Regeneration in Alien: Covenant

Hawley G:

Interesting topic, I have searched for some articles and so on about regeneration and I have read some of them. Some genes are not active but they still are there. What if the goo makes that genes active so when it comes in contact with a creature that has that gene and activates it? This doesn't mean that it makes all creatures having that ability but that it activates that gene among those that have it.

I am not a biologist so I don't know much about it, these are just some thoughts that I have.

That thing is so creepy.

What impressed me was that it regenerated it's head. That is messed up. Does this mean it can't be killed? If you blew it to bits would you just get thousands, or millions more? 

Where does canon fit in with all this? In Alien, the MORB wasn't injured until it was ejected from the Narcissus. Can all MORBS regenerate in Ridley's view? Covenant is gonna be real interesting.

Maybe the goo holds the secret to immortality?

I think that's it Apex_Predator. It certainly fits with the film's direction. As Aorta pointed out, the Hammerpede regenerated its head... Usually animals who have the ability to regrow parts of their body, the head must remain intact. Although, there could be a few exceptions.

What puzzled me was the rate at which it grew back. That kind of rapid growth is unnatural and would require a tremendous amount of energy. 

If this gene does exist and if the Black Goo has a method of activating it in times of peril, like an adrenal response, I doubt the regeneration could occur continuously. Realistically, it might be a one-off, as a last ditch effort for survival. For the cells to replicate at that speed is just... Ridiculous.

Like so much of Prometheus, the devil is in the detail!

The Hammerpede contains so much symbolism. It's an ancient ceremonial staff come to life. It has a miniaturised MORB head at it's apex, presumably it's sensory organ, because it definitely sees Millburn.  

In a seemingly childlike peek-a-boo fashion, it unfurls those winged-motif-ears, revealing an undulating slit mouth, then does it's mesmerising serpent dance, fooling, charming, then capturing Millburn! 

The head regeneration is freakishly brilliant. It's unexpected, scary and alien, placing it rather fittingly alongside the other Giger-Morb family members and their traits!

You see, I have always secretely suspected that the Ridley-Giger MORB had regenerative capabilities. Perhaps I am not too far off the mark after all?   

Interesting Topic to discus and who knows, but i have a different view of the EVENT which goes with how i view the Black Goo, and what i interpreted it as... which was backed up by how Spaights Nano Scarabs work.

I wont go into much detail as its been covered over and over, and so i would discus only about the Black Goo in the Urns.

If we ASSUME... the Black Goo acts as both a Bio-Former, and a Mutagenic Catalyst and some how it contains (well passed on) DNA Traits of a Xenomorph or related DNA..... then the process of the Hammerpede is pretty simple.

The Black Goo is a Biological Tool that overall Manipulates and Changes the DNA of living Cells/Organisms it comes into contact with.... it acts as a Evolutionary Accelerant that also passes on DNA related to the Xenomorph.

In affect we see infecting Organisms being Evolved into Hybrid Organisms that are part Xeno DNA (or similar related DNA) but the Substance does not completely re-write the DNA to be Xenomorph....

I believe the Mutagenic Bilogical Agent acts as a Evulutionary Accelerant that aims to Evolve a Organism to improve its DNA, to make it more perfectly suited Organism.... the Goo contains DNA of something related to the Xenomorph and passes this DNA onto any Organism it infects... but the Goo also looks at the best traits of the infected Organism... it re-writes traits and genes that are less Perfect than that contained within the Goo (Xenomorph) but then any native traits that are beneficial of the Organism do not get re-wrote they get Evolved.

The worms we see that go into the Black Goo, if we assume they are similar to Earth Worms (No Pun Intended) then we know Worms can regenerate... cut them into two and they will regrow the part of them that was severed.

The actual process of a Earthworm is different... it does not regrow a head... its head regrow a new body..... but lets just look at this in a simple fashion as most people understand WORMS where we think that you can cut it in half and it does not die but Regenerates... this to a degree is correct.

If we assume they based the Worms in Prometheus as being similar to our Worms on Earth and so if we ASSUME the Prometheus Worms when cut in half etc... will regenerate but at a slower rate like Worms on Earth do.

