Alien: Tomb of the Gods, Alien: LV-426, and so on...

personally, I was gutted when RS changed his mind from straight alien prequel to something that would start a series that would tie into alien at the end. iv read the Jon Spaights script n it is an awesome read. however, personally, I think the right decision was made. for its character flaws (Charlize Theron being completely mis-cast), Prometheus does exactly what a first in a series movie should do, raise questions n tease answers. for me, what was missing from the Spaights script should have made it into Alien Covenant. imagine a scene where David allows the face hugger to crawl over him in the egg chamber before it latches on to Oram etc n u get a much better movie.

Spaights Draft while a bit more coherent and less ambiguous, did appear a bit robotic in terms of characters and so could have been portrayed like some low Budget Sci-Fi Romp.. But some scenes were well written, i feel Lindeloffs draft was also interesting more so than the Final Picture we got on Screen, but it was a bit ambiguous and while it added some interesting parts.. it added a bit of Goofiness too

In Reality i think someone else needed to take BOTH drafts and make a Amalgamation of them.

While some enjoyed Alien Engineers, i felt it left a lot of Plot inconsistencies IF it was to connect to ALIEN and i say IF because of the Ending, which DOES-NOT add up to ALIEN at all.... and so its either Jon Spaights does not stick to the Source Material/Clues from ALIEN or the event took place on a different part of LV-426

Regarding Names...  If we go back prior to Jon Spaights or at this time and i was asked to work on the Project, and it leading to explaining the Xenomorph Origins.   The name i would have chosen would be ALIEN: ALPHA but Alien: Genesis does kind of fit with the same context as the meaning in context are interchangeable (i.e a Origins Story, the Genesis of the Xenomorph, the Beginning) 

I think it was the wise choice to change from Spaights idea to Lindeloffs, i totally understand the reasons for it, i think however the clues to connect to ALIEN should have been less ambiguous.   Leaving enough so Fans can be like....  "oh i can see, i get it" without actually seeing any Xenomorphs at all.

I feel a disappointment for fans was NO Alieny Scenes, and i think while some wanted Xenomorphs, i just feel a big disappointment was there was NO Alieny Encounters.   If we look at Alien Covenant, the Neomorph encounters gave us something Alieny, just as in Spaights Draft the Holloway Chest Buster would have done so too...  yet it was not a XENOMORPH, and Spaights Draft was a bit ambiguous to the other TWO Alien Monster (types) but the impression was both were closer to the Xenomorph, but maybe different, well at least the Ultramorph....      I also think Spaights Fifield Encounter was more Alieny Related and painted a better connection to the Xenomorph.

I think thus, the ideas in Prometheus are better, it just needed to meet Half-way with Alien Engineers as far as Clues/Less Ambiguity and some Alien Monster Encounters.

I cant find my unfinished Prometheus Re-write, i have to rework on it again i guess... but a number of scenes offered more clues and was more Alieny.

*Fifield was more Xenomorphy with Acid Blood

*We see a Hammerpede blasted and see tiny Alieny Eggs inside

*Milburn Chest Bursted a Neomorph/Babyhead kind Creature, that claws at FORD's Face before being killed.

*The Trilobite gets bitten by the Engineer and squirts Acid on his Face

*The Crystal is replaced with the Sacrificial Bowl (as in the Trailer) but a alternative idea was to keep the Crystal. Which Fifield would go to touch.

*The Mural Door opens up briefly there was TWO versions of this and when.... one as a result of Fifield (interest in Crystal), the other as a Result of Ford (General Curiosity) but both we catch a glimpse just of what lies behind, to reveal a Room with like Cryo-Pod Sarcophagi and then Small like Pod Versions, and then a like Table with Groves and Slots...  And a Mural that resembles HR Gigers to a degree on the Wall.

We only peer inside briefly before the Crew Member (Holloway) falls down and Shaw and others Rush to him, while others rush to the body of Milburn.  The Door Shuts down again... 

The alternative is Fifield peers inside with Milburn, but they are disturbed as they discover a Hammerpede, which causes Milburn to slip and Fall over, while Fifield goes to help him up... the other Hammerpede appears and Raises up....  Milburn tries to calm a Panicking Fifield, saying its ok,  Milburn Gestures with his hands trying to distract it, and then sees it appears to be placid.. so he moves closer then it hisses, and Fifield starts to Panic and Grab Milburn (lets get F out of here) Milburn turns to face him, then as he turns to the Hammerpede it shoots towards him and Milburns Reactions he Grabs it, holding it Safely like a Professional Snake Handler, he then says to Fifield dont worry, stay calm, our suits are basically bullet proof...  Then the Hammerpede Wraps itself around.

