Ridley Scott’sPrometheusset up a lot of mysteries for theAlienfranchise, butAlien: Covenantoutright ignored one of the biggest unanswered questions.Prometheusis largely considered the most confusing entry to theAlienfranchise, but that’s not entirely its own fault. It did introduce some head-scratching concepts that weren’t entirely fleshed out until much later, such asPrometheus' black gooand the role of the Engineers in creating humanity. One of the biggest problems was that a lot of the thingsPrometheusintroduced toAlienwent ignored by its sequel,Covenant.
The recently releasedAlien: Romulushas begun rehabilitatingPrometheus' image in the eyes of fans, especially in how it connected the black goo to the rest of the franchise. One thingRomulus- and theupcomingRomulus 2sequel- can’t fix, however, is something thatCovenantjust abandoned completely.Prometheusintroduced a new type of xenomorph in the form of the Deacon, yet instead of exploring its powers and abilities and showing it in horrifying action,Covenantomitted it from the sequel entirely.
The Alien Movies Never Showed What Happened To The Deacon From Prometheus
Prometheus Introduced A New Type Of Xenomorph & Covenant Completely Ignored It
At theend ofPrometheus, theAlienprequel finally showed a xenomorph for the first time in the form of the Deacon.As soon asPrometheusintroduced the new subspecies of xenomorph, however, it promptly forgot about the Deacon entirely, andAlien: Covenantnever revisited the subject. The spinoff comicPrometheus: Fire and Stone - Omegadid reveal the fate of the Deaconafter the movie was over - it was supposedly overtaken by the black goo that created it and continued to grow and mutate until it was the size of a mountain - but the films never came back to it.
Additionally, theAlienprequels were really Ridley Scott’s brainchild, but he had nothing to do withPrometheus: Fire and Stone - Omega.The comic is helpful for fans who wanted to know what became of the Deacon, but it can hardly be considered a definitive canon source on par with the movies that aligns with whatever Ridley Scott was planning. The comic is basically a stopgap that only works in the absence of another sequel toAlien: Covenant, and we’ll likely never know what Scott actually wanted to do with the Deacon.
What Exactly Was The Deacon In Prometheus?
The Deacon Was A Product Of The Black Goo, The Trilobite, & The Engineer
Part of the reasonAlien: Covenantmay have abandoned the Deacon altogether is because of how complicated it is. The Deacon’s life cycle alone is enough to set one’s head spinning:David infected Charlie with the black goo, Charlie had sex with Shaw, Shaw gave “birth” to the Trilobite, the Trilobite impregnated the Engineer, and the Engineer spawned the Deacon. It’s also not clear how different the Deacon is from othertypes of xenomorphs; it has a long head that ends in a point instead of a dome, and it was about human-sized at birth, which implies it would have been massive as an adult.
It’s Been 13 Years Since Prometheus & I’m Still Holding On To These 6 Genius Fan Theories
Prometheus is an enormous source of fan theories about its implications on the Alien franchise, but many questions remain unanswered 13 years later.
Yet another mystery surrounding the Deacon is what Ridley Scott actually intended to do with it. Some of the deleted scenes forPrometheusgave special attention to the Deacon’s life cycle, as it extended the Engineer’s fight with