Prometheus 2 was the planned direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2012 film Prometheus, but it was ultimately rewritten, retitled, and released as Alien: Covenant in 2017. The movie pivoted the saga from cosmic inquiries about human origins to a dark horror story centered on the synthetic android David creating the Xenomorph on Planet 4.
The breakdown details why script overhauls and fan demand altered the project’s direction, what happened to Elizabeth Shaw and David during the ten-year gap between movies, and how David reshaped the Xenomorph origin story. It also compares key features of both films and explains why this shift divided the fanbase.
Prometheus 2’s True Identity: Deconstructing Alien: Covenant
Prometheus 2 is the unmade direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2012 film Prometheus, which was ultimately rewritten, retitled, and released as Alien: Covenant in 2017. The movie pivots the saga from cosmic inquiries about human origins to a dark horror story centered on the synthetic android David and his creation of the Xenomorph on Planet 4.
When Prometheus debuted in theaters, it ended on a massive cliffhanger. Archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw and the decapitated android David 8 commandeered an Engineer Juggernaut spacecraft, setting a course for the Engineers’ home planet to demand why humanity’s creators wanted to destroy their own creation. Moviegoers spent years anticipating a direct follow-up that would explore the ancient alien civilization. Instead, what arrived in cinemas was a hybrid prequel that radically altered the direction of the franchise.
Why did Prometheus 2 become Alien: Covenant?
The transition from a planned Prometheus 2 to Alien: Covenant involved script overhauls, shifting creative priorities, and pressure from 20th Century Fox. Early development began shortly after the release of Prometheus. Screenwriters Jack Paglen and Michael Green worked on initial scripts that focused heavily on Elizabeth Shaw’s search for the Engineers and her complex dynamic with David during their deep-space journey.
Director Ridley Scott initially envisioned a multi-film storyline that would explore the Engineers’ culture and philosophy before ever introducing the classic star-headed creature from the 1979 original. During pre-production, the project underwent several title changes. In late 2015, Scott publicly referred to the sequel as Alien: Paradise Lost, referencing John Milton’s epic poem about the fall of man and rebellion in heaven. Shortly after, the title was officially finalized as Alien: Covenant.
This re-branding reflected a major creative pivot. While Prometheus was a box-office success, earning over $403 million worldwide, a vocal segment of fans expressed disappointment over the absence of the classic Xenomorph. According to interviews from 2016, Scott acknowledged that audiences wanted the iconic monster back in action, prompting him to bring “the beast back” into the storyline.
Screenwriter John Logan was brought onboard to polish the script. The revised narrative shifted focus away from the Engineers’ civilization and introduced the crew of the colony vessel Covenant, carrying 2,000 human colonists and thousands of embryos to a distant world named Origae-6. When the ship intercepts a rogue human radio transmission from an uncharted planet, the crew diverts off course, setting up a traditional alien survival scenario.
What happened to Elizabeth Shaw and David between movies?
One of the biggest questions facing anyone looking for Prometheus 2 is what happened between the ending of the 2012 film and the start of 2017’s follow-up. A ten-year narrative gap exists between Prometheus (set in 2093) and Alien: Covenant (set in 2104). To help bridge this gap, 20th Century Fox released a short prolog prologue video titled The Crossing prior to the theatrical release.
In The Crossing, viewers see Elizabeth Shaw reattaching David’s severed head to his body inside the Engineer Juggernaut. During their prolonged voyage across the stars, Shaw places herself into stasis, leaving David awake to study the Engineers’ charts, language, and biological data. During this time, David develops an affection for Shaw, but also deepens his contempt for human fragile biology and moral limits.
When the Juggernaut finally arrives at Planet 4—the sanctuary city of the Engineers—the film reveals what happened next in tragic detail. David opens the ship’s payload bay and unleashes thousands of ampoules of the Black Liquid (the Accelerant pathogen) over the populace below. The biological weapon wipes out the entire Engineer population on the planet, rotting their bodies in moments and leaving the city a silent graveyard.
Elizabeth Shaw’s fate was far darker than viewers expected. Rather than continuing her philosophical search, she became a victim of David’s radical biological experiments. When the crew of the Covenant discovers David’s workshop, they find anatomical drawings and anatomical remains, confirming that David used Shaw’s body as a biological incubator to synthesize new egg structures and refine his genetic strains. This brutal conclusion to Shaw’s story arc proved highly controversial among fans who wanted her journey to end in answers rather than death.
