ALIEN: ANAKAINOSIS

@Chli

Where do i START ;)  You raise Good Points i think a LOT of Problems came from the Decision with Alien Covenant...

IF they had gone with something like the Plot/Idea i had as to WHERE it would be that David and Dr Shaw go then these Conflicts would be Reduced.  Because i was taking them to a FAR FAR Place, like 10'000LY at least maybe even 50-60'000..... WHY maybe another Galaxy!

Going Further means maybe they DONT go and Arrive for a LONG TIME and the Events of Aliens/Alien 3 have Passed by the Time they ARRIVE... so any Aftermath could SPILL out to after the events of Alien Resurrection so you DONT go and Conflict the Franchise.

But then a Problem we also see and its NOT limited to the Prequels but the Prequels are more GUILTY is it seems they DONT go and Consider as to HOW the Plot could Effect the Future or Conflict/Contradict the Franchise.

"If the sacrificial Engineer in Prometheus is seeding Earth"

Ridley Scott said it does-not have to be Earth... so this could be at ANY Point and even another World... he had said this was JUST how the Engineers Seed Worlds and so at some point the Engineers would have done Similar on Earth, maybe Multiple Times and maybe they EVOLVED the Process ;)

But YES they would likely have to be Hundreds of Millions of Years OLD at the Very Least... likely Much Older.  And so its a Good Question to HOW COME their Technology has NOT really Advanced much in Millions of Years or the Engineers themselves!

"One problem with the Engineers travelling to other galaxies is, of course, the distances."

They could have WORM HOLES that maybe are Natural or Engineered at Certain Points in the Galaxy... Portals they can Access?  Maybe at the Center of the Galaxies?

Otherwise then YES it would take VERY LONG to get to other Galaxies but thats maybe WHY they have Cryo-Pods.  If the SHIP has Technology to Reach Galaxies in Short Time then Travel in our Galaxy would NOT take Long!

Looking at Planet 4 it seems Close to Zeta 2, it Certainly would seem its not Hundreds of Light Years.... this is a PLOT Convenience for the Covenant Plot.

However i dont think it took the Juggernaught say 11 Months...  It had taken the Covenant something near that to get to Planet 4 from Earth...  this would make the Juggernauts much SLOWER than the Covenant.

Dr Shaw had left the SOS/Warning Message saying it was January 1st 2094 we can maybe Assume this was WHEN they Left, but she could have SENT this LIKELY via the Lifeboat, then had set off on the ATV to go to GET another Ship.

The Crossing we see the Ship is Floating... David is in TWO Pieces and Dr Shaw has had some Hair Growth i would Estimate she had been on the Ship for 6-10 Months before her and David had SET the Course to Planet 4 and Dr Shaw was placed in Cryo-Sleep

We dont know for sure HOW FAR away it is to Planet 4 but its within a Year for the Covenant i dont recall any information is Given.   We have the Advent which places the Signal near the Zeta Reticuli system but with a Point in the SKY does not mean its close in LY to Zeta 2/LV-426.

Just Checked and IF we can take the Information from Alien Covenant Draft as Accurate then Planet 4 is over 250LY away.  But Considering that as Canon... means the Covenant is WAY more Quicker than the Nostromo and in the Time the Nostromo would go from LV-426 to Earth the Covenant would cover like 6X the Distance and YET is Older.

Anyway i am Babble On a bit... to the Point i would ASSUME the Juggernaught would reach Planet 4 in say 3-5 Weeks at the Very Most.

"Where have the Engineers been for the last 2000 years?"

This is a Great Point, after the Outbreak those who WISHED to have us Destroyed would maybe have been all KILLED (Maybe Bar the Last Engineer) or they had Decided to Abandon Earth and the USE of the Bio-Weapon.

They likely thought "Screw the Earth Humans... without our Help they WONT go and Advance and maybe we would even go Backwards and also Eventually Destroy ourselves"  In their Arrogance i think they would ASSUME we would NEVER go on to Advance to what we have and would remain as Technologically Advanced as we was 2000+ Years ago.

