keeping away from the bad direction the franchise has gone.

If this is just a coincident then wowzers, ripley's family has the worst luck lol

but i dunno, i hope not actually... i thought it would be a better idea  and make better sense if the connection was made in the "ends" of the prequels leading into the 79 Alien (not so much yet in covenant).

@Arrgy; Who said anything about blind luck or fate?

The Company has apparentely took over most of industry and even the likes of NASA. Even NASA have got certain protocols in place in the likelihood that they make contact with extra-terrestrial life.

I think, as the NOSTROMO passed the ZETA 2 Reticula system on their way to Thedus, MOTHER detected a signal coming from that system. 

Then, they got to Thedus, the science officer was replaced with ASH and they set off back to Earth. Then, they were awakened by MOTHER when they were near Zeta 2 Reticuli to investigate the signal. 

Hasn't Ripley already been born by the time of the Covenant mission?  If it's true that Daniels is her MOTHER, then someone has some explaining to do.

I don't think it's a bad idea if the true purpose behind it is to learn a little bit about Ripley's childhood.  

Maybe Ripley was "born into the company life" and her father's surname is Ripley.  Perhaps her parents are no longer together, but they take turns staying with her at the Olympia colony on Luna while the other is working.

If Ripley has already been born and is currently staying with her father back on Luna, then there's actually a chance that her mother could die.  The way I would do it, though, is to have us find out that she's Ripley's mom right after she dies.  Someone mentions that she had a daughter back on Earth's moon.  You could then show young Ripley in a picture Daniels holds (when she dies...).

As for the beacon's transmission, I think Weyland-Yutani was able to pick up the signal a long time ago but was unable to interpret it as a warning until later.

@CarynParnall I agree that an explanation would really need to be grounded, cuz if Waylandyutani knew about ripley thru her mother then why the need to fetch her dna from Alien3? also if ripley had a daughter why bother when they can fetch dna from her daughter, but her daughter died at age 66 in Aliens...

Why do we even need a connection to Ripley?

Quite frankly I've had enough of her. If true, then this is Ridley having to bend to the execs wishes, I just hope that hasn't set a precedent!

Yes BRG, and in ALIENS Ripley's daughter was called Amy not Amanda.

No no no! Alien - it's not Star Wars/Dune or other messiah/family story.

Daniels - meet the xenomorph.

Ellen - meet the xenomorph.

Amanda - meet the thenomorph.

JUST NO!

@leto

Yep, having a Ripley on board for a mission will be like wearing a certain colour on an away mission for star trek. We all know whats going to happen.

@bladerunnergunner

Ripley's unique DNA signature might be important to the company for a few reasons.  The Apple doesn't fall very far from the Tree; and certain traits may be inherited (or in some cases selected for by the Gardeners...).

We’d find out that Ripley lost her own mother around the same age that Amanda/Amy lost hers. Thus, she feels even worse than we know for leaving her daughter alone.  This could allow us to learn more about what Ripley is thinking and feeling, what she was like as a child, where she was born etc.  Which possibly becomes relevant to telling an actual story in Alien 5. 

Knowing about how Ripley's own mother went missing in such a similar manner could make us look at things slightly different while rewatching ALIENS.

David might have a different perspective on it all.  The trick would be that by revealing more, we find out that there's still much more to know.  Which can be scary. The same goes for the Alien.  Despite everything we already know about the Alien, there is still much more to learn. 

@Lone

I have no clue if this rumour is true or not, but it does sound like something that the studio forced in during rewrites (to connect to Alien 5 later).  I'm trying to look at it in terms of a best-case scenario and making the most out of a potentially unfavourable outcome.  

If we're gonna be stuck with all the Ripley stuff, I want it to at least be meaningful.  There needs to be enough reason for me to be invested in "Ripley's story" again.

My hope is that if anything happens with Ripley in the prequel films, it will tie into the "grand idea" that Ridley is "evolving."  If it isn't simply a form of cross-promotion (like what the studio might want), then the connections to Alien 5 can be used to add to the story and possibly link many parallel story strands together.