Then we look at how the Goo works as far as the way i see it does... and the Worm Evolves into Hammerpedes... but as being able to regenerate is a handy trait to have...  the Black Goo Evolves this Trait...

So now it has Rapid Regeneration....

Why is it so Rapid?   I think its safe to assume the Xenomorph DNA that is passed on carries Xeno traits and one trait of the Xenomorph Organism is Rapid Grow and replacement of Cells.

The Incubation of a Xeno Embryo from a Face Huger to a Chest Buster Birth is a pretty rapid process.... the Chest Busters growth to a Adult Xenomorph is again a exponentially rapid Growth.

If we go to Shaws Baby.... the Process from Fertilization of one of her Eggs... to a Fetus that was removed via C-Section was again a very rapid Growth Process.... likewise how fast the Baby Trillobite grew to the Adult one that Face Hugged the Engineer... again a very rapid growth.

Then we have the Worms... look how fast it was for them to go from tiny Worms to Hammepedes in such a short span of time.

And so its not beyond the realms of possibility as far as Sci-Fi Canon for the rabid growth of cells to be passed on to the time it would take for the Hammerpedes to re-grow its head.

I assume the Regeneration is a trait inherited from the Worms... i assume the Acid Blood is a trait inherited from the Xeno DNA.

If we look at the way the Sacrificial Goo worked... i think this substance breaks down the Hosts DNA and then it becomes a new Genetic Soup... the substance breaks down and stores the DNA of the consumed Sacrificial Host, this new substance now contains that Sacrificial DNA (Engineer in the case of the opening Scene) and then this substance infects Organisms it comes into contact with and Evolves them to pass on Engineer DNA in the case of a Engineer Sacrifice....  If the Engineer was Sacrificed inside a Glass Tank and his broken down material was collected and transferred into a container and the contents of this poured into a Lake would the result not have been the same?

I think it would...

So the Urns contain DNA of a Organism related to the Xenomorph... this Organism would have been Sacrificed (which is what i think the Mural Stands for).  

AND SO I BELIEVE.....

Maybe what if the Xenomorph related DNA has a main trait of its Rapid Growth Cycle and how it can replace DNA fast... essentially Grows fast.....  much faster rate than Mammals or even Insects etc.

If this trait is passed on to infected Organisms via the Sacrificial Soup made from a Sacrificed Xeno related Organism (Black Goo) then this Black Goo when used on a World... would Evolve Life at a much much faster rate than maybe the Sacrificial Engineers DNA did.

So for a Race of Genetic Engineers,  seeing that when related DNA to the Xenomorph is added to the POOL.... this provides a much faster Evolution... this Trait of the Xenomorph.. then makes for a much more PERFECT Element as far as the purpose of the Seeding Process.... 

Evolution on Earth may have taken a long time... from basic life to advanced... the Engineers Seeding Speeded up the Process.. but what if does not Evolve as fast as we see the Black Goo in the Urns did..

So the Engineers coming across something related to the Xenomorph by mistake (or Punishment) lead to them realize they are dealing with a Organism that has potential benefit to the Agenda of the Engineers which is to try and improve DNA to Evolve Species... in search of Perfection.

They then started to Worship this Organism and carried out Genetic Experiments on it until they had created the Mural Deacon... this was seen as PERFECTION.... its DNA now added to the Genepool carried many advantages over the way things was done...  ONE TRAIT in particular the VERY FAST rate of Growth that Xenomorph DNA has... is something that is very beneficial and something that VASTLY improves their Seeding/Sacrificial Technology/Biology.

They may have thought they found Perfection... a additional DNA that offered vast improvements... but they underestimated its Deadliness and how effective and uncontrollable it was.

@ApexPredator - "Maybe the goo holds the secret to immortality?"

Maybe not the goo itself, but something buried within the Alien's DNA... I have a strong feeling that we'll see the creature's ability to rapidly regenerate its own cells explored further in future films.

The Hammerpede may have had a higher than average regen factor due to its indigenous Worm DNA being hybridized with the Alien DNA.  Which might have allowed the resulting creature to quickly and easily regrow its head:  thanks to the added boost of Alien DNA + Accelerant increasing the rate. 