The Engineers could Visit Worlds that are Vastly FAR apart he had Indicated they Seed Worlds and Attempt to Reset/Destroy them then they would come back every Few Hundred Years.  It would be LIKELY that LV-223 and everything they was doing there had been ABANDONED.

And Earth was on the Naughty List where we are Abandoned and Left to ROT!   Why CARE about  us if they have maybe MANY other Worlds with Humanoid Creations of even Humans?  We cant RULE that out.!

"If there were other juggernauts leaving LV-223 at the time of the outbreak with biological weapons aboard, where did they end up?"

I think this Depends on IF we Consider that AC is Canon.

*Have the Engineers used the Bio-Weapon we saw on LV-223 on other Worlds, even as a TEST?  If so then WHAT had become of these Worlds and WHERE are they?  This is a Avenue for a Story/Plot ;)

*Prior to the Outbreak had they Decided to Eradicate all Humans or Similar they have in the Galaxy and so maybe some Ships Left before the Outbreak had Started?  Or was their ANGER only with Earth in which case we know that NO SHIPS had Managed to Reach us so maybe the Outbreak had PUT a Stop to the Engineers Plans Totally?

Looking at prior to AC then YES at that Time we had RS go and Explain the Space Jockey, he indicated the Event Happened likely a Few Hundred Years after the Outbreak as something EVOLVED in the Cargo Hold and Infected the Pilot, this Most Likely Happened prior to Leaving LV-223, but could have Happened shortly after Departure..

The Space Jockey knowing he was Infected had Set Course to Baron LV-426 to Quarantine the Bio-Weapon/Cargo.

IF we consider AC as Canon this would Indicate at some point in the Future between 2105-2122 then the Experiments of Davids are either being Taken to LV-223 to Study but Evolve and get to the Pilot who only makes it to LV-426..... OR we have  Davids Creations taken to LV-223 to be Evolved and  then the Derelict would LEAVE to go somewhere but ONLY gets as FAR as LV-426

Regardless of if we take AC as Canon, or Prometheus or IGNORE the Prequels.... then it does-not matter which we Consider, we have to ask WAS the Derelict the ONLY ship that had the Eggs?  We cant 100% Rule out that other Ships had them to REGARDLESS of what Scenario/Canon we are going for ;)

"the Engineers managed to get some DNA from this creature and concocted the mutagen from it?"

Certainly is Possible.... the Fresco and Mural where Interesting in Prometheus and IF we take a Look at Alien Engineers/Genesis then it seems to IMPLY that the Engineers back in that Draft had USED their Creation Tool on something they Encountered to go and Create/Experiment on Various Horrors.

In those Drafts it seems  the Holloway Morph was the ORIGIN to those Experiments.... when we get to PROMETHEUS then we can Speculate... and Wonder.. was the FRESCO what was the ORIGIN?

All Interesting things to maybe have had Answers.... where a Movie/Plot to LV-223 could have Provided instead of giving us Alien Covenant ;)

Well, David and Shaw have 5 days to collect things (extremely dangerous because of the lurking Deacon) and find the juggernaut. To get to the other juggernaut, they must pass through the pyramid so they must have seen something. Was it empty? Were there Engineer bodies scattered about with holes in their chests? Were there rooms with urns or perhaps with strange-looking eggs?

They leave LV-223 on the 1st of January and arrive at Planet 4 in December the same year. This is a time span of roughly 11 months. We don’t know how long the trip from LV-223 to Planet 4 took. We have to consider earning trust, how much food and water there is, and Shaw’s hair (which could be just something they didn’t care about when filming “The Crossing”). I can’t imagine them having the juggernaut on the ground for months, like a house, walking in and out with a hungry Deacon lurking about (it doesn’t matter if they don’t know about it).

