The Alien Franchise has a fairly complex study with many tie-in video games and comic books that often contradict each other, but this has never taken away from the greatness of the individual projects. Ridley Scott’s original film is a masterclass in horror filmmaking, James Cameron’s follow-up was a dynamic action showcase, and later sequels like Prometheus are very underrated and filled with innovative sci-fi storytelling. however, Prometheus is also a highly divisive film whose place in the Alien Canon is widely debated thanks to the changes it makes to the franchise’s lore.
Many audiences have claimed that Prometheus Should have started a new franchise altogether, which could have easily avoided the canon problems that accompanied the lore changes. But truth be told, The film is so deeply entrenched in Ridley Scott’s world That would never work. Prometheus And Alien: Covenant Are deeply ambitious projects that are not afraid to take audiences outside their comfort zone, but they can also be a bit convoluted and don’t always make the details of the story clear enough. Fortunately, the Alien Franchise is now forced to decide whether Prometheus Can really be canon.
Alien: Earth will have to acknowledge or oppose Prometheus
No more running away from canon
Alien: Earth is the last entry in the Alien franchise, an upcoming television show that takes place roughly one year before the events of Prometheus. It follows the crew of a mysterious ship that crash-lands on Earth, making a dangerous discovery in the process and putting the entire planet at risk. The most interesting thing about Alien: Earth Is the timeline of the project – It apparently happened PrometheusBut there will undoubtedly be xenomorphs involved somehow. On the surface, this seems impossible without erasing Prometheus From the canon of the franchise.
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Prometheus Follows a group of scientists who travel to a remote corner of the universe and meet the Engineers, an alien species responsible for the creation of humans. While there, the scientists come into contact with a mysterious “black goo” that impregnates one of the Creammates, forming a creature that later becomes an early version of the Xenomorph. This idea was later explored in Alien: CovenantAs the protagonist David experiments on the creatures and continue their evolution. Alien: Earth Seems to suggest that Xenomorphs existed before this happened, which essentially recons both movies.
There’s no way an Alien prequel set on Earth doesn’t intersect with Prometheus
The setting is too much of a coincidence
apparently, Alien: Earth Just takes place shortly before the events of Prometheus. Of all the possible dates for the project, this seems like a huge coincidence or an intentional choice, leading many to speculate that the two properties may be connected in some way. Both stories begin on Earth and include Xenomorphs in some fashion, so it seems unlikely that they will be completely separate. This makes the canon issues even more important – If they are connected, it is crucial that they do not contradict each other.
If there is already a xenomorph on Earth during the events of PrometheusThe entire story of that prequel falls apart. Not only would David’s experiments make no sense, but Wiland-Yutani would have no reason to send their scientists to the Engineers in the first place – there must have been some contact in the past. Alien: Earth has teased a new role for the Xenomorph, which suggests that This may not be as black-and-white as expectedBut it will take some serious work to make the two projects exist on the same timeline.
Alien: Romulus avoided any major connections to Prometheus
The successful sequel is clearly to be connected
While it’s great to have an expansive universe with several projects that all connect, there comes a certain point where it’s easier to keep the sequels and prequels disconnected. This was the case with AlienWho has a lot of great movies under his belt, but it’s the constant attempts to connect everything together that ruins much of the story. That’s exactly why Alien: Romulus worked so well – It made no unnecessary attempts to follow the prequels Or lead into the sequels, but rather picked a quiet spot on the timeline and stayed there.
There were mentions of the “Black Go” in Alien: Romulus That proved it was connected somehow, but it didn’t make any major changes to the lore that would jeopardize its legitimacy in the canon.
There were mentions of the “Black Go” in Alien: Romulus That proved it was connected somehow, but it didn’t make any major changes to the lore that would jeopardize its legitimacy in the canon. This is the safest way to make an Alien Sequel, and there is an argument to be made that Alien: Earth could have adopted the same approach – This way, it can tell its story without risk of ruining it Prometheus.
Even if Alien: Earth And Prometheus can live together, That would just have meant extra work. Surely it would be easier and more effective for Alien: Earth To have a less controversial setting, which would give the writers more creative freedom and allow them to tell the story they want without worrying about the effect it would have on stories that came before. instead, Alien: Earth Risks a huge recon that could damage the legitimacy of the canon all the same.
Should Prometheus and Covenant be reconnected from the alien timeline?
Alien: Earth may remove them from canon for good
Since then Prometheus And Alien: Covenant were released, there was an ongoing conversation about their place in the Alien Canon. The decision to make the Xenomorphs a product of the engineers was extremely controversial, and many fans were not happy with the way it changed the lore so dramatically. since then, Alien Has managed to work around the complications caused by PrometheusHowever Some believe that the two prequels should simply be written out of the timeline In order to make it simpler and less open to plot holes.
however, Prometheus And Bond They are both very interesting films that have a lot of strength: they are ambitious, they are bold and they break away from the formula of the original films. This is something that should be celebrated, not ignored. They gave the Alien franchise a much more dynamic and philosophical edge that was never present in the original series, and taking them back from the timeline would be a massive waste of some fascinating ideas.