Ash notes that the facehugger is one tough son of a bitch in the first film; it similarly has the ability to replace its cells at a rapid rate (but doesn't need to live very long).  This makes me think that the Alien DNA itself holds the key.  There are aquatic creatures that are said to be "functionally immortal."  The Alien DNA allows the hybrid Ripley clone to quickly regenerate her own hybridized cells in Alien: Resurrection.

In the past, Ridley has said that "the beast is dead," but what if the creature is capable of tricking its own head back to life?Perhaps the creature is sometimes able to resurrect itself and turns out to be the key to Sir Weyland's quest for Immortality.

It's my belief that the Xenomorph is somewhat similar to the Bird in the Prometheus myth and has a hidden ability to increase the regen factor of any organism hybridized with it.

While Prometheus was bound to the Rock being punished by Zeus, the Bird returned each morning to continue pecking at his liver.  Mornings are sometimes a strange concept in space. The creatures mostly come at night.  "Mostly."  Anyway, each morning, Zeus's bird would resurrect Prometheus - only to kill him again later that evening (in endless cycles of Death and Rebirth).  There may be parallels between the Bird & the Alien.

@ Caryn 

As you know the element embedded within the triangulation Zeus/Prometheus/Bird is repetitive retribution and punishment for the steeling of the fire. I think the mutagen in a wider sense represents that theft and everything it re organises and becomes fused with represents destructive retribution. It is nihilistic sub creation out of the plan. It represents Ebola like unintended consequences. 

So I agree with you 100% but maybe it is wider than the bio mechaniod ethnic cleansing. The worm, as Big Dave said, does worm stuff but when mutagenised it becomes an agent of terror and punishment c.f. Fifield. It was only the retention of Charlie's love for Elizabeth that lead to his requesting a sacrificial burning before he lost control. He knew where he was heading just as Elizabeth knew instinctively that what she was carrying needed to be out.

As an aside I recalled your point about the green element to the catalyser and what it might mean. When you watch Davids extraction scene of the vial you see the green liquid with strands of black running throughout it - the life giver tainted by the mutagen.

If the Alien we are going to see in Covenant is the move on from the Deacon and is Bio Mechanoid then presumably the machine part is capable of "repair" and the bio part is capable of "re-creation". I too see this element being revealed in coming films.    

For the black goo, which re organises and spits out Xeno strain wherever it ends up, to repair and act as a Xeno bandaid makes a good deal of sense. This I suspect will play out in Elizabeth who may well seek death in the face of endless birthing.       

What I particularly like about your idea is it gives the beast "fresh legs" to get in close to its "biomechanology". Why and who is interesting and bits of the how would be as well. Gnashing teeth in a tin can alone will not work.   

@Michelle

I tend to agree that the Black stuff also has the ability to recombine the broken down strands, and can act as an adhesive to rejoin the separate strands of DNA:  a bandaid, as you put it.

It would make a lot of sense for the Black Goo to do more than simply break down the genetics if it acts as an Accelerant.   

In the sacrificial scene at the beginning of Prometheus, we do kind of see bonds between DNA strands start to recombine. Maybe bonds are quickly rebuilt/reformed after being broken apart by the Goo, and the DNA becomes recombinant.  The Black substance itself might harden into an extremely strong adhesive if the substance is able to solidify or "re-solidify."

It's possible that the Engineer genetics were merged with any number of early microscopic lifeforms in Earth's ocean:  no telling if there were incredibly small microscopic creatures present in the water.  Or if that was even Earth's ocean in the opening scene... could have been any Earth-like planet.

I think David brings the Ebola memories up (to the surface of Shaw's mind) to deliberately point out parallels between the outbreak(s).  The chemical properties of Black Goo/Accelerant may cause Fire to spread even faster - especially when weaponized goo is dropped in a water supply.  Ebola is spread via fluids: when Shaw's dad died of Ebola, it wasn't in the air.

The Fire might even affect aquatic forms of life, because some of the unknown chemicals in the Accelerant could somehow allow the Fire to burn underwater, like an underwater welding torch. The Alien appears capable of adapting underwater.

