Alien Prequel Trilogy: We Need Prometheus 3

We need that third Alien: Engineers and followed a team of scientists exploring a planet that holds the key to the origins of humanity.

Engineers was straight up Alien movie, featuring the Prometheus about its connections to the series, and while there was a nod to H.R. Giger's Xenomorph design with the Deacon creature in the final scene, the movie made it clear that while it shared DNA with Alien, it was charting a new course.

While Prometheus was a sizable hit, there was a critical backlash, focused on the messy screenplay and numerous plotholes, as well as the shift away from classic Alien tropes too. Of course, others loved that it was big budget sci-fi movie asking some pretty interesting questions. The movie also introduced the android David 8, played by Michael Fassbender - a clear favorite. The follow-up, Alien: Covenant, was partly a response to the Prometheus backlash, bringing back the original Xenomorph and imagery, but also making clear David was the new "protagonist" of the series, and the movie ended on a bleak but tantalizing note about the future of the franchise.

The saga of David has been controversial thus far but his story deserves to be completed, which is why Prometheus 3 needs to happen.

This Page: What The Alien Prequel Saga Really Is

What The Alien Prequel Saga Really Is

Ridley Scott may film Prometheus 2 in early 2016

Prior to Prometheus, whenever Ridley Scott was asked if he'd ever return to the Alien series, he always said the same thing; he wanted to explore the origins of the Space Jockey. The director had always assumed the Alien itself was a weapon designed by this pilot creature and his race, and he was surprised none of the subsequent sequels explored this angle. The original Alien is a B-movie premise elevated by the talent of the cast and crew, but Scott was never going to be tempted back to the series if it was going to be another creature chasing new victims through vents and corridors; it needed to be something juicier.

Scott has also been vocal that he believes the beast has "run out," and after years of overexposure through movies, video games and comics it's lost the ability to terrify an audience. He still holds H.R. Giger's design in reverence, but he made it plain when he cut the monster from Prometheus that his prequels weren't going to focus on the creature itself. Instead, the movies are about creation and legacy; the Engineers created mankind but grew disgusted with how they evolved and attempted to wipe them out. Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) also created David, an android who is superior in just about every way to the beings he serves, yet he's treated like a slave, and he grows to hate his masters.

Why We Need The Final Prequel

David with a Neomorph and a Facehugger Embryo from Alien Covenant

Even those who don't like Prometheus or Covenant tend to it David is a fascinating character. Played to icy perfection by Michael Fassbender, he's by turns charming, intelligent, arrogant and vicious. He's a manmade monster who regards his creators with contempt and seeks to transcend his origins. This lead to his experiments with the accelerant, and his quest to create offspring of his own, including - controversy - the Xenomorph.

third Alien prequel would focus on the world David creates free of mankind, and that the Engineers would come back to seek revenge for his actions. Scott also insisted he wanted to evolve the series away from the Xenomorph and replace the central threat with A.I.'s instead.

Scott's Planet of Dr. Moreau-style concept could be potentially fascinating, and David's ascent to self-made godhood is the natural endpoint for the character. The final prequel also needs to make good on the promise to link to the original Alien, and the origins of the Space Jockey who crash-landed on LV-426. Some convincing fan theories have even claimed David himself become the jockey, and like the Engineers and Weyland before him, he's destroyed by his own creations.

Will A Prometheus 3 Ever Happen?

Of course, the question of another sequel comes down to business. While Alien: Covenant made its money back, it was considered a critical and commercial disappointment and earned a lot less than Prometheus. Prior to Covenant's release, Scott teased multiple sequels, but given the response to the film, one final entry to wrap things up seems like the most hopeful outcome. Scott's plan to replace the Xenomorph with A.I. hasn't been terribly well received by the Alien fanbase either, and given the monster's iconic status, it's doubtful the studio would be keen on that direction either.

While Scott will still talk about the project whenever it's brought up in interviews, he's also got a full plate of projects in his immediate future, including Alien franchise being given a soft reboot instead of a direct follow-up and given the lack of movement on a Covenant sequel which was originally set to start filming in 2018 this seems like the more likely outcome.

What Is The Future Of The Alien Franchise?

The alien hunting down the player in a dimly lit room in Alien Isolation.

That leaves the question of where the Alien series goes from Scott's prequels. Fans would probably like to see Neill Blomkamp's proposed Alien 5, which would have picked up after the events of Aliens and brought back Sigourney Weaver. That project was scrapped to focus on Scott's movies, and Blomkamp has since stated his desire to make the movie has left. If Scott was looking for a marketing ace in the hole, bringing back Ripley in some form would probably do it, but since his prequels are meant to lead into the original, that timeline could prove quite tricky to overcome.

There's also the The Predator performs well. Fox's two big sci-fi monster franchises are often closely linked, so the success of one usually benefits the other.

If the studio chooses not to continue with the Prometheus/David storyline, there are a number of options. A reboot would likely take things back to basics; an isolated locale with a small number of characters being hunted by a new breed of Xenomorph. On that front, the 2013 game Alien: Isolation could serve as inspiration. The game is considered a canon sequel and finds Amanda Ripley investigating her mother's disappearance 15 years after the events of the original. It's got all the claustrophobic tension of the first film while introducing a potential new heroine for the series.

Halloween have shown legacy-quels are still all the rage in Hollywood, so it's also possible the studio may try to lure Weaver back for at least one more Alien movie.