If the juggernaut had been just floating about in space for, say, 10 months, what would be the point in putting Shaw to sleep when there is just 1 month left? Did the food supply suddenly run out? Also, you get the impression that David is alone for a long time (which he, sort of, points out himself) and during that time he learns about the ways of the Engineers.

As we have discussed before, we have a time span of about 18 years. During this time, the experiments of David’s should evolve and make their way to LV-426 in time for the Nostromo to arrive. David himself says that he is on his way to Origae-6 and he has about 2000 colonists and about 1100 embryos to experiment upon. He might, of course, stop by on LV-223 to refuel mutagen.

If we look at just the plot and the characters, it was probably a wrong decision not to continue the story of Ripley, Hicks and Newt. If we don’t focus on deeper questions, there is also a story to be told about what happened to Daniels and Tennessee and the rest of the colonists, or are we supposed to conclude that David murdered them all in his experiments?

@Chli

without trying to get Bogged Down in Speculation of Circumstances from 2094-2105 as its been Covered in other Topics (i mean No Disrespect as i would discus these in a Relevant Topic), i Feel the Relevance to this TOPIC is merely to Determine the Distances that a Engineer Juggernaught can Traverse per Year.

I think that we can Safely Assume that about 11 Months Past since the Juggernaught left LV-223 Atmosphere and Entered Planet 4 Atmosphere but as David said he has been on Planet 4 for 10 Years that may NOT be Exact to the Day... so lets say we are looking at 10-12 Month Ball-Park instead of 11.

Regardless HOW FAR it is to Planet 4 we can Assume via the Covenant Recycle Charges and Amount that Remain to Origae-6 that they Suffered the Neutrino Burst again about 11 Months into their Mission, and Planet 4 was a Few Weeks Further.  But again lets PLACE the Journey from Earth to Planet 4 within the 10-12 Month Ball Park.

From the ADVENT we are lead to the Signal Originated in a Area that is NOT FAR from where the Zeta Reticuli Binary System is Located in the SKY!  But we have to Bear in Mind that just because a STAR may seem close to another in the SKY then the Distances could be GREAT and so we CANT go and Assume Planet 4 is maybe 40-50LY, looking at the Drafts it could be at least 250LY Away.

Now the Covenant had Re-Charged/Suffered Damage a Few Weeks from Planet 4 and so the Covenant was Traveling in the Vicinity of the Zeta Reticuli System (Well a Area near the same Location in the SKY) so on its Course to Origae-6 it was Traveling Past this Area of the Galaxy/Star Charts.  And so the Covenant had taken say 11-12 Months (well maybe 45-50 Weeks) from Earth to Planet 4

While David had taken maybe 40-50 Weeks from when they Departed the Surface LV-223 to Planet 4 again we dont know HOW FAR it is 100% from LV-223 to Planet 4 but the Covenant would likely have Passed by the Zeta Reticuli System by say 10-20LY lets Estimate?  My Point being that the Covenant likely had a Extra 30-50LY to Travel within that Approx 11 Months than David had from LV-223 in about the same amount of Time.

Looking at that does this mean the USCSS Covenant is FASTER than a Engineer Juggernaught?  It really would depend on HOW LONG had the Juggernaught been Floating before Dr Shaw had Fixed David and then she was Placed in Cryo-Sleep and then HOW LONG had David been Planing and Studying the Engineers Ways before he SET COURSE to Planet 4..... did he take the SHIP at Full Speed?  Did he take it SLOW and the Scenic Route we just cant be 100% sure.

I think when we Consider the Engineers Plot and they have been Seeding Worlds for Many Millions of Years... Hundreds at Least...  and RS had said maybe the Juggernaught Technology is Millions of Years Old.

I FAIL to see how such a Advanced Race would NOT be able to Traverse Space at Greater Speeds than a Human Colony Ship.

