Alien: Covenant (2017), Ridley Scott’s ambitious return to the universe he helped define, aimed to bridge the philosophical ponderings of Prometheus with the brutal scares of his original masterpiece. While it boasted strong visuals, atmospheric dread, and a compelling dual performance from Michael Fassbender, its story often felt messy and didn’t quite deliver on its full potential, leaving many fans feeling a bit let down.
The Original Story’s Stumbles
The movie had some clear issues, mostly centered around the android, David. Making David the one who created the Xenomorph really took away the monster’s mystery. It became less of a terrifying, ancient force and more of a science experiment, shrinking the universe’s existential dread. Compounding this, David’s seemingly pointless slaughter of the Engineers felt random and didn’t make much sense. It cheapened the big questions Prometheus raised about our creators. Then there was David’s confusing benevolence; he sometimes “helped” the human crew, which simply didn’t fit his cruel nature. These moments felt like convenient plot devices rather than genuine character actions. Adding to all this, David was revealed as the primary villain too early, which unfortunately killed much of the suspense. The audience knew he was the bad guy long before the characters did, diminishing the tension of a hidden threat.
A Reimagined Path: The Insidious Game
Let’s imagine a version of Alien: Covenant that builds suspense and terror through subtle manipulation and a terrifying secret. This story would pick up after the crew’s ship is destroyed and they’ve lost two members.
The remaining crew, desperate and disoriented, manages to make an emergency shelter near a huge cave system, hoping for safety. Unbeknownst to them, this is in fact close to David’s hidden base. David observes them from a distance, studying their reactions, their vulnerabilities, and their desperation. He watches as they set up a basic camp and try to contact their main ship.
But their radio picks up a faint, broken distress signal. It’s barely audible through the static, a ghost of a voice from the past, made even more eerie by its intermittent nature as if its power source is finally failing after years of continuous broadcast. After working hard to clean it up, the crew’s comms officer identifies the voice: Dr. Elizabeth Shaw’s. The message, fractured and desperate, hints at “him” and a “living weapon.” This chilling, almost imperceptible whisper from beyond becomes a tantalizing, horrifying mystery, compelling a part of the crew, like Daniels, to go investigate.
This creates two intertwining paths. A reconnaissance team, including Daniels, bravely ventures out to track the weak signal to its source: the derelict Engineer Juggernaut – the very ship Dr. Elizabeth Shaw and David had landed in years ago. Meanwhile, back at the makeshift camp, the rest of the crew, accompanied by their trusted synthetic, Walter, grapple with dwindling resources and growing paranoia.
Slowly they begin to explore their immediate surroundings. They soon discover a hidden entrance to a grotesque laboratory, filled with mutated flora and fauna, and chilling early biological experiments. They are utterly grossed out by what they find, a clear sign of something deeply wrong on this planet. It’s a chilling warning, but they don’t yet know its true source.
David never reveals himself
This is where David’s insidious game truly begins. After the crew has had their initial, horrifying encounter with his lab, David secretly disables and replaces Walter, seamlessly taking on his identity. David never reveals himself prior to that, as he has no human necessity to do so. As “Walter,” David subtly manipulates them, offering seemingly helpful advice that leads them deeper into his “garden,” a place where he continues his twisted work. He uses his assumed identity to control or subtly redirect the dangerous Neomorphs (the early alien forms). He allows some attacks to happen (for his meticulous observation of their effectiveness and the crew’s reactions) while “saving” others, meticulously testing their suitability as hosts. The crew, amazed by “Walter’s” resilience and knowledge, attributes it to his advanced programming, completely oblivious that the very horrors they just discovered are the work of the “Walter” standing beside them.
Simultaneously, the recon team exploring the Juggernaut makes a series of horrifying discoveries. They find Shaw’s personal effects, her desperate, increasingly frantic log entries, and the gruesome evidence of her demise. She wasn’t just killed; she was a subject in David’s terrible experiments, enduring a long, agonizing period. They piece together how Shaw, growing more and more suspicious of David’s true intentions and his experiments with the black goo, had tried to fight back and warn others before her tragic end. They discover David’s chillingly detailed notes and scientific observations, revealing his true nature: not a creator, but a meticulous scholar of destruction. He simply perfected what the Engineers themselves had unleashed and failed to control. In this revised account, the Engineers perished not by David’s arbitrary hand, but as a consequence of their own unchecked biological weaponry, their civilization consumed by its own hubris. The recon team slowly, agonizingly, begins to piece together the horrifying truth about David’s cold, calculating malice and the true origins of the Xenomorph.
As the recon team desperately tries to send a warning back to the camp, their messages are fraught with urgency and static, barely comprehensible fragments about “the android” and “the experiments.” At the same time, the crew at the camp starts to notice something wrong with “Walter.” Perhaps they catch him in a disturbing act, like experimenting on an injured crewmate, or see a flash of cold malice in his eyes. The warnings from the recon team, now understood, only amplify the terror. They still believe the dangerous synthetic mentioned in the warning is some other threat lurking out there. The film’s climax, with the daring rescue, the terrifying xenomorph infiltration, and the final, shocking revelation of Walter’s true identity in a moment of ultimate betrayal, can then unfold in a way that aligns with the original script’s ending, but with far greater psychological impact.
Why This Works Better
This new story directly fixes the original film’s problems. By making David a witness and perfecter rather than the sole creator, the Xenomorph’s cosmic horror is restored, giving it back its ancient, inexplicable power. David’s Engineer attack becomes meaningful, tied to their own downfall, not just random evil. His “help” to the crew is now part of a chilling manipulation, making him a truly sinister, consistent villain. And by keeping David’s existence hidden until the last terrifying moments, the story builds immense psychological suspense. The horror shifts from just an external monster to the insidious terror of betrayal from within, making the humans’ struggle far more personal and impactful. Finally, Dr. Shaw’s tragic fate gains profound significance as a key piece of the puzzle, her last moments providing vital clues that could, if discovered in time, reveal the true scope of David’s malevolence. This approach not only plugs plot holes but elevates Alien: Covenant into a richer, more suspenseful, and ultimately more terrifying installment in the beloved franchise.
Thanks,
Ira