Black Goo seems to accelerate the rate things disintegrate at, but it may also be used to increase the rate they regenerate, reintegrate, regrow, or evolve.  The Green jelly may be used to augment the Black Goo and achieve different purposes.  So the Green goo would have more to do with Creation itself; however, "sometimes to Create you must first Destroy."

Occasionally, some of the chemicals in the Green substance might be used to decelerate or repress growth rates.  Initially, David assumes it's as simple as "Green stuff Creates, and Black stuff Destroys." It turns out that it's a little more complicated than that.  And to understand more about what he's dealing with, he decides to run more tests/gather more data on each type of goo.  He still needs to learn more...

Aside from being responsible for regenerative properties, I think the Green substance carries the Alien DNA and spores. As well as things that regulate other chemicals/pheromones. The immortality itself would be buried deep within the Alien's DNA: specifically in a certain variant of the Xenomorph's evolutionary line.  The Company's gotta extract it somehow.  

It's my thinking that the introduction of the broken down Engineer genetics actually accelerated the natural evolution of Earth's entire biosphere - by seeding us with the blueprint of the Engineers' own evolutionary history.  Which produced all the various branches of life related to us and them, while our whole planet's evolution was sped up. The Accelerant speeds up the development of the biosphere, as well as the early primate/hominid lines that eventually become us.

Milburn was hired for the Prometheus mission because he specialized in phylogenetics:  he studied the evolutionary relationships between organisms, and things like last common ancestors.  Yet he lacked the practical field experience that would have made his knowledge valuable to the Company. As an evolutionary biologist, Milburn had likely heard the words "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" many times before. Which basically means humans go through brief stages in the womb that resemble some of our early evolutionary ancestors.

@Carlyn

Lovely reply and very thought provoking. As you may remember I take the sacrificial scene at the beginning to be a "blessed" ritual. I then went through a phase of thinking there is not a mutagen but simply misuse, which flies in the face of all the creators remarks about the outbreak. However you have lead me down another path which blends both ideas. The ingestion at the beginning is not only blessed but it has to be pursued at a particular point in a planets development so that the process of catalyzation is benign.

Just as the headroom entered into a lock down with the intrusion of mankind  (storm, bleeding urns and the prophetic change to the fresco) when the Engineers do not follow the plan the catalyser may have a biological booby trap which is activated. The Xeno strain may be a dormant element which activates when the catalyser is misused, leading to retribution and punishment.

To the other point the idea that the Black Goo has the capacity to repair, but in its own way, is a dangerous possibility but it has to be one.

You mention the company I think the Coventee's are stooges the company is aware of the Prometheus mission outcome, the drama will unfold around how David Prom is feeling about his employees having had ten years off the leash. I think there is enough in Ash's performance that the company knew about "Engineer technology" and the diversion by the Nostromo was another example of its pursuit.

We do not discuss it now but Janty Yates placing Covenant ten years after means something. Its not a few years or following on or 200 years later it may help the future matching of timelines but it allows for time to pass for a reason events can plausibly take place - what events.      

@Michelle - "The Xeno strain may be a dormant element which activates when the catalyser is misused, leading to retribution and punishment."

Totally agree with this statement!  I really think you're on the right track with this line of thinking.  Wouldn't it be funny if those who approached the altar on LV-223 were unclean, and when they removed their helmets they started breathing all over the place?  Maybe they were the ones who changed the air quality and "contaminated" things, springing the trap?

David doesn't really breathe, so it's possible he's not really responsible for contaminating the environment in the chamber. He only really opened the doorway to the ampoule room.  It was the humans who contaminated the air; he taints liquids. 

With only 10 years passing, the merger is still in somewhat recent memory, so I'm actually expecting a little bit of backstory on how the whole hostile takeover thing went down. I'm interested to see if anyone from the crew is from the Yutani side of the Company.  There will likely still be some talk about it, if any of the former Yutani employees are still around to discuss. There's also the matter of Marines being a somewhat recent thing. Colonial Marines recently came into existence. 

I think that a few members of the Covenant are aware of the secret agenda, but they're under a strict non-disclosure act: Daniels agrees not to talk about it before learning more about what her secret mission actually entails.  The higher-ups won't let the crewmembers who are in the know have access to all the intel.  They might not really want Marines involved.  In the end, Daniels ends up breaking the deal she makes with the Company, because others start to realize what's happening.