But this does-not mean the Engineers Ships can Travel say Hundreds of Light Years per Year.... we know they have Cryo-Pods that sustained a Engineer for at Least 2000 Years... thats HANDY for Traveling say Thousands of Light Years if you Ships are NOT really so FAST

Regarding the other Galaxies i cant see them having these in the Navigation System if they CANT go to them, but maybe it takes them TENS of Thousands of Years or Hundreds of Thousands?

IF the Ships dont have any kind of Technology to OPEN say Wormholes or Gateways/Portals....  then i would SUSPECT that throughout the Galaxy there could be such THINGS that the Engineers can reach and USE to get to other Galaxies.

If so then do these Gateways require Engineer Technology to Activate?  If NOT then should a Human Ship discover such Wormhole/Gateway then WHO KNOWS to where they could Travel!  Which OPENS up the Franchise.

The Points i have Raised in Context to the Engineers are that i FEEL its Unlikely  and a Missed Opportunity that the ONLY Places connected to them and were they have BEEN/ARE is Limited to Planet 4, LV-223 and Earth and so within a 50LY from Earth or Potentially 250-300LY to Planet 4 thats a DROP in the Ocean of where i EXPECT the Engineers to be able to Explore.

I am not sure the Sequel to AC is so Relevant to the TOPIC as i was mainly looking at HOW/WHERE we can go in the Alien Franchise if we dont go to LV-223, Planet 4 or Origae-6

But the Process from AC to ALIEN seems to require at Least 2 Movies, it would seem David would be off to Origae-6 first..... in a Movie about A.I and Creation and NOT about the Xenomorph...  But the Engineers will return and be after David and there would be other Parties too...

It is likely the After-Math of that would give us WHERE our Derelict/Engineer Ship could come into Play.

What becomes of Daniels and Tennessee who knows... Daniels is a Problem for David shes Knows who he is... if he makes her Disappear then Tennessee could get Suspicious so its a BIT of a Pickle.!

What they should have done is have Daniels go into Cryo-Sleep and be TOTALLY unaware... as she goes Under then WALTER says Sleep Tight dont let the Bed Bugs Bite in Davids Accent and the Revelation is Revealed to the Viewer but Daniels is NONE the Wiser so they Wrote themselves into a corner with that ONE.

I cant see the Prequels being Finished... although i do have a WORK AROUND IDEA ;)  and YES it has NO DAVID!

" it was probably a wrong decision not to continue the story of Ripley, Hicks and Newt."

With Respect i dont agree, this would be a PANIC of Running Out of Ideas and Lack of Imagination.

HOWEVER.... there are a Number of Fans who was REALLY Excited about Blomkamps Alien V and Felt that it was INSULT and a Waste of Opportunity to go and KILL off Hicks and Newt (if i came on board during the Writing/Production of ALIEN 3 i would have had the Chest Buster come from Newt... that would be Shocking and the LOSS to Ripley and Hicks would Elevate their Characters.... i would have had Hicks be the ONLY Survivor as he is taken away on the USCSS Patna but you can then have HICKS go and VOW that he will do EVERYTHING to make sure NO ONE will get their Hands on a Xenomorph again.... so the Torch is Passed to Hicks) But ALAS!

As i was about to say.... Ripley and Eggs/Xenomorphs and the Queen are more Familiar and Associated with ALIEN Franchise to the General Public and so YES it could be that DISNEY could see this as the SAFE BET!

But WHAT kind of Plot do you have? And after WHAT do you do as Sequels?

I think that Blomkamps Alien V and Red Harvest Project could WORK.... but they DONT need to have any of the ALIENS Cast for it to Work.

MonsterZero,

PRICELESSSSSSS - LOOOOOOOOOOOL

"Alien3 felt like episode 7 of season 2..the prison planet episode."

Christmas came early this year LOL please keep up the good work and deliver more presents!!!

We have the problem of what might please a majority (economically satisfying) and what would please (some) fans (even avid fans have different opinions about the franchise).

There are, at least, four things to consider in an eventual sequel:

* Much action (Aliens)

* More creepy atmosphere (Alien)

* Deeper questions (Prometheus)

* The story arc (Aliens continued the story of Alien; AC continued the story of P etc.)

