A showdown between Ripley and David feels impossible given the franchise’s timeline - but there is a compelling theory that could uniteAlien’sbiggest characters. DespiteAlien: Covenantendingon a gigantic cliffhanger that positioned Michael Fassbender’s android David 8 as the franchise’s next villain, the sequel’s mixed response nixed that plan. With his prequels, director Ridley Scott wanted to take theAlienmovie franchisein a fresh direction and explore themes like AI and created versus creator.
It’s fascinating to contrast the adventures of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley throughout her four movies, and those of Fassbender as David. They’re both protagonists of their eras, but while the latter tried to wipe the Xenomorphs from existence, David essentially created them to wipe out humanity; according to Ridley Scott’s take on the saga, at least. It appears Scott won’t get to conclude his prequel storyline, and the odds of uniting Fassbender and Weaver together feel remote. Still, there is one way to do it that feelssomewhatplausible.
David’s Immortality Means Ridley Scott’s Next Alien Movie Can Take Place After Resurrection
David 8 doesn’t have an off switch
David was created by Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) who, in a desperate bid to extend his life, sought immortality by funding the Prometheus mission. Of course, all Weyland found at the end of the expedition was death and destruction, with the only survivor being his android assistant David. Despite believing himself above David,Weyland had created a superior being with his android son. With maintenance, David is functionally immortal and is faster, stronger and smarter than any human being. DespiteCovenanttaking place a decade afterPrometheus, David hadn’t aged a day.
Alien Complete Timeline Explained
From Prometheus to Alien: Romulus to the movies with Ellen Ripley, the complete Alien franchise timeline spans hundreds of years of xenomorphs.
Covenant’sending was supposed to set up a third prequel dubbedAlien: Awakening,which was later canceled. The fate ofDavid 8 within the series is unknown, but there’s nothing to say he couldn’t still be functional up to the events ofAlien Resurrection. As a quick refresher, this 1997 sequel resurrected Weaver’s Ripley as a clone with Xenomorph-infused abilities, with the story taking place 200 years after the events ofAlien 3.
If Ripley 8 is on a continuing hunt for Xenomorphs after Resurrection, that will place her and David on a collision course eventually…
That would mean nearly 300 years have passed since the Prometheus mission, butif David can be kept going with a minimum of maintenance, a few hundred years won’t mean much to him. That also means he and Ripley 8 - as Ellen Ripley’s clone was designated - could exist within the same timeline. If Ripley 8 is on a continuing hunt for Xenomorphs, that would place her and David on a collision course eventually.
David’s Plan Could Potentially Extend For Centuries In The Alien Timeline
Wiping out mankind is a slow process in the world of Alien
David was born with the inherent understanding that he was superior to his creators on every level. Still, the android had to bide his time and play nice, and it wasn’t until he came acrossthe Engineer’s black goothat he found a means to create his own perfect organism. Scott’s prequels even imply David created the version of the Xenomorphs audiences know and love, and they were his attempt to wipe out the human race and replace them with his concept of perfection.
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Alien: Romulus
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Alien: Covenant’sfinale found David alone on a colony ship with thousands of sleeping colonists and some facehugger embryos. This suggested his twisted experiments would continue, and there is a theory that suggests he could have been tinkering with the creatures for centuries. If so,perhaps Ripley 8 will eventually track David down to end his designs once and for all. If anything, it would be just like David to take his time to unleash his endgame when mankind least expects it.
As The Protagonists Of Their Respective Series, Ripley Vs. David Feels Inevitable
A showdown between Alien’s two biggest figures would be a real event
TheAlienseries can be broken up into distinct eras; there were the Ripley movies, theAlien vs Predatorduology, the David saga and it most recently started anew withAlien: Romulus.Ripley and David are the most important figures of their respective eras, but while Ripley received something of a finale withResurrection, David never did. His story is incomplete, and the upcomingAlien: Romulus 2is unlikely to change that. Still, a Ripley vs David movie would feel undeniably epic.
HavingAlien’sultimate heroine versus the creator of the creatures, David (even if this point is up for debate) would feel like an immensely satisfying event. Scott was attempting to make AI the main threat of the series, with android David intending to make the Xenomorphs a weapon of mass destruction. It’s not inconceivable he would spend centuries on such a task - or that Ripley would be the only one capable of stopping him.
David’s experiments could also bring Ripley 8 out of the shadows to finish the job, destroying both the Xenomorphs and David for good.
David was clearly in love with his creations inCovenant, even if they didn’t live up to his expectations and were easily destroyed. If he had another 200+ years to tinker with his designs, that would make for a uniquely apocalyptic event. It would also bring Ripley 8 out of the shadows to finish the job, destroying both the titular Star BeastsandDavid for good.
Ripley 8 Killing David 8, Progenitor Of The Xenomorphs, Would Finish Her Story
There would be incredible synergy in Ripley’s clone destroying David
Ripley’s journey throughout theAliensaga saw her transform from a corporate drone to a soldier, and a messiah to a clone.There was something uniquely insulting about Weyland-Yutani bringing Ripley back to resurrect the Xenomorph, but whatever the faults ofResurrectionwere, the character of Ripley 8 never got her full due. Having a version of Ripley that was combined with Alien DNA could have made for a new era of the series, but a plannedAlien 5with the clone never emerged.
Considering they are both creations of Weyland-Yutani and the most recognizable protagonists of the series, havingRipley 8 taking down Davd 8 feels like it would tie off two major stories at once. Assuming Sigourney Weaver would be open to a return, anAliensequel pairing her against the architect of the Xenomorphs would feel like a perfect way to sign off both characters.
That said,Alien: Romulus 2seems to be moving in a very different direction. It may follow the continuing adventures of Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her android brother Andy (David Jonnson) - though an easter egg reference to Ripley suggests the sequel could tie different strands of the series together. Nothing has been set in stone for the next entry, so instead of letting the fate of two major characters like Ripley and David drift into the ether, the nextAliencan wrap up some unfinished business.
David followed theAlienfranchise tradition of naming its android characters alphabetically: Ash, Bishop, Call and David.Covenantbroke this tradition by calling its new artificial person Walter.
Ridley Scott would also be the ideal choice to helm such a crossover and could finish off hisPrometheustrilogy in style. That’s a pipedream for now, since theAlienseries appears to be carving a new path for itself. Still,Romuluscontained many nods toPrometheusand the prequels, so a David comeback doesn’t feel totally out of the question either.
Alien
The Alien franchise, which began with Ridley Scott’s 1979 film, is a Sci-Fi series comprised of several horror films, games, and comic books centered on humanity’s encounters with a hostile extraterrestrial species known as Xenomorphs. Characterized by their lethal prowess and capability to reproduce at an alarming rate, these creatures pose a profound threat to human existence. The primary series protagonist, Ellen Ripley, acts as the voice of reason as she seeks to keep the creatures out of the hands of greed-driven corporate scientists.
Alien Resurrection
Cast
Alien Resurrection is the fourth installment in the Alien franchise, featuring Sigourney Weaver as a cloned version of Ellen Ripley. Set 200 years after her death, the film follows a team of scientists who resurrect Ripley, leading to unforeseen consequences and a battle to prevent aliens from reaching Earth.