LV-426 is codenamed Acheron, the river of Woe/Pain in the Greek Underworld; however, the River Styx is the river by which the Gods take unbreakable oaths and make their Covenants.  When signing a deal with the Company, you need to read the terms of the agreement carefully.  If you're not careful, the Company will exploit vague/ambiguous wording in the contract.  One of the clauses recently written into the employee contracts requires employees to investigate any sign of alien intelligence:  prior to Special Orders... 

No matter how much the android begs or tries to bargain for its life, Weyland-Yutani Corporate Security will find a way to shut it down.  They'd bypass some of the traps that the rogue android has waiting for them, only to discover that the goddamn android planned for certain contingencies.  At a certain point, Daniels would decide that there's no way the android or the mutagen is leaving the planet, because she's more concerned about the safety and security of humanity than any bonus shares she may or may not end up receiving. She's in a position to negotiate the terms of her contract with the company.  Unlike other employees, she has the option of walking away and working for another megacorp.  The Company has compensated her pretty fairly for the shady stuff that she's observed around Weyland-Yutani thus far. 

The Captain may be completely on board with the hidden agenda, although he's maybe not the type of Captain who is overly loyal to the interests of the Company.  If McBride's the Captain, then securing the Alien becomes like his "white whale," as his greed consumes him, because he wants to stake his claim on it.  Danny McBride's character would be more motivated by his own self-interests than the greater good of humanity/the Company; he scores low on loyalty.

@ Caryn 

Interesting follow up points to my comments...  indeed Alien did show us the Face Huger was replacing its cells with polarized silicon i was under the impression this was not a Regeneration but a Adaption, where the Organism was doing this to change its Bio-chemical make up to fit in with the Envirmoment

We never saw much evidence of great Regeneration in the movies, but we saw the Organisms where resilient..... but then i kind of forgot about RIPLEY 8

Indeed Alien Resurrection showed us that Ripley 8 could regenerate her wounds... we never saw this in detail with the Xenomorph but its something we cant rule out... maybe Minor wounds could heal up at a more rapid rate due to the Xenomorph biology and how fast it grows/repairs genetic material and so deep cuts etc could heal up super fast.. compared to Humans taking time and leaving Scars.

But heavy wounds such has having limbs blown off... end up the same for the Xenomorph as they do in us Humans?

But yes to a degree regenerative ability cant be ruled out as a Xenomorph Trait,  maybe not to the level of the Worm/Hammerpedes....   

So my theory was based on looking how the Black Goo worked... which was Genetically modify a targets DNA and replace genes with Xenomorph DNA/Genes and Traits while evolving the Organism best traits.....  

And so if Worms are like some Worms on Earth then Regeneration is a trait that would enhance the Organism and so the Black Goo Evolved it.

But as you are trying to say regarding the key to immortality... we dont get masses of proof for this in the Franchise.... but i think its something that could be explored and for me.. makes better sense than the Xeno Bio Weapon.

Because if the Xenomorph holds the key to things like Regeneration etc in its DNA..... then this to me gives the company a better reason to continue to go after the Xenomorph than merely use it as a Bio-Weapon...

This does raise the Question of why go after Ripley and the Xeno, when LV-223 has more Rewards if the ultimate gain for the Xenomorph pursuit was its DNA for extracting useful traits for other reasons.... of which Regeneration could be one key one.

You Girls have left a lot to debate about lol

It will be interesting to see where things go with Alien Covenant... as yes there has to be more than pure Coincidence  for how the Ship ends up at the same place David 8 does.

The mission to me does not sound like its one that had specific mission that was changed like the Nostromo... especially now we know the ship has mainly couples.. This tells me the ship was set up from when it left Earth or where ever it was stationed.... to have a mission to Colonize a World.   Maybe it was to go to a certain World but then got-rerouted to Paradise after information is passed on that this World is more suitable?  Who knows.

But McBride did give a  lot of information about the ship being mainly full of couples, and they was all looking for a New World to Settle Down on and make a fresh start....