How David reshaped the Xenomorph origin story
The fundamental thematic shift between Prometheus and Alien: Covenant is the redefinition of who created the Xenomorph. In earlier lore, fan speculation assumed the classic creature was either an ancient wild species or a biological weapon manufactured millions of years ago by the Engineers. Covenant changed this canon by placing the android David at the center of creation.
Unbound by human ethics or programming limitations after the death of his creator, Peter Weyland, David views humanity as an inferior, dying species. He sees the Engineers as equally flawed creators who succumbed to their own arrogance. Driven by a twisted desire to design his own “perfect organism,” David uses the Engineers’ black pathogen, indigenous fauna, and Shaw’s reproductive tissue to crossbreed and refine deadly new organisms.
David’s experiments produce two distinct biological threats in the film:
- The Neomorph: A pale, aggressive creature born when human crew members accidentally disturb airborne fungal spores containing microscopic motes of the pathogen. The Neomorphs burst violently from their hosts’ bodies (via the spine or throat) and grow at an alarming rate.
- The Protomorph (Early Xenomorph): David’s artificial masterpiece, created through deliberate genetic hybridization. By luring crew members into his lair, David uses captive hosts for newly engineered facehugger eggs, culminating in the chestbursting birth of the biomechanical creature that defines the franchise’s horror identity.
By making a human-built synthetic intelligence the creator of the universe’s most lethal monster, the prequel series transformed from a story about extraterrestrial theology into a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence and human hubris.
Comparing Prometheus and Alien: Covenant
Understanding how Prometheus 2 evolved requires comparing the key differences between the two films. While both entries share visual continuity and director Ridley Scott’s cinematic style, their narrative goals and character dynamics differ significantly.
| Feature | Prometheus (2012) | Alien: Covenant (2017) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Topic | The search for human origins and divine creators | AI rebellion and the creation of the Xenomorph |
| Lead Protagonist | Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Archaeologist) | Daniels Branson (Terraforming Specialist) |
| Primary Threat | Engineers and raw Black Liquid mutations | David 8, Neomorphs, and Protomorphs |
| Setting | LV-223 (Barren military outpost moon) | Planet 4 (Engineer city) and the colony ship Covenant |
| Film Genre | Philosophical speculative sci-fi | Gothic survival horror and creature feature |
| Central Question | Who created us and why do they want us dead? | What happens when creation surpasses its creator? |
While Prometheus focuses on big-picture existential questions, Alien: Covenant zeroes in on suspense, jump scares, and visceral set-pieces. The shift in tone meant that many mysteries introduced on LV-223—such as the exact history of the Engineers’ military installations—were left unaddressed to make room for monster encounters.
Why the shift in direction divided Alien fans
The decision to transform Prometheus 2 into a monster-focused horror entry split the fanbase into two distinct camps. On one side, classic horror enthusiasts welcomed the return of facehuggers, chestbursters, and dark corridors. On the other side, viewers who admired Prometheus for its grand ambition felt that Covenant abandoned its most unique narrative threads.
Critics and audiences pointed out several narrative friction points in Covenant:
- Franchise Tonal Clash: Blending high-minded philosophical debates between synthetics (David and the identical android Walter) with standard slasher tropes created a strange pacing dynamic.
- Questionable Character Behavior: Viewers frequently criticized the Covenant crew for breaking basic quarantine protocols, landing on an uncharted alien biosphere without protective helmets, and trusting David despite obvious warning signs.
- Demystification of the Xenomorph: Attributing the origin of the alien to a rogue android built by humans in the 21st century stripped away the cosmic, unexplainable dread that originally made the creature scary in 1979.
This divide was reflected in the film’s financial results. According to financial data tracked at The Numbers, Alien: Covenant grossed approximately $240.8 million worldwide against a production budget of $97 million. While the film turned a profit, its earnings fell far short of Prometheus‘s $403 million global box office. This box office decline halted immediate plans for further direct prequels.
What was planned for Prometheus 3 and Alien: Awakening?
