Alien: Covenant is finally less than 100 days away! Releasing on May 19th, 2017 the sci-fi epic directed once again by visionary director Ridley Scott will progress the story between 2012's Prometheus and 1979's Alien. With three months to prepare for the film's theatrical debut, I've compiled a list of recommendations fans should consider partaking in prior to viewing the Prometheus sequel on opening night. If you have any additional recommendations, be sure to share them in the comments section below!
Watch Prometheus, Alien and Aliens - in that order
This point should be a no-brainer, get familiar with the source material! Alien: Covenant is also a prequel to Alien, but also a sequel to Prometheus. Whether you were a fan of Prometheus or not, I strongly recommend re-watching it a few times before venturing into Covenant. Become familiar with the characters, the minor plot details and pay attention to the props used by the crew.
Alien is the same - pay attention to the small details. Although Alien has less going on than Prometheus, both films contain crucial information which will aid your understanding of Alien: Covenant.
With regards to Aliens - again keep an eye on the opening scenes. Take note of many key moments like the dropship sequence and lab sequences. For the most part, Aliens will be good reference for obvious homages and other subtle references within Covenant. Making the connections will be a lot easier upon having a good grasp of every moment between these three films.
Play Alien: Isolation
Prepare your adrenal system for the heart-pounding, suspenseful nature of Alien: Covenant. Watching Prometheus through to Aliens will be a great way to familiarize yourself with the lore's source material, but it will not prepare you for the traumatizing thrills of Covenant's atmosphere. Very few games, especially Alien games (ironically) mimic the sheer terror and suspense created with Scott's original Alien. Alien: Isolation is one of the rare ones to give you, the viewer, an accurate portrayal of what watching Covenant is going to be like.
I recommend playing the game in complete darkness, if you're a PC gamer, use headphones to cancel out background noise so you can completely immerse yourself into the game.
Read our interview with concept artist Dane Hallett
In January, we interviewed Alien: Covenant concept artist Dane Hallett. During the interview we discussed his work on Covenant as well possible links between its aesthetic and that of Prometheus and Alien. Reading the interview will help gauge your expectations for how Alien: Covenant will look. Ultimately to summarize, the overall expectations should be that Covenant's aesthetic will be slightly more dated than that of Prometheus but not quite as biomechanical and warn-out as that of Alien. I also recommend checking out the interview with Wayne Haag (another concept artist who worked on Covenant), conducted by our friends at AvPGalaxy - he too touches on the aesthetic of Alien: Covenant compared to the rest of the Alien series. Combined, these two insights will help prepare you for your viewing of Alien: Covenant.
Get yourself an Alien: Covenant shirt
For many of us, Alien: Covenant is going to be the cinematic experience of the year. So, naturally many of us will wish to make the most out of the experience. One way is to dress up and / or wear attire related to the film. If anything, it will certainly turn heads and get compliments from others seeing the film with you and not to mention, if you ever meet any of those involved with Alien: Covenant's production at conventions or in public, a Covenant shirt would be a great canvas to sport signatures! Check out a few options below, each one can double as a hoodie, tank top and more:
You can view more Alien: Covenant related shirts here!
What do you think of this list? Do you have any suggestions to add? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
If you're a fan of Alien / Prometheus and would like to discuss Alien: Covenant and its upcoming sequel with other like-minded fans, be sure to join in our Alien: Covenant forum! Ranked the #1 Prometheus forum back in 2012 and reigning as the web's top Alien: Covenant fan site, it's a great place to discuss the upcoming Prometheus sequels, dissect details from every trailer and engage with other fans just like you.
The future of Alien
The Alien franchise is taking a dramatic turn at 20th Century Studios, now owned by Disney. Currently there are two major Alien projects in development - a new Alien TV series by Noah Hawley and a new, stand-alone Alien movie being directed by Fede Alvarez. Both of which will be taking the franchise in a new direction - moving away from the Alien prequel direction Ridley Scott set out to pursue back in 2012.
Treat yourself to some Alien Merchandise!
As we await the next Alien movie, now is a great time to build your Alien collection and expand your Alien-themed wardrobe. Check out some products below and click here for even more options!
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