The Synopsis seems to also show us the mission was to find and land on a World that was very Earth Like and ideal to Colonize and eventually be a Earth Mk2 etc.

I am not sure what role McBride plays as i would be honest and say i have not seen many of his stuff and what few i did not quite enjoy....  seemed he would be a Comedy role... but this is a serious movie and its a chance for him to play something more serious...

Much like John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Lane a very different dark role compared to what he usually plays and it was refreshing change to see him in such a role which i thought was one of his best.

McBride is the Pilot... this does not mean he is the Captain... i dont think his Character would be nefarious also Waterston's Character was the main lead, and many assumed she would have some kind of Captain Role.... it appears this is not the case.

Ripley was 2nd/3rd in chain of command... Shaw was just joint leader of the Science Expedition and so a less of a Role than Ripley had....  i would think Daniels would have a higher ranked role but i would think she would have at least TWO people above her.

I think there would be at least one Nefarious Character on board, with a hidden Agenda that would play the Ash/Burke Role... especially if there is more than Coincidence as to the Covenant being sent to the Planet of the Engineers.

I think Birchir or Crudrup would play the Villain Role.

As for the Contamination on LV-223 and the Black Goo....

We did see that something must have affected to Atmosphere to make those Urns leak...... we have to ask a number of Questions regarding that Room.

*Why was the Engineers Head preserved inside that Room...?

*Why was the Engineers running to that Room...?

*Why was that Room maybe the only place apart from the Ships Cargo Holds to have the Urns?  (but we never saw much of the complex to pass judgement).

*What is the purpose of the Engineers Space Jockey Suits...?

You see because the Engineer did run across LV-223 surface with no need for the Helmet...  so it was not needed to breath...  and why would the Engineers need a Atmosphere inside the Temple and Juggernaughts that Humans can survive in?

I would assume the Space Jockey suits act more like a Hazmat suit, and its purpose is to stop any contamination of certain Rooms, that they are conducting experiments on or have a Bio-Agent that has to be kept in a certain Atmosphere.

The movie seemed to show us that it was maybe the Humans infecting the Atmosphere it was either that.... or the Big Head Room (And maybe Juggernaught) where environments that maybe had Air/Oxygen removed from them... and so when entering them, maybe the idea was the doors shut down behind to seal the environments and then something happens to remove any Oxygen etc from that Room etc.... like a Airlock?

Bottom line is either the environments had to be kept a certain way or they had to be kept clean from contaminants passed on via the Respiratory Systems of Life Forms.

And for some reason the Environments left as they was intended.. i.e Sterile or having a certain Atmosphere conditions.. seemed to either reduce the speed the Black Goo operates... or completely disables the Mutagen.

@Caryn 

You demonstrate very ably where the traction is in the narrative and the complex drama. So this body of people come into several mysteries. What is going to be interesting having invested in a stronger more grounded earth kind story is how well and easily the answers come. We will see the W-Y agenda emerge with several surprise entrants but its the exposition of the mysteries that will be fascinating Shaw/David/Engineers/Lost/Who and Why. But the next layer will I am sure become clearer through the fate of the Engineers so theres plenty to think about as Ridley teases us (for surely he will with some false starts)  towards the return of the big boy who may feel very different given we know so much more than in 1986.      

I think Alien Covenant will primarily fill in the gaps as far as clues to the Xenomorph... i think we would only loosely get answers to the Engineers and Weyland-Yutani company as far as history and Agenda.

I think the coverage of Engineers and Weyland-Yutani will be as vague and established as the Xenomorph and LV-426 links was in Prometheus....

This time they would explore those links in this movie, but allow seeds in place for the next movie after to bring the Engineers and Company agenda into the fold more...

I think Fox feel if they are to pitch a 3 movie prequel to give us the answers to the questions in Alien and Prometheus... having a first movie that does not deal much with the Xeno or build up to it would be something maybe the average punter would not take a bite with....

Bring back Xenos more... so people know this is the start of a Alien related movie.. hence Alien Prefix... would get people on board and set up interest in exploring the Engineers in future movies.

As right now, in general and sadly people just want Xenos and also Ripley.

But i do think that yes we cant completely ignore the Engineers... i think mild clues would be in place.... a lot of general people who maybe never saw Prometheus or did not get it, would be given some clues and especially those who never saw Prometheus would see this David 8 and his Agenda and odd bits about Engineers and wander... "who they heck are these guys" and maybe they would go and watch Prometheus or re-watch it with a different perspective and maybe Alien Covenant would show things that when people go see Prometheus would make some of the things people never got, more clear.

And set up another movie that can bring the Engineers more into it... which seems a wise move, as it seemed the plan was more of the Engineers and less of the Xenomorph... but they cant risk having a 2nd movie not do as well as hope for.

As Alien 5 gained a lot of interest and nostalgia and i think it would be a box office hit even if its a movie thats worse made than Alien Resurrection.

A Prometheus 2 that fans are not into, with a disapointing Alien 5 would end all hopes of Ridley finishing his project as i doubt after if Prometheus part 3 was going to finally answer the Xeno and Space Jockey... if other two did not well... i doubt people would be interested.

However.... bringing the Xeno more in the next movie, as in a movie set after the events that the original Prometheus 2 was going for.. could work.... draw in Alien fans... give more answers to the Prometheus fans.... leave those who never saw Prometheus or who did not enjoy it with a urge to go watch/re-watch Prometheus.

if Alien 5 does not well and is Popcorn flick... well if Alien Covenant does well... then fans would still want to then see the next two installments and be able to explore the Engineers and Xenomorph Agenda/Origins.

It's interesting how the sort of hive mind works. The majority outcry is 'we want Ripley! And Hicks! And Newt!'. But then, this is what's mostly visible.

Sites like IO9 were pretty anti Ridley Scott and Prometheus for a long time, and when the Scott vs. Blomkamp flames were truly being fed, it was at a fever pitch. But now there's more 'I liked Prometheus' and 'I'm excited for Covenant' which somewhat confirms for me what I long suspected, that hating Prometheus was in part fashionable.

A lot of creative endeavors that are openly sneered at while they're active, fall into favor when it's safe to do so. Post modernism is a good example, and ironic given the post modern aspects of Prometheus.

I do think plenty of moviegoers and fans are hungry for new science fiction in general and Prometheus answers specifically. I think the answer for Prometheus' popularity wasn't 'don't connect with Alien' as many suggest but rather 'don't be so frustrating' and it's a valid complaint. I wasn't disappointed by Prometheus, but then I'm perverse.

Big Dave, Lone, Michelle and Caryn, I have so enjoyed your exchange, I want to add this very questionable detail to it: the Wikipedia page for Covenant briefly listed the cast's character names (I haven't checked it recently, but the last I looked that information had been taken down) and Benjamin Rigby's character was named simply 'No'.

All the other characters had last names. He said in an interview that he was a plot device. Was he being clever, does he mean he's a device? 

@Aorta

Your right, the internet is the perfect vehicle for sound bite fashion. Some thing gains traction and it is repeated over and over again and the next person simply repeats the fashionable view without choosing to own it properly and think for themselves. 

Everyone here has invested in Prometheus so you can see the difference in investment very clearly - however your reaction is calibrated.

Yes I noticed No and also two 6 ft 5rs have quietly been added to the cast. One is in great shape Uli Latukefu and the other is thin and involved in martial arts Goran D Kleut.

@BDave  

W-T's mendacity is I am sure part of the plot so to that extent I think the nature of their real agenda will be played out and probably though Daniels. I think this sequel to Prometheus will explain Paradise Lost and who and why the Xeno so to that extent we will receive a better understanding of the Engineers and the third film (see how it goes Ridley) will take us to the hierarchy the next layer as Ridley described it. I am inclined to go with the official synopsis on film numbers and Ridleys interviews rather than the reporting of the press conference in Sydney where it was announced three alien films will be made as a coup for the Australian political audience which may have included the plan to film A 5 there. Every other article that mentions AC as the beginning of a trilogy which is incorrect it would be the 2nd in a Quadrilogy can be sourced back to the Sydney Morning Herald report of the press conference.

@ Aorta    

If AC is a big hit who knows Fox may re prioritise Ridey is 77.