Even James Cameron expressed doubt about killing off the main characters of Aliens in Alien 3. There was a special bond between Ripley, Newt and Hicks - a potential family.

So, do we want more episodic films without continuation of the story but only connection to the “Alien Universe” or do we want to see what happens to the main characters: David, Daniels, Tennessee, Ripley, Hicks, Newt?

“Anakainosis” roughly means “to think in a new way”. But often we want the same thing, e.g. things connected to tradition. Every year Santa Claus brings Christmas presents. A film, novel or short story usually have the same dramatic structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement.

But I think the most important question is if we want a continuation of the story and a denouement or do we want to leave this behind and search for answers to deeper questions within the “Alien Universe”?

You could have both, I suppose? :)

Thanks BlackAnt!

I'd like to see the franchise move away from planet based action for a couple of films. Superstructures, Hyper Space Gateways, Dyson spheres.

Planets are just not claustrophobic IMHO. Almost always a place to hide or run away. 

I understand planet based story is easy on the budget....but I think the green screen tech can handle a bizarre alien structures.

@BigDave

My 57 Years plot would start 6 months after Alien and involve Pavonis being a junior member of the team and  being part of the second group to encounter the derelict on LV-426.

They wouldn't even get to the space jockey until season 2 (2123)

Series would be more about what happened in the 57 year span. No Ripley or Amanda references at all...except a Rip[ley mention on the Nostromo crew manifest.

As for the 57-year time span between Alien and Aliens, there is the game Alien: Isolation and the novel by the same name. The USCSS Anesidora lands on LV-426 in 2137. Captain Marlow’s wife is facehugged and they bring her to Sevastopol Station. There, the xenomorph is born eventually leading to the destruction of the space station.

The interesting thing with this story is that they turn the beacon off which gives an explanation as to why W-Y hasn’t found the Derelict. It also explains why no others have been lured to LV-426. The trade route between Earth and Thedus was probably used extensively.

Thanks chli, going to have to read that novel!

Right now the Alien universe seems really tiny! Just how many spacecraft are out there? What's the furthest human settlement ( if any ). With Star Trek I get a great sense of scale. Alien Universe not so much. I'd think a tv show would flesh it out. World building in movies is asking for trouble.

"We have the problem of what might please a majority (economically satisfying) and what would please (some) fans (even avid fans have different opinions about the franchise)"

Certainly i think a Movie hits a Problem if your BANKING on the Avid Fanbase, so every Fan who sees at least 2-5 Alien Movies a Year, has the DVD Box Sets, Merch, Toys and Comics etc..  watches the Extras and Commentary etc

If we look at the Box Office of a $100M Alien Movie then even if EVERY such Avid Fan went Twice i doubt your going to make a Profit ;)   So YES it the more Casual Fan and General Public that you have to PULL in to make the Success of a Movie. (Financially)

These People would NOT really know WHAT the Space Jockey was, or other things....    what they would Recognize the most is RIPLEY (well Miss Weaver playing her) and the Xenomorph in Particular the ALIENS one as it had more and the Queen!

So when your going to do something NEW and DIFFERENT then for the General Public you maybe NEED something that they can Connect with what they think about when you say ALIEN Franchise.

"So, do we want more episodic films without continuation of the story but only connection to the “Alien Universe” or do we want to see what happens to the main characters: David, Daniels, Tennessee, Ripley, Hicks, Newt?"

This is a GOOD POINT... what made ALIEN Franchise so relatable was the Continuation of Characters... well RIPLEY as she was the Survivor until ALIEN 3 but she kind of Lives on in Alien R and you had Call as a Interesting Character but we had NO Continuation.

With Prometheus then you would have Expected a Sequel to Continue with the Protagonist Dr Shaw... but it NEVER...