IMO Covenant should continue to tell a "parallel story" that's set in the Alien universe.  I don't mind if Ripley is part of the story, as long as it's only a minor part.

We don't really need to see how Ripley's mom first met her dad or anything like that.  It's not really important and would be somewhat pointless.  As Ridley once hinted, this series is more about how the Alien's mommy and daddy meet.  Ripley's mother should only be part of it if she can add to the story that Ridley is trying to tell about mothers, fathers, and parents dying.  David is back in a BIG way; and he may have BIG plans to see to it that all the crew members' families are dead by the end of it.

Alien....about Ripley

Aliens...about Ripley

Alien 3...about Ripley

Alien R:....about Ripley

Alien 5...about Ripley

The whole series is about Ripley!...How can you not mention her or link her character in the prequels?!?

Star wars ep4 ...about Luke Skywalker

star wars ep 5  ...about Luke Skywalker

star wars ep.6  ...about Luke Skywalker

star wars ep7 ...looking for Luke skywalker

star wars ep 8  ...about Luke Skywalker?

star wars ep 9...?

star wars ep 1 .....about Luke Skywalkers father and mother

star wars ep 2......about Luke Skywalkers father and mother.

star wars ep3 ....about Luke Skywalkers father and mother.

If Star Wars can do 9 films on the Skywalker family...I don't see why the Alien series can't have a Ripley arc.

I love Prometheus...But it really didn't feel like the Alien universe to me...Just a awesome spacemonster horror flick....but not 'Alien'.

BUT...what if going into Prometheus, we new the Shaw character was Ripley's mom(or Grandmother)? How much would that have changed how you viewed Prometheus?!

I've been ranting on for weeks now about how FOX are more concerned with financial gain and not giving a second thought to artistic integrity as long as they can find a way to make a profit.

When it comes to the ALIEN universe, the name Ripley puts bums on theatre seats!

All artistic integrity becomes a second thought and takes a back seat to shameless promotion and fast money these days.

It really wouldn't surprise me one little bit if this news turned out to be true.

You guys bring up another good point, given when Covenant takes place, Ellen Ripley will have already turned 2 I believe? So she's already born when Alien: Covenant begins. Unless we have flashback sequences.

I agree though, it would seem rather cliche. I'm hoping the reference to Ripley is not directly through bloodlines but through another form.

I am pretty sure Ripley was said to be born in 2092 or 2093? and so she would be 11 years old at the time of Alien Covenant.  

Sigourney Weaver was 29 when working on Alien and so if we assume Alien Covenant is about 18 years prior then yes that puts her (Ellen Ripley) at about 11 by the time of Alien Covenant.

I am not keen on the idea of Daniels being Ripleys mother, but i guess we knew something was coming.

Blomkamp suggested that the Alien Franchise was about RIPLEY and the XENOMORPH it appears Fox may have liked his ideas so much, and also saw Fans seemed to be more interesting in Blomkamps Alien 5 than Prometheus 2

That indeed it seems likely that Logan was brought in to change the draft and incorporate Ripley Links and Xenomorphs because well thats what Fox thinks Sells.

Hence the Alien Prefix now...

It was after Alien Covenant name change that Ridley said that he has links to Ripley in the next movie but he wont spoil it and say what.... And also we will see the Xenomorph return,  in all its Stages. Egg, Face Huger, Chest Buster and Big Chap.

I worry Alien Covenant will connect to  Alien more by virtue of more than just a story of how Prometheus connects to Alien and Engineers... but more so that it link to Alien as far as Ripley and the Xenomorphs.

I am not to pleased to be honest, but hopefully it turns out ok, and REGARDLESS of if this Rumor is true or not ... the Movie will have a link to Ripley in it.. Ridley had confirmed this.

So yes maybe Daniels is her Mother? they dont have to have the same name, if Daniels and Ripleys Father are not married or it was  a short relationship and there are other ways that they dont have to have the same surname.

