Sir Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise was cause for celebration among sci-fi fans but 2012's Prometheus wasn't exactly what the majority had expected.
The prequel explored the confusing origin of the Xenomorphs, introducing the Engineers, an alien race responsible for creating humankind. Five years later, Alien: Covenant continued the story, only for its poor box office performance to derail Scott's plans to deliver a trilogy which would lead directly into the events of Alien.
As a result, we've been left with a long list of unanswered questions. However, Alien: Covenant - set between Alien and Aliens - features a surprising link to Scott's prequels with the introduction of a black substance (which originated in Prometheus) meant to enhance humanity and make them better suited for space colonisation.
However, when the pregnant Kay uses it to save herself and her baby, she gives birth to a monstrous creature that's part-human, part-Xenomorph, and part-Engineer.
Asked by Variety about the similarities to the humanoid Xenomorph seen in 1997's Alien Resurrection, Alien: Covenant director Fede Álvarez said, "[My son] had recently watched with a buddy of his all of the 'Alien' movies, and when the offspring comes out, he goes, 'It’s like in 'Resurrection.'' I hadn’t really processed that that way - but it’s true, it’s this abomination that comes out."
"I was hoping that people picked up the whole Engineer part of it," he added. "The black goo is the root of the whole thing that was introduced in 'Prometheus.' It’s the root of all life, but also particularly the xenomorphs come out of that thing, which means it has to be inside them. It’s the xenomorphs’ semen, almost."
"So we thought, if it affects your DNA, and the Engineers clearly came out of the same root of life, it made complete sense to me that [the offspring of a human and a xenomorph] was going to look like that."
While there's been no word on an Alien: Romulus sequel, it feels like the door is open to one and that Álvarez could be the one to make this franchise make sense. Elsewhere in the interview, he acknowledged that this creature's introduction is, for now, likely to raise more questions than answers.
"It’s probably a new species, because that mix never happened before," he teased.
The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.
The movie is now playing in theaters.