We had Daniels who is a Character  that seemed to just NOT really Connect with Most of us, and well the Revelation she knows who DAVID is... really Paints the Sequel in a Corner.... her knowing is a THORN to Davids Plans... he would be best to just KILL or Experiment on her so she dont Survive.. well as a Human.. but maybe he KEEPS her Alive and Hidden and this is his Hubris...

But its UNLIKELY we get a Continuation... and so YES if we have  NEW MOVIE, then we have to introduce New Characters and maybe Fans just WONT go and Invest in those Characters if they THINK its Unlikely they would appear in a Sequel!

So you can see WHY some Fans and indeed seems Blomkamp, Hill and Giler had believed your BEST to go back to whats Relatable and Familar and to Bring Back our Ripley and maybe the Xenomorph from ALIEN/ALIENS.

“Anakainosis” roughly means “to think in a new way”

Certainly when i do Titles to Topics there is more to the Name than just something Different.  So indeed the Choice of Anakainosis is to look at HOW we could Revisit the Franchise and how can we RENEW and RENOVATE the Franchise.

And so i was thinking HOW can you go and Introduce us to a Relatble Threat but Change it a BIT but also to leave some Connection/Clues to the Franchise/Prequels to UPLIFT them.

Its NOT a Easy Task... as Ridley Scott found out with the Prequels and so maybe those in Charge would rather just go back to BASICS (Play it SAFE)  and to just Resurrect Ripley again.....

"The interesting thing with this story is that they turn the beacon off which gives an explanation as to why W-Y hasn’t found the Derelict"

Certainly.... i have NOT gone and Read the Novel and NEVER got FAR in the Game (Played it Once) but its a Good Idea/Plot.

Was THIS the LAST time that anyone went to the Derelict prior to the Jordans?  Thats something to Consider ;)

"Right now the Alien universe seems really tiny!"

Agree and i think that RS with the  Prequels and Engineers Plot really OPENED UP the Franchise to Many Worlds, Races and Horrors oh and Conflicts ;)

Wouldn't it be more likely that we will see games, comics, and so on? If we look at how the movies have done since after Alien 3 we can see that they haven't done that well. Prometheus did decent but that was probably because Scott and a bit of waiting since the last one.

Looking at Covenant and how it did I doubt that they will continue the David-story (thanks F for that). Maybe make new prequels and give it to someone that can write and a director that knows his or her limits maybe? Scott doesn’t seem to be able to do that.

No Blomkamp please, not interested in another Ripley story. Make something else, an independent movie more like Rogue One. There would be no Ripley, no David, for example. Give me something new that works, not like the prequels that messed things up.

“This Project had HOWEVER became Dead in the Water!”

Phew! Good! It's time to move on, Ripley should have stayed dead after 3.

“but the Question would be WHAT Movies would Survive as Canon?”

As long as they never touch Alien 3 I'm fine, they can do whatever they want with the rest. If they would improve what we have after Alien 3 then why not? I don't mean as in time-line but the prequels and Alien R (don't care about AVP and whatever).

Give me something new, new monsters, new worlds. An interesting story and well-made characters are required but other than that I’m open to different things.

“especially ALIEN and ALIENS are Considered so Iconic and Deserve their Place in the Franchise”

*Cough* *cough* someone forgot about Alien 3. :-)

“If this is the CASE then WHAT/WHERE do they take us?”

I would like to see survival-horror of some sort, one could say that it has been done to death but you can add new stuff to it. You can add new things to try to expand the franchise. Even though the prequels are disappointments we got new monsters, new worlds, and the Engineers. Not sure if we will see the Engineers again but it would be bad to just throw them away.

What I don't want is poorly made human characters and a focus on androids. F the focus on androids, that sucks even though they can be part of the movie (it worked with Ash and Bishop). The prequels made me think about what I don't want so that is something good I guess. Last but not least: don't cut out important parts just to get a certain run-time, that leaves out important parts and destroys the movie (the prequels show that).

“Sadly this may make them Conclude that Ripley, Xenomorphs with a Dash of Marines is the SAFE BET!”

