Post Scriptum

Alien is the best H.P. Lovecraft film not based on any H.P. Lovecraft story. The impossible, symbolic, and grotesque nature of the monster, a realm of unknowable terror just next to our own, is as mature and troubling as sci-fi horror gets. Prometheus attempted to open the door to the great destiny of humanity to know itself and its place in the universe. Alien: Covenant slams that door shut.

A ship full of colonists, a crew comprised of couples, some looking for a future, others believing in a higher power, all are greeted by cold, dark space. Our curiosity expels us from Eden and out to hell, where there are monsters. The Xenomorphs represent unsympathetic, unwavering death- not Evil, which is arguably worse as an objective evil would imply an objective good. Instead we are faced with chaos, and an abyss filled with violence.

Paradise is lost.

Very well put Lawrence of Arabia , good analysis.

Indeed Prometheus was very H.P. Lovecraft as far as themes, the movie had tried to touch upon a number of different themes and motifs, trying to blend them all loosely into its own kind of Movie... the very ambiguous nature also leads to a lot of debate and speculation.

Unfortunately Prometheus got a lot of Flack, it had its Lovers for sure... but if we ask EVERY Alien Franchise Fan which takes on every domination of Alien Fan..  then it really is a very mixed bag of people and opinions... If we look at the more Hardcore Fan base its the same and i think when i talk Alien Fan... i think if we consider every fan who has spent more than a Few Months making posts and commenting on Alien Movie Forums and Youtube Videos...  Or Fans who own at least Half the Franchise Movies and Watch on Average One of them at least Once a year...  Fans who have some Merchandise be it T-Shirt, Mug, Toys etc etc. 

I think the only way FOX could risk big Money on a Movie is if every single Fan who would answer YES to one or more of the above went to go and see it in the Box Office.  If you also asked every Fan who answered YES to one or more of those, what Movies they like and dislike i think you get a bit of Split opinion where i would BET 50% are Aliens Fans i would also suggest that maybe 25% of the Fanbase as such disliked Prometheus to some degree when i say Dislike i think as far as seeing the movie Certainly not as good as the first 3 and for some even Alien R

Now if you exclude any Fan who has not answered YES to those things i put, and so they like the movies but do not regularly watch them, or own any Merchandise or Partake in Online Activity to talk about the Franchise.

If you asked those people about Prometheus then a number may not even get the connection, a lot may not understand the movie even if they knew it was a Alien Movie... for the General Public it never made much sense.

Also it lacked any Xenomorphs...  and i think this is what FOX/RS in hindsight regret about Prometheus it was just not very Alieny at all

If Alien Covenant never had any Xenomorphs just Neomorphs, it was still a more Alieny movie... it would have disappointed some though... unless it showed the Eggs in someway (i.e if there was One Dissected Egg ) so we could assume the Neomorphs are a Re-engineering then it would be a more Alieny Movie but even still not as much as FOX/RS would have felt a MAJORITY of Fans would have wanted.

In Hindsight, if Fifield looked more like a Xenomorph Hybrid, and we saw Milburn Get Chest Busted by a different kind of Alien that escaped and then was found and attacked the Crew.  This would have made for a more Alieny movie.. and i think its the lack of this in HINDSIGHT that lead FOX to change Prometheus 2 to become Alien Covenant.

I will further add that we do-not know what Paglen/Greens Prometheus sequel was like, i had been informed of the broad strokes loosely 2.5 years ago but i cant guarantee this Source was correct at all.... as AC is different movie as Logan/Harper had re-wrote quite a lot of it.

Logan has had some Good Work in the past, maybe we cant judge Green just on the Green Lantern is very kiddy friendly kind of Super Hero movie.. but then so is Guardians of the Galaxy.. just executed better and well i find Super Heros like those in GOTG and the Green Lantern to be more aimed at the younger market and not really Super Hero movies i enjoy anyway so its a Question of can any one really make a Green Lantern movie that would have been EPIC?   He was more suited to Comics and Hero like TV Series.  I think any writer can only do as good as the Comic Hero Character and some Heros make for better movies.. others should stick to Comics.

Micheal Green also wrote Logan and i dont think that was a bad movie totally different tone to Green Lantern.

I think AC had a few flaws with his Plot/Story the main problem was that the movie was changed to be more about bringing in a Alien Connection and Xenomorphs, and unfortunately kind of wipe Dr Shaw and Engineers under the Carpet... but FOX felt Fans in General would not want to see such a movie that explored Shaw and Engineers.