Even in the Alternative Scene were Ford opens the Tomb Door, i still have earlier the Milburn Falling over Scene... i feel its much better than deliberate Space Cobra Petting...

The Milburn Chest Buster i had a idea of something like a cross between those two concepts, it would have been the size of a New Born Baby.  The Fifield like a cross between those two concepts and with elongated limps would have made him 7ft+ tall.

The Hammerpede Eggs i envisioned as being like a cross between Xenomorph Eggs and Gremlins Cocoons, they would be about Pea Sized and have no visible Petal like openings like the Xenomorph Eggs, they would instead hatch like the Gremlins Cocoons do. (but we dont see any hatch).

The clues that the Hammerpede Laid a Egg inside that hatched/gestated into a Hybrid Organism.

The Mural Room, having a Mural showing the Sacrificial Ritual of a Egg Like Spore, a Face Hugger Like Creature and then a Chest Burster like Creature.  Similar to HR Gigers minus the Xeno-Derelict.  The clue here is something related to the Xenomorph is Reproduced here and then Sacrificed to make the contents of the Black Goo.

That mural image above is great Ati. Thank you for the topic.

"imagine a scene where David allows the face hugger to crawl over him in the egg chamber before it latches on to Oram etc n u get a much better movie." Very good ali81. That would work if the lavender balm David somehow talks Oram into wiping under his nose (novelization) was more potent. Great setting...slimy facehugger filth slow-crawling toward Oram....good stuff.

"We see a Hammerpede blasted and see tiny Alieny Eggs inside"...that is great BigDave. I really enjoyed the science-side of Alien: Covenant with David's drawings and the Advent message. Thank you for sharing details of your work.

Ingeniero - Glad you like it.

BigDave - That Fifield mutant in the image you posted looks/looked awesome. I don't understand why they did not use that version!!!

They had many versions during Production, and even went as far as actually working on a few FIFIELD props but i think Ultimately RS had chosen the lower Budget Option (same with the Planet 4 Engineers) and we ended up with TOXIC AVENGER Fifield instead.

I think something a cross between the TWO props being worked on in the first image on the left would have worked very well, the CGI Fifield was ok, i think if it had a little more Xeno DNA it would have been better.

BigDave - They should have used all of them as the different stages of his mutation. This should have been the last one shown in the scene when he appears at Prometheus:

Oh, I haven't seen this version (with the nose) yet. Looks fantastic!

I think if we look at the drafts, Lindeloffs is very ambiguous to what Fifield looks like, but i get the impression of something more like the CGI version.  But if we look at Alien Engineers he is described in more detail and whats interesting is in Jon Spaights version we get a detailed look at Fifield being Mutated, i just cant help but thinking back to the AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON as far as Transformation Scene, and picturing a Fifield Mutation Scene where he changes from Human to something more Alien....  Then by the time we see him attack the Prometheus/Magellan Crew he could appear yet more mutated and different still.

Would that have been something.... mind you the reveal of a Transformation Scene while Graphically if done right would be awesome, it would give away the Surprise Scene of when Fifield appears in that Crab Position outside the Ship, and then rises up... as we already would have seen what becomes of him.

If i cant find my Prometheus Re-write i can just add in detail the scenes added and changed, but it shows with just a number of changes we would have got more clues to the Xenomorph, were only those with a Low IQ would not get enough clues to make a very educated guess to how the Xenomorph came to be....  But even the changes i made would not please EVERY Fan, because it still would not Spoon Feed/Show the Exact Space Jockey Event, and yep had no Xenomorphs or Queens.

But a more Alieny Fifield, revealing Tiny Eggs inside a killed Hammerpede, and a Chest Buster from Milburn, coupled with some Narrative extras to hint more at the Altar/Mural a bit of Screen Time dedicated to a quick look at the Cryo-Pod Dead Engineers.   And the peek inside the room behind the Mural should all have provided more clues.

I think the EARLIER Drafts, while more Alieny, they also DO-NOT Spoon Feed the Space Jockey Event... well kind of, as i think if we ASSUME the Ultramorph Scene was the Space Jockey Death Scene, we have some inconsistencies...