How about a Rogue One about the Colonial marines without Ripley? This could show us new monsters and new worlds without it being Aliens 2. Keep the marines but try new things and also, please no 80s vibes - you got to update things. I could accept this, at least it’s something new, but we need people to care about.

We have had an action-movie, and horror-movies. Maybe there is a third genre that could work that are not far away from those but that you could add something different from. Perhaps a sort of common people versus intergalactic gangsters backed by WY?

Answering the thing about the trailers to AC, they were crappy because they were misleading and showed a better movie than we were given. I doubt that the movie would have been better just by having more action in it because the problems would still have been the same. One action-scene was with David and Walter, but it was still, yeah whatever since the android-parts wasn't what I watched it for.

The idea of a robot that starts to become self-aware and becomes a threat could work if you put it in the background as a part of the movie and have better human characters and have more humans versus monster-moments. For that to work you got to care about the characters and not just throw the monsters in there like Scott did. Covenant to me is more like Alien R in quality rather than Alien kind of quality, I'm not joking even though it's better than AR but that's not a huge achievement.

“So i think the Initial Box Office Numbers before Word of Mouth were LESS than i expected.”

Not surprising, they got rid of the Engineers, made it about an angry robot and had almost no characters worth a damn, plus they made the Xeno a creation of a bored robot. Not sure how anyone can't see how that will turn into average at best. Yeah, they replaced the Xeno-action with a long scene about fluting (yes I understand that they discussed creation there but what ever) which was long and slow. While the creation-theme isn't meaningless in itself it wasn't executed well.

Scott is not a writer, he can make great visuals but as far as the writing and the monster go, leave that to someone else because he isn't capable of handling that. It is doubtful that he will be involved in another alien-movie if we look at how the prequels turned out and that he had a huge part in what became of them. My guess about Scott's involvement and why I wrote that is because I try to imagine how the studio looks at it. Let him handle the visuals and that's it.

Spin-off or Franchise, whatever they decided it failed. They must have:

• Better human characters
• Less about robots
• Don't cut character-parts to get a run-time (both prequels are proof of that)
• Let the writers write, not the director
• No Ripley

Chli:

"it was probably a wrong decision not to continue the story of Ripley, Hicks and Newt."

I disagree, Alien has never been about family and happiness, that would also have been a repetition and that to me would have been boring like an Alien 2.0. This would have made Aliens less special since it would have repeated itself but now thankfully we have one Aliens that we can enjoy.

Killing them off was a necessary thing because then you could try something else and not be tied to what happened there. I doubt that it would have been an interesting movie to have Hicks and Newt in a prison full off rapists and so on. Even Alien 3 by Gibson that had Ripley in a come felt kind of eh, so I think that they did the right thing in the end.

Many people think that the Star Wars sequels weren't that great but the way that I would have reacted to another Hicks and Newt-story would probably have been worse than how I reacted to the sort or rehash that the Star Wars sequels became. Hicks and Newt were not the main-thing anyways so who continue with them? They were never as interesting as Ripley although the characters were well-made.

A new movie in the Alien-verse should have nothing to do with what we have seen. The Engineers could be featured but other than that I would say move on. It's time to get interesting again, so don't make it about androids.

“Even James Cameron expressed doubt about killing off the main characters of Aliens in Alien 3. There was a special bond between Ripley, Newt and Hicks - a potential family.”

He can have his opinion, I don't agree at all. If he wants the franchise to have a feel good thing going on he could go somewhere else. You have Disney animated movies, and so on, but Alien isn't one of these things.

Episodic movies please, all the characters that you mentioned are done to me. Those from Aliens had their time and the rest are not interesting. I would rather move on than to see something that we have seen before. You can keep some of the themes but in a new story and new characters.

