Production on Alien: Covenant 2 begins this Fall!

[This post was published as an April Fool's Day joke for April Fool's Day 2018. However despite no actual Covenant 2 production start date has been confirmed, the plot details and news roundup used as reference in this piece are accurate and legitimate sources of information.]

Despite worries that the potential acquisition of 20th Century Fox's film assets by Disney last year would somehow harm the continuation of Ridley Scott's Prometheus saga, the highly anticipated Alien: Covenant sequel will begin production this Fall! Beginning September, 2018 Alien: Covenant 2 will gear up to begin filming with location scouting taking place as early as this July! Ridley Scott is expected to helm the third Prometheus sequel, but confirmation regarding his involvement has yet to be announced.

Currently, the only confirmed cast to be returning is Michael Fassbender with Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride's re-casting currently unknown.

In terms of plot direction, back in January 2018 Ridley Scott explained that he was "in tune" with where Alien: Covenant 2 would go next and it would apparently involve "replacing" the iconic Xenomorph which Scott attempted to re-introduce in Alien: Covenant. Speakig to The Hollywood Reporter back in November 2017, Ridley was quoted saying: "...But I think the beast has almost run out, personally. You’ve got to come in with something else. You’ve got to replace that. And so I was right, I was ahead of the game."

Alien: Covenant concluded with David having impersonated Walter, put Waterston's character Daniels and McBride's character Tennessee to sleep in cryo before commandeering the COVENANT vessel - complete with 2,000 hibernating colonists and embryos. The film ended with David relaying a message to the Network - explaining that the ship was back on course to Origae-6. We are left to assume that David will arrive at Origae-6 and unleash his creations on the uninhabited planet - creating an "army" of Xenomorph-like monstrosities. However, will this plot direction be explored in the Alien: Covenant sequel? It's uncertain as previous to Fox's acquisition talks with Disney, Studio execs were already toying with the notion of expanding the Alien franchise into various spin-offs set in the same universe but unrelated to the current Proemtheus / Alien: Covenant storyline.

Another aspect of the Covenant storyline are the Engineers - who are also expected to have a more prominent role in the Alien: Covenant sequel, according to Ridley Scott. Back in June 2017, Scott explained that in Alien: Covenant 2, the Engineers will return to investigate what took place on Paradise and will discover what David had done. This will lead to what we can only expect to be a head-hunt for the deranged Android. This is what Scott had to say regarding Engineers in Alien: Covenant 2:

"There will be three or four different players coming in to investigate. One of which will be the Engineers arriving back to find their planet decimated. I think those ships come and go on regular intervals. I see them as the gardeners of space. Where we go next is obvious. We’re gonna actually go to the planet."

With all that said, it seems like there are a multitude of avenues the sequel can take - will it address what happens to Daniels? Or will she meet a similar fate as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw? Will David create an army of Aliens and face off against an army of tactical Engineers? Or will the next film completely disregard Prometheus and Alien: Covenant altogether?!

As we learn more we'll be sure to keep you updated. Until then however, let us know where YOU want to see Alien: Covenant 2 go next in the comments section below!