*No Explanation of the Acid Burnt Hole that Kane Descends down into!

*No Evidence of the crashed Magellan within proximity to the Derelict!

*No Evidence of the Outpost within proximity to the Derelict!

*No Evidence of all those Pyramids sending off those Signals into the SKY!

How could all this be missed if the event takes place what 25-30 years prior to ALIEN?

I dont recall a Date given in Jon Spaights drafts, apart from ....

HOLLOWAY

Tell me that’s a natural formation.(he grins)Undeniable proof of alien civilization. You were here on this day, thirty-one December, year of our Lord 2172. History will remember your name.

So is Spaights Alien Engineers set in the Year 2172?  This surely means after ALIEN but also 7 years prior to ALIENS  which surely has to conflict with Hadleys Hope, and how did the company miss all that happened?

Was the 2172 a Typo.... and it was set in the year 2072? 50 years before ALIEN? If this is the case i would still say there are too many inconsiderateness to link to ALIEN and thus its likely the events had taken place on another location on LV-426

Lindeloffs draft does not conflict any date for the Space Jockey or ALIEN as its set on a near by Moon, and leaves clues that could support the Space Jockey being a Ancient Event, or even supporting the Direction that Alien Covenant has taken.

Good point.

If the derelict ship from Alien is ancient and on a nearby moon, how come the signal was not intercepted by Covenant as it was few years later intercepted by Nostromo?  And if the derelict is not ancient why the claimed to be engineer flight suit aka Space Jockey looks fossilized? 

I think the easy answer to that is the Covenant Ship mission is NO-WHERE near LV-426/223 and that it will head to Origae-6 which is again even further out than LV-426, however at some point if Davids Creation becomes those Eggs on the Derelict, then they have to end up on a Engineer Ship.

I can only assume the route they are going now is this would be the case, and its the incoming Engineers in the Sequel that will set up the Derelict Ship, which then has to be heading towards LV-223

If the Derelict is Ancient, which is what was planned prior to Alien Covenant, then i think the Covenant would miss it as above,  but certainly after David informs the Company of what he has been up to (Advent Olive Branch) you would assume the Company would investigate LV-223 and in doing so would come across the Derelict Signal.  Regardless i think LV-223 is something that has to be covered and cleared up so it does not conflict with the Alien movies.

The fossilized Space Jockey, only appears this way, the rest of the Ship does not appear this way, but it looks much more Organic than the Juggernauts, would this be addressed?  Or is it a oversight we have to accept?

So the Space Jockey Suit could look that way because its a Organic Suit to a degree and it simply dies off like how a Snake Skin does, or how a Dead Cactus looks compared to a Living one.  But indeed the idea at the time of ALIEN was that the Derelict had been there for a very long time.

I think a lot has to do with WHEN the Company receives that information off David and then WHERE the Company decides to go, i think Logically they would at least send a mission to LV-223, for certain now.... we have to wonder why they never did in the 10 years prior.

If the Company Oddly only sends ONE ship or sends Ships only to Origae-6 to where David is off too, then indeed it would mean nothing maybe gets detected regarding LV-223/426 until many many years after.

The estimated Arrival Time for the Covenant to Origae-6 is the year 2112 and so 10 years prior to ALIEN it looks like the Company wont get no signals from David until nearly 18 months after David leaves with the Covenant from Planet 4, and it appears the Covenant ship had been at least 9-12 months but up to 18 months into its journey to Origae-6 before the events of Alien Covenant. (it could be longer as i dont think the Origins Novel gives any date to when the Covenant departed on its mission).

From Prometheus I have only one question - why they replaced a sacrifice cup on strange green crystal in ampules room. JUST WHY!?

In early trailers of Prometheus we all saw the cup, but then they make a green crystal. What is this? It doesn't matter in plot or context of Prometheus or Covenant. Whereas the cup would explain a lot things or give hints.

I hope on "Special Edition" of Prometheus after RS complete making his an Alien trilogy prequels.

@leto I think i recall @Bigdave having some answers to the green crystal a whilst back.  I as well wondered the same thing about the crystal.  I always thought it was like Jurassic Park with the amber holding DNA within the mosquito. The green crystal may have had some lifeform or DNA inside of it. 