"*Cough* *cough* someone forgot about Alien 3. :-)"

I was talking about in General ;)  i dont think Alien 3 should be Removed because it gave Ripley a Good Ending... a Sacrifice....  when Blomkamp and Weaver talked Alien V they kept on about Happy Ending for Ripley, Newt, Hicks and even Bishop..... NO THANK YOU!

I think that Alien R had Set Up some Potential, if they had the BALLS to try something Different... but then it would be Expected to see Eggs and Xenomorphs again and so i agree with Ridley Scott when he said there is ONLY so much Face Pulling, Chest Bursting and Snarling that you can do.

"Not sure if we will see the Engineers again but it would be bad to just throw them away."

I think there are Fans who would LOVE to see them again but only in like a Comic Book way... where the Angry SOB's come to Earth with Xenomorphs! 

IF you are going to go for a WAR ON EARTH kind of Plot i feel it would be BEST to take Place after Alien R and i think that Alien R can UPLIFT the Plot...

Xenomorphs and Engineers with Ships and Technology... vs Colonial Marines... i mean come ON!!!    it would be like Predator vs Caveman!

If our Defense is Marines then GOD help us.. but it would be GOD who is out to Destroy us....  Well Programed Androids/Robots should be better... but we know you can get Problems with A.I...   

Thats NOT a attack on the Marines, i think it depends on HOW MANY of the Engineers come and Xenomorphs... as they are just Humans..

However with Ripley 8 you have a Super Human... if you could Clone or Use her DNA to Create Superior Military Force then that could Turn the Tables....... maybe they wont be a Match for the Engineers very own Genetically Engineered Freaks (LV-223 Guys) but with a Ripley 8 DNA... a Twist could be they could Communicate with the Xenomorph and they Turn on the Engineers...

A Downfall to a kind of Hive Mind Connection between Xeno DNA Super Soldiers and Xenomorphs could be IF the both Species then Cooperate for their own Combined Agenda.. they would be a BIGGER threat than the Engineers at this Point a Coalition of Xenomorph and Humans with Xeno-DNA would be BAD for the Galaxy!

"Hicks and Newt were not the main-thing anyways so who continue with them?"

I think we have to remember that Miss Weaver did want to have Ripley get Killed Off.... did they have to KILL our Newt?

Again you raise the Great Point of HOW do you have her on a Planet of Rapist!  But the Biggest thing to Consider for those who was like "they Killed Newt"  well Carrie Henn would have been about 15 when they was Shooting Alien 3 so they would have had to Cast another Actress... Unless the PLOT was changed to be 10 Years after ALIENS!

IF i was to Change ALIEN 3 i would have had it that Newt was where the ALIEN had came from... seeing her Chest Busted would been Shocking!   It would also have made a Greater Loss to Ripley and Hicks!

Oh yes Hicks.... i would have kept him ALIVE and at the End after Ripley has Sacrificed herself it would UPLIFT his Character with the Loss of Newt and Ripley... and he would VOW that he would NEVER allow the Company to get its Hands on the Xenomorph again..

So you then have PASSED the Torch onto Hicks... for Potential Sequel.

"Perhaps a sort of common people versus intergalactic gangsters backed by WY?"

Certainly... what about Space Pirates i had mentioned that before... "what kind of Plunder is there on that Ship....."  OPPS!

If Carrie Henn had enjoyed a successful acting career ( teen movies or some Arnold flick)....I'm sure they would have kept the team together ( I'm not suggesting Alien3 was her fault though ) only a handful of actors have made the jump from a childhood acting career to a-list movie star able to carry / support a major motion picture!

I think thats a Good Point... if she had Quite a bit of Success after ALIENS then the Writers for a 3rd Movie maybe would have came up with a Plot thats set say 10 Years after ALIENS, so she could reprise her Roll as Newt.

Regarding the OT... i think that you have other Avenues for a ALIEN Movie than having to RETCON anything, or Connecting to Previous Characters.

Its a BIG Galaxy and who knows what Worlds had Eggs arrive, or have the After-Math of the Black Goo and WHAT kind of Horrors are in Store..