And so i think FOX are where the Buck Stops... i do think RS does kind of give in a bit to the demands of FOX though, but he knows if he was Stubborn and had Ideas that FOX did not like or direction they did not want to go in... Ultimately if its a Movie that FOX are against... they will likely get someone else in instead of Ridley Scott rather than Give in to a Movie that RS  has 100% the say in...  so i think AC is a colaberation

Anyway welcome aboard ;)

And i still think there is hope to introduce the Engineers again, RS has said they will play a part in the next movie.. and if FOX/RS feel a majority of fans who was disappointed with AC would have wanted more explanations to Dr Shaw and why David had done what he did... then maybe David could explain it a bit more... but i would not hold our breaths.

More chance FOX may feel the General Audience would want to see Ripley back into the Franchise :(

Hopefully FOX take on board what Prometheus fans had to say and at very least give us a Novel that covers the events from when Dr Shaw and David find the other Juggernaught until when David had created his First Egg and the Last Breath Dr Shaw had taken.

As well as filling in what David learns about the Engineers during that time.

FOX has their way of doing things, which you so very aptly and amusingly stated!! :D

I have MINE, and my works seek to preserve the aspects and elements we love about this franchise, while also working to explore the vastness found in it, without damaging the Lore.

Indeed... i think a lot of Fans can come up with some really good Fiction... just a shame that FOX will only really take on writers who have had some degree of previous history and success.

For many movie Franchises there have been some very Good Fan-Fiction includes Star Wars.... i even started but then abandoned a few years back well about 2013 a The Thing Spin off.... which actually my idea was a bit like what we saw in the Movie LIFE lol

Arguably, given that AC took the story further 'downstream' and away from the Engineer thread it hasn't precluded a future film going 'upstream' from Prometheus and answering some of the questions it posed. RS was right in 2012 to say that the Xeno alone became boring. With AC it's clear that Fox lost their nerve and turned inward to perceived safety, telling a story that was frankly easier to tell. It's always easier to retreat to one's base, the Xeno' in this case, but not always fruitful in the medium to long term; Fox need to have the courage to go full Giger in a true nightmare environment (think Scorn) and while they're at it elaborate on the green crystal, mural, Deacon origin, Engineer's creator/god etc. Would also be perfectly acceptable to have a 10-minute engineer/queen Xeno showdown, and by that, I mean one hell of a serious disagreement (!!) to throw some red meat to fans of the Monster and tie it all together... 

It's not over until it's over and perhaps we should all remain hopeful that Prometheus and conventional franchise fans alike may be satisfied in the fullness of time.

@Blackwinter-witch

That's what makes your works a joy to read :)

This could turn into something interesting. I am in that category that would have liked AC to be a mix of Alien 3, Alien, and combine that with more action like Aliens. Should AC have been done like this combined with better characters then it would have been more enjoyable I think. Maybe some here might disagree with me and that is fine, this is what I would have liked to watch.

As far as more of the same there are many things based on Alien now (movies, games, what ever) so you can find inspirations from a lot of things. Prometheus was an attempt at something new but it failed mainly because most characters were so poorly done. If they would have tried to make better characters then I honestly believe that it would have been so much better. The movie is defiantly good looking as far as the environments are concerned.

Scott is good at environments and to put a script on film but he is not a writer it seems to me. Scott should handle the camera work and the esthetics but he should not write the script or have anything to do with it.

I disagree that AC was bad, Prometheus was worse. At least we didn’t get Milburn, Fifield, or Holloway. The characters were better compared to Prometheus even though they were not A+, so to speak.

Taking the Prometheus route is something that I think would have been worse keeping in mind how Prometheus was (here I disagree with the original poster). If the foundation (Prometheus) isn’t very good then if you base the sequel on it then there is a big risk that the sequel will be bad. Sorry but Prometheus wasn’t a filet steak it was more like a half-baked lasagna which means that there is a potential there but it doesn’t really work but with some development it could turn out well.

Unfortunately, the Engineers were so badly done in Prometheus so that is what we got why what we did. I am not a fan of going the AI route either, not as much as they did in AC anyways. Slashers in space is just fine, just look at Alien. Destroyed generations of Alien lore? I think that Prometheus did that, unfortunately by reducing the SJ to an angry albino man mad at humanity for a reason that is not explained in a good way. They seriously could have done that better.

Yes I don’t like how David was tied to the Xeno either. Maybe they will explain it better in the next Alien movie.

As far as the Engineers are concerned they can be interesting if they are done right and have a closer connection to the Xeno or the Xeno biology (think black goo) in some way. Don’t portray them like in Prometheus because that wasn’t very interesting. Have sub-titles if they are needed to understand the story otherwise it just becomes stupid (I think about the the Engineer, Weyland, David scene here).