The following essay is pure speculation on my part as the Author, but even though I may be completely wrong, there could be spoilers for Alien Covenant in it so I recommend that if you are weary of spoilers, regardless of whether you agree with me or not, you should not read any further than here. If you do, it is your responsibility if you feel I may have spoiled something so you have been warned.
I have to state that there are some things where leaving it to one's imagination is far more intriguing than showing it because nothing can ever match what one imagines. The reason why no one speculated outside of the comics, who was the Space Jockey is because in my opinion, no answer will ever be fully satisfactory because sometimes less is more. Making the Jockey a giant humanoid in a space suit fundamentally changed the franchise for better or worse. I do not think we need breadcrumbs leading directly to Alien and one film could have told that story, depending on the screenwriter, just as well as extending it into three or more films.
Now with the who biomechanical, transhumanism, genetic manipulation or eugenics and A.I. themes reinforced in Prometheus and possibly Alien Covenant, you could say what began with David 8 bookends well with the still undetermined fate of Ripley 8 post Alien Resurrection.
If anything it seems that the humans through the Weyland Yutani Corporation and later United Systems Military ultimately make the same mistakes as the Engineers, which are based on hubris. Shaw believing she is owed an explanation as to why the Engineers wanted to destroy humanity after her actions and assumptions put it in jeopardy to begin with, Weyland's belief that in creating A.I. he is entitled to immortality like a god and ultimately David's warped judgment upon humanity or humanoids propelling him to create what he sees is the perfect organism to eradicate it is also just more post-modern Prometheus being retold over and over again like Frankenstein.
However it is the surviving A.I. created by A.I. referred to as Autons like Call (Winona Ryder) in Alien Resurrection that serve as the protectors of humanity from itself because just as the story in some ways begins with David 8's infamous journey, so does the uncertain possibility so long as Ripley 8 exists that the Alien could return is a bookend to what began in Prometheus because Ripley and Call are both fugitives of a sort and Ripley's being became linked to the xenomorph's future a long time ago and so she is now truly the vessel that could end the horror or begin it again depending on what happens.
Meanwhile Shaw and David's journey after Prometheus makes them akin to wayward pilgrims on an unsanctioned crusade after forbidden knowledge with ultimately conflicting agendas.
Basically if they were to make a seventh film that continued Ripley's story after Alien Resurrection, the only way to end it is to kill off her character completely, which is unlikely because dramatically speaking they already did that in Alien 3 and I doubt there is any interest in telling the same story again and because these movies are no longer art, they are commerce. Fox lost Star Wars to Disney. They will not simply stop making Alien movies because the story has reached a logical conclusion. They are still making Alien movies now.
(C) Copyright 2017 By Mark A. Rivera.
All Rights Reserved.
