Ridley Scott has confirmed he is developing a follow-up to 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” nearly a decade after the film left its central android, David, on a chilling cliffhanger. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the 88-year-old director revealed that Michael Fassbender is expected to return as the malfunctioning synthetic, who by the end of “Covenant” had secretly seized control of a colony ship carrying thousands of unsuspecting passengers.
Scott described the new film as picking up with David building what he called “a brave new world for himself,” a premise consistent with the character’s arc across “Prometheus” and “Covenant,” in which David evolved from a curious, servile android into a being convinced of his own godlike purpose. The director has long framed the two earlier films as the first chapters of an intended trilogy, one that was originally meant to culminate in a story once referred to as “Alien: Awakening” and dovetail directly into the events of the original 1979 “Alien.”
Scott’s fascination with David appears rooted in broader anxieties about artificial intelligence that predate the technology’s current cultural moment. “AIs can go off,” he told the Times. “And if they do, it’s like a bomb.” He described David as a machine capable of real danger once his behavior diverges from his intended programming, a theme Scott has returned to across multiple projects over the years.
The project’s path to this point has not been smooth. Fede Álvarez, who directed the well-received “Alien: Romulus,” had reportedly been developing a continuation of David’s storyline before exiting unexpectedly, with some reports pointing to creative friction with Scott over how the character should be used. Scott, according to one account, resisted folding David into Álvarez’s version of the story, preferring to retain control over the character’s fate himself. Scott had also previously suggested he might step back from the franchise entirely, saying he felt he had accomplished what he set out to do with it.
The confirmation arrives alongside a packed slate for the director, who has no plans to slow down at 88. His latest film, “The Dog Stars,” opens this week, and he is next attached to direct an adaptation of “Treasure Island” starring Hugh Jackman before turning to the Alien project. Fassbender, who has previously said he’d be eager to reprise the role, and co-star Katherine Waterston have both expressed interest in returning for a third installment in recent years.