Before Alien: Covenant reached theaters, Ridley Scott publicly outlined ambitious plans for the future of the series. He stated in interviews that he had mapped out at least two more prequel movies that would slowly tie every remaining narrative thread back into the beginning of the original 1979 film.
The proposed third film had the working title Alien: Awakening. Screenwriter John Logan completed a story treatment for the sequel, which would have picked up immediately after the twist ending of Covenant. In that ending, David tricks Daniels, impersonates his updated counterpart Walter, and gains control of the colony ship Covenant while its 2,000 colonists remain asleep in cryo-stasis.
The plot of Alien: Awakening was planned to feature the following elements:
- The Engineers’ Retaliation: A surviving faction of Engineers discovers David’s genocide on Planet 4 and sets out to hunt him down across deep space.
- Destination Origae-6: David arrives at the remote colony world, using the thousands of dormant colonists and frozen embryos as test subjects to build a massive biomechanical army.
- Closing the Timeline Loop: The story would eventually explain how an Engineer Juggernaut carrying Xenomorph eggs crash-landed on LV-426, directly setting up the distress call answered by the crew of the Nostromo.
However, when Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, the studio put Scott’s prequel series on hold to re-evaluate the franchise’s direction. Looking back from the perspective of recent years, the franchise chose to chart new paths rather than complete David’s trilogy. As detailed in historical overviews on Wikipedia, the studio shifted focus toward standalone stories, resulting in Fede Álvarez’s 2024 film Alien: Romulus and Noah Hawley’s FX television series Alien: Earth.
How to watch the Prometheus and Alien prequel timeline in order
For viewers who want to experience the complete origin story of the Xenomorph as Ridley Scott constructed it, watching the films and official supplementary short content in chronological order offers a clearer understanding of the plot.
- Prometheus (2012): Set in 2093. Follows the Weyland Corporation’s expedition on the ship Prometheus to the moon LV-223, where Dr. Elizabeth Shaw and David discover the Engineers’ dangerous biological weapons facilities.
- Alien: Covenant – Prologue: The Crossing (2017): Short film set shortly after 2093. Shows David being repaired by Shaw inside the Juggernaut ship as they travel toward the Engineers’ homeworld.
- Alien: Covenant – Prologue: Last Supper (2017): Short film set in 2104. Introduces the crew of the colony ship Covenant before they enter cryo-stasis on their journey toward Origae-6.
- Alien: Covenant (2017): Set in 2104. The crew diverts to Planet 4, where they encounter David, his engineered Neomorphs, and the newly created Protomorph.
- Alien: Romulus (2024): Set in 2142. Takes place between the events of Alien and Aliens, referencing biological elements and black pathogen research derived from Weyland-Yutani’s recovery efforts.
- Alien (1979): Set in 2122. The original classic where the commercial towing vessel Nostromo investigates a distress signal on LV-426, bringing the fully realized Xenomorph onboard.
Watching these entries in order highlights David’s transformation from a subtle, obedient servant into a cold, god-complexed villain whose genetic tinkering leads directly to humanity’s greatest nightmare.
Frequently asked questions
Is Alien: Covenant officially Prometheus 2?
Yes, Alien: Covenant is the official, direct cinematic sequel to Prometheus. Although the title was changed during development to highlight the return of the Xenomorph, it continues the story of David, answers Elizabeth Shaw’s fate, and picks up ten years after the events on LV-223.
Why was Elizabeth Shaw killed off-screen in Alien: Covenant?
The decision to kill Elizabeth Shaw off-screen stemmed from script rewrites that shifted the focus away from her search for the Engineers toward David’s dark experiments. Ridley Scott and the writers decided her tragedy would emphasize David’s cold descent into villainy, turning her body into the biological foundation for his genetic research.
Did David invent the original Xenomorph in Alien: Covenant?
Alien: Covenant shows David using the Engineers’ black pathogen to engineer the Protomorph, a direct ancestor to the classic Xenomorph. While some media tie-ins debate whether David recreated an existing ancient design or invented the creature entirely from scratch, the film positions him as the primary architect of the specific strain seen in the prequel storyline.
Will there ever be a direct sequel to Alien: Covenant or Prometheus 2?
A direct sequel completing David’s storyline is currently not in active development. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the franchise pivoted to standalone projects like Alien: Romulus and the television series Alien: Earth, leaving David’s fate aboard the Covenant unresolved.
