One Big Way Alien: Covenant Will Differ From Prometheus, According To Michael Fassbender

Alien: Covenant has a lot going on under the hood. It is both a prequel to the storied Alien franchise, as well as a sequel to the movie Prometheus. While there will certainly be elements of both films in Covenant, Michael Fassbender explains how this movie will differ from its predecessor. The actor says that the new film will be taking many cues from the original Alien and will, therefore, be much scarier that Prometheus was.

While the excitement for Prometheus, which spent most of its production seemingly not sure if it was Alien prequel or not, was very high, the end result didn't quite hit the mark for many fans. Having said that, interest in the Alien franchise as a whole has never waned. So, what will Alien: Covenant do to improve on Prometheus, beyond simply calling itself an Alien movie at the beginning? Michael Fassbender tells Collider that it will be a movie much more in the vein of Alien as far as tension and terror.

It's much scarier than Prometheus, but it's got the same sort of scope of Prometheus. It's kind of got more of thriller, imminent disaster feel that Alien had, so it's kind of a beautiful meeting of both of those films. I'm really excited to see it, I think it's gonna be super scary number one and then again with the massive scope of Prometheus... Once it starts and the ball starts rolling, it doesn't let up. It's really gonna bring chills to the cinema.

The scope of Prometheus was certainly big. The film essentially encompassed all of humanity. However, it's the "imminent disaster" idea here that we're most interested in. That was the thing that made Alien an absolutely stellar sci-fi horror movie. The enemy was a nearly indestructible monster, who could have been lurking behind any corner. We fully expected our characters to be brutally killed at any moment, and that was what made the film tense and exciting. It certainly seems that Ridley Scott is going to try to recapture that magic here in Alien: Covenant. Michael Fassbender's comments echo those recently made by co-star Danny McBride, who called Covenant a "dark horror movie."

We're guessing these are exactly the sorts of words that fans are going to want to hear about Alien: Covenant. With Ridley Scott returning to the franchise that he began, we were expecting something a little more Alien-ish with Prometheus . Unfortunately, what we got was a cartographer who got lost and a biologist who tried to pet an alien creature. Hopefully, the crew of the spacecraft Covenant is a bit smarter than those on the Prometheus.

Are you excited for that sci-fi horror movie that "doesn't let up?" Is this the new Alien movie you've been waiting for? Let us know in the comments.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.