Beginning in 2012, Ridley Scott revitalized his classic sci-fi horror franchise with Prometheus, a prequel to 1979’s Alien. Prometheus introduced many bold and intricate ideas to the world of Alien, such as the mysterious black goo, which can birth prototype Xenomorphs, and the fact that Engineers quite literally engineered all life on Earth. The movie is not a direct prequel to Alien, but it and its sequel, Alien: Covenant, build-up to the eventual creation of the classic Xenomorph found in Alien.

2017’s Alien: Covenant would continue the legwork of building up to the events behind Alien, cementing David the android as a conniving and sinister antagonist. His experiments in the film would eventually lead him to creating the proper Xenomorph. However, perhaps more importantly, the film would reveal that following the events of Prometheus, David would massacre the Engineer population, utilizing the black goo against them.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

This raises the question of where the Engineer from the original Alien came from? After all, they must be survivors of David’s massacre, yet there were Xenomorph eggs aboard their ship. Therefore, this specific Engineer must be a significant character in the next prequel Alien film.

The Engineer’s Ship in Alien had Xenomorph Eggs

     20th Century Fox

Audiences first saw the Xenomorph eggs in 1979’s Alien. They were aboard an alien ship which, as Prometheus would go onto explain, is a vessel belonging to the species referred to as Engineers. Given that Xenomorphs are likely a result of David the android’s experiments involving the black goo, it’s unlikely that the Engineer found in the first film was willfully carrying the Xenomorph eggs aboard their ship.

This would mean that in a potential third prequel film, the origins of the Engineer the Nostromo crew finds needs to be explained as those eggs would have needed to at least come indirectly from David. Additionally, knowing why that Engineer ended up crashing on that specific moon would perfectly fill in the gaps of the prequels. Featuring said Engineer as the main character in a future installment would allow audiences to know why they were carrying Xenomorph eggs and whether it was willful.

There are Still Unanswered Questions

One of the biggest ideas thrown around in Prometheus is what humans want to say or ask of their creators–the Engineers. And while from a storytelling perspective, whether any of those questions get answered isn’t important, so much as the drive to ask them is still there. As long as knowledge of the Engineers exists, people will try and seek them out to ask them the big questions.

Even putting aside biblical curiosity, there are questions that need to be answered concerning the Engineer from Alien’s role. Questions such as why they were on that moon, why they were carrying Xenomorph eggs, or what their intentions were can and likely will yield answers that raise more questions. Most important of all, though, if this Engineer survived David’s massacre, then how many others survived? And will those Engineers still pose a threat to humanity like the one in Prometheus did?

An Engineer Can Compete with David the Android

David reared his sinister side since his first appearance in Prometheus. He intentionally spikes the drink of one of his fellow crew mates with the mysterious black goo just to see what would happen. He often carries on without regard to those to who he may do harm to. An instance of this would be in Prometheus when he activates the security footage in the temple without consulting anyone or ensuring that it would not damage them in any way. However, Alien Covenant is truly where he truly establishes himself as a frightening antagonist. It is revealed that upon arriving at the Engineer’s home world with Shaw, he intentionally let loose the black goo upon the population in order to wipe them out. He then reveals that he has been experimenting on Shaw with the implication at the end of Alien: Covenant, that he will do the same to the crew of the Covenant.

For as evil, intelligent, and physically superior to humans David is, the only non-Android being that could possibly match him is an Engineer. Engineers are shown to be brilliant, with their society achieving advancements such as space travel and genetic manipulation. Not only that, but in Prometheus, the Engineer who gets revived at the end kills several men and decapitates David, all with a single blow. Against an Engineer, David will have met his match. If not, then his superior.