"why they replaced a sacrifice cup on strange green crystal in ampules room. JUST WHY!?"

I just could never ever figure this change out, it was a change that made my theories on LV-223 not add up, i had a hunch from the Trailers for Prometheus, but seeing the Green Crystal was a puzzle, it was only many months after Prometheus when Jon Spaights Alien Engineers Draft was released and we look at how the Scarabs worked instead of the Black Goo, and then apply that to the Black Goo that my theory i had made Perfect Sense.

I could just never figure what the Crystal was for or WHY change?

Until February 2015 i had some source who apparently had information on the then Prometheus 2 by Paglen/Green based on the Autumn 2014 draft.

They Claimed Paradise had a Garden like Orchard and at the end of it was a Black Obelisk that was neither Rock or Metal, it looked Grown as it had roots, and it Glowed Green.  THIS was the Source of the Engineers Power, it was the Creation Tool, it was the Forbidden Fruit and Prometheus Fire.  Playing as Paradises loosely Tree of Knowledge and Life.

The source hints the Fallen Engineers had Stolen a Shard/Shards of this and taken them to LV-223 to use for their own Experiments/Creation which caused them a great Hubris. But also a Freedom from Bondage.

So they are kind of hinting that the Engineers Sacrificial/Creation Goo comes from this Obelisk and Fragment or Fragments had been Stolen by the Fallen Engineers.

Looking at this, it kind of makes sense... because if the Obelisk Crystal is the source of what makes the Goo, then having a Chunk of It on the Altar gives the impression this is where they can use this Creation Tool over and over.

The Sacrificial Bowl would leave us asking, where does the Goo inside come from, because surely a Bowl of Goo only has limited uses.

Wow, impressive! I already love this idea!

Uff... why they don't make Obelisk Crystal in Covenant? A big omission!

Tomb of the Gods is a title that I like, it almost sounds like a title to an Indiana Jones movie. Prometheus is not a disaster but it is too un-alieny so to speak but it has its good parts.

Changing the focus to the Engineers was not a bad thing it is just that it was not done very well. I like the idea but the end result could have been a lot better. Having said this it is not a disaster but it could have been done a lit better.

The sexburster would have been interesting to watch. It makes the Xeno closer to a metaphor about AIDS, disease and so on, have anyone noticed this about that eventual scene. I think that it is interesting to think about it at least. By the way I think that a small version of that scene is still in it, when Holloway stands there with a rose and that so at least with this in mind I kind of see where that scene comes (no pun intended) from.

"… (Spaihts doesn’t hide his disappointment about this) ..."

It makes more sense than what we saw on screen and I would rather have watched a movie based on his script. This does not mean that Lindelof is the only person to blame.

They went with the worst version possible for Fifield here is my list from best to worst of the different versions

1. Xeno
2. Lizzard or what ever to call the thing in the picture that Big Dave posted upper row of pictures far left. I actually think that it is alright even though the Xeno version is better.
3. Zombie version, that thing was really crappy

Ali81: I like the script by Spaights also it makes me react less like "Why did he do that? That was dumb". They should have included more of that in the final movie, unfortunately they didn't so we have the movie the way it is now. Lindelof’s script was at least better than what became the final movie but I have not read it for a while.

"The sexburster would have been interesting to watch"

Very True... its something i am surprised we never saw in AC...

When we was first getting clues in Alien Covenant as far as Set Prop leaks etc, when i saw Davids Workshop and those Props.... at the time of the leak i wondered if this was just the Creature Workshop Creative Room, and maybe its not part of the movie?   And when i saw some of those Props, the Baby like Xenomorphs... i was thinking are we going to see them? or similar.

Then when information on the Shower Scene came to light in the Trailers, i had a great idea.

I felt (prior to release of AC) that as the ship is containing Couples, would it not be great if the Black Goo infected a Pregnant Female (she could be days Pregnant) but the Black Goo then infects her Fetus and the Shower Love Scene turns into a Belly Burster Scene...

How creepy would that be... certainly blow the Back Burster, the C-Section and Chest Buster out of the Water....

Fear not.. as this idea is something i have planned for my ALIEN ASCENSION movie idea (Alien Covenant sequel)   and i will just say the Colonist should have taken the Commandments given by DAVID seriously... and dont eat from that DARN TREE ;)

I am thinking my ideas would not fit into less than 3 hours though ;)  Sadly for some its very AI tied though :(