I now do have a Massive Fear.... as if Daniels is not the lead Character... but one of a selection.... and looking at ideas in Blomkamps Alien 5 and how its carrying on the Story with Newt...

I hope the Covenant Colony ship is not carrying Children and they show us a Girl Aged about what Newt was in Aliens... and this is a young Ripley?

Mind you having Children would allow Ripley to Top the Chest Buster as im sure if Alien 3 had not a Dog, or Bull but a Newt being Chest Busted then how disturbing would that have been... shocking!

@MonsterZero

If Star Wars can do 9 films on the Skywalker family... I don't see why the Alien series can't have a Ripley arc.

Because SW is space fantasy/fable/supernatural (Force), not sci-fi + SW is story about messiah, prophecy.

Alien is sci-fi with technologies, without magic and ancient prophecy. Perfect universe for more stories and characters, not Ripley's messiah family. This is not serious for dark universe.

ALIEN is not about Ripley!

James Cameron made the story about Ripley and the studio has followed this line ever since!

PROMETHEUS had absolutely nothing to do with Ripley, ALIEN:Covenant is a sequel to Prometheus so why the hell does it need to connect to Ripley?

I say leave it to Neil Blomkamp.

Anyway, if Ridley has agreed to it, then I'm pretty sure he will cover it in a cool way.

@ leto

I myself would not mention Ripley again...Alien 5 would be set 200 years in the future...Brand new invasive species(spacemonster)...There must be plenty of monsters among the 200 billion star systems?

All this talk must be confusing to FOX?! lol!

Fox: "Hey everyone! We're making a Alien 5...with Ripley, Newt, Hicks! The gangs back together!"

Fandom "AWESOME! We love Ripley! Can't wait for Alien 5!"

FOX: "Ooops! Gonna put a hold on Alien5, while we let Ridley make his prequel!....Prequels might have a link between the girl everyone loves! Ripley!!"

Fandom "Booo!!! Hiss!!! We hate Ripley, we are tired of the character! NO MORE RIPLEY!!!....

P.S. Can't wait for Alien 5!! We love Ripley!!!"

FOX "WTF !?!?!?"

To me it would be a bad choice to have it connected to Ripley. We already have three movies with Ripley + one movie where they have a clone (Resurrection) and a fifth on the way. Can we please have another Alien connected movie where not Ripley nor anyone related to her is featured? I was totally fine that Prometheus didn't have anything to do with her and that is the way that it should stay if they would make more movies after this before we get to Alien (1979).

I think one thing we could be overlooking is that i suspect maybe Alien 5 and Alien Covenant will tie in together there would be some connections.

Who knows maybe the Engineer Ship they get in Alien 5 is from Covenant, and not the Derelict or from LV-223 (which has many more by the way as of 2094)

I think they could maybe push a few connections.

What if Walter regenerates on the Paradise planet and creates instead of xenomorphs that destroy human life, its creator, Walter creates humans like Daniels, i.e Ripley, with an innate nature to kill aliens?  Or what if its Walter who creates giant "Enginners" in his exile on the Paradise (Eden) planet

It would make the David teaching Walter to play the flute scene meaningful

"You do have sympathies in you"

Remember David pointed out that Walter loved Daniels

Remember when the "Engineer" in Prometheus wakes and asks why is DAVID there? And David translates it to he wants to know why you are here

then Weyland tells the Engineer that he, his company created DAVID from nothing

Then the engineer caresses David's head, like he knows they are brothers both created by something else or thinking David was Walter his creator, and then rips his head off

similar to the David trying to kiss walter then kill him scene

David and Walter are the Engineers

David knows this but he is a little off, as Walter pointed out

Remember the Convenant was filled with embryos too.

Surely some of them were the crews or maybe just the colonists but then the crew gave their embroyos to the Company.

Everyone in the crew was couples

Also David was watching Lord of Arabia and listening to Vagner while the life forms were in stasis

Walter was not,  more of a machine

Could Weyland /Yutani be the competing destroy / create missions for the human race.