More Giger, No Ripley.

I agree on the Ripley angle.It would just be cheesy an take a bit of the power from her.As for Giger,i think his work is on display just fine.

Well Pierce is back as Weyland in a flashback scene in this one, as well as Shaw 

Anyone going into Prometheus expecting an Alien film wasn't paying attention the pre-release publicity.

As for Giger - he was one of the true masters; but he's dead. Other artists need to be able to exercise their talents without mimicking Giger.

I agree S.M. I think a lot of people forgot about the whole don't call it a prequel thing,but i also understand there disappointment.

I agree about Giger but think that style  should be maintained since it was such a big part of the whole series.

Up to a point.  I wish the ADI Aliens had been more Gigeresque but in their defence, the Fiorina creature drew directly on Giger's Necronom pieces for inspiration.

A artist for a film should be brought in to bring their skill, not forge someone else.

Understood SM. I also think capable artists would incorporate some Giger at lest out of homage or respect to the series.

Giger should be used for inspiration and a starting point.  Not to be traced.

Queen Elizabeth Shaw's avatar s a good example of what we seem to be talking about.

SM- here is what I mean.

That thing is wonderful abomination.

It is not RS who decided the direction of the Prometheus follow-up movie Covenant. His idea after Prometheus was "The Beast is dead" and "No more dragons". He did not change his mind. Rather he was vetoed by Fox and instructed (perhaps by Hill and Giler) to feature the xenos that the disappointed fanboys have been demanding. Hence the return to the familiar Alien themes. Had RS refused, there would have been no Covenant, and we would have the Blomkamp Alien 5 instead.  

Since Giler and Hill have been 'producers in name only' since Resurrection, what are you basing this on? 

S.M., Not much really.  Seeing old interviews with Giler, my feeling (not based on anything more than that) is that he is more of a studio man, and may have been at odds with RS. 

But what is clear is the change in direction to the original Alien themes for Covenant was not inspired by RS. This is based on post-Prometheus interviews with Scott wanting to get away from xenos. Fox just didn't buy it (for good reason).  

Giler has said he wanted Ridley to do Alien3.  I've never heard anything about them being at odds.  Ridley on the other hand has said a number of times that he knows how the film business works and obviously he knows how to (and likes to)work with studios.  He's not the same guy who fought and fought over Blade Runner.  If Fox wanted to go down the road of Aliens rather than moving away, and Ridley agreed and thought they had some good ideas to work with, then he'd do it.

If he didn't like the direction they were going to take he would've walked.

LOL studio executives don't commit millions of dollars to directors who 'make it up as they go along'. Will this nonsensense never go away?

edit: also, if you look at the banner image ^right above your post^ you'll see some hardcore Giger influence. 

Aliens is my favorite movie of all time. I thought the first 3 movies were awesome, although Alien 3 was completely destroyed by Fox and could have been so much better. If you watch the behind the scenes of that movie you'll see how it's one of the most disorganized movie productions of all time. David Fincher didn't have a prayer. Killing Hicks and Newt was a colossal mistake, but I think Fincher managed to put together a good movie despite everything that was going against him.

As far as Prometheus goes, I think Ridley Scott originally did want to get away from Alien and the Xenos originally, but the studio or something changed his mind at some point but it was too late. I do think Prometheus was a lot better then most people think, but it definitely could have been better. Alien Covenant does look like Ridley is going back to his Alien roots and will honor Giger's designs and bring some new things to the franchise. He definitely isn't winging it though. I read he does intend to make other Alien movies that lead directly up to the events of Alien. You can't do something like that without a plan.

As far as Ripley's parents being a part of these movies at some point I don't really have a problem with that. It's kind of like Alien isolation's concept. It's not a giant stretch to think Ripleys parents were also involved with the company and that she would someday follow in their footsteps working for the same company. It's kind of like if someone's parent was a cop they would want to grow up and be a cop too. I know some people think it's a "cop out" pun intended, but I think it's kinda cool to want to tie such an iconic character to a bunch of new movies so other generations can maybe discover how great these movies are. Star Wars has no problem doing it and nobody gets upset when characters get tied to each other under semi implausible circumstances. The one thing I do know regarding the future of all these movies is Scott did say he was inspired by The Force Awakens, and how that movie reinvigorated the series even though it's basically a redue of A New Hope. It makes me believe that AC and future movies are going to be heavily tied into the original movies and in my opinion that's a good thing. Those movies were amazing and I think Scott knows what he's doing with this franchise. I could be wrong and it could be a disaster but I really don't think he's gonna mess this up. I have never been more excited for a movie to come out then I am for AC. Ridley is going to succeed, I am an optimist and I hope Covenant will be everything I dream it will be so the best movie monster of all time can have it's rightfully earned place at the top again. 

@ the OP: TOTALLY agree with you. Ripley was the heroine of the FIRST movie, and that should've been enough. The damn Universe is HUGE and there should be PLENTY of room to develop new and more exciting characters. I agree: STOP TRYING TO FORCE FEED RIPLEY INTO EVERY DAMNED "ALIEN" STORY! 

As for Giger's art: IT was THE reason I loved Alien so damned much, and ONE large reason why "Aliens" was awful, when Cameron pretty much abandoned Giger's ideas. The man is dead, but his "aesthetic" is THE aesthetic that should be built into the Alien and its' universe, and the "Space Jockey's" as well, whoever that ends up being, whether Engineers or...?

Good call, OP. I do feel that A:C will be a GREAT return to form, but I too am feeling disappointed with the lack of Giger influences from the art that I am seeing in the lead up to the film.

Chad Ripley.. great post and I agree with everything that you have written. I too am an internal optimist and I don't think I have ever been as excited as I am for AC. I trust RS implicitly and I genuinely do not think he will let us down! If he does though, I know where he lives!! :-)

"As far as Ripley's parents being a part of these movies at some point I don't really have a problem with that. It's kind of like Alien isolation's concept. It's not a giant stretch to think Ripleys parents were also involved with the company and that she would someday follow in their footsteps working for the same company."

It is however stretching things to have her parents AND her daughter all run into the same Alien over and over.

Mind you I thought Isolation was a terrible idea, but was proven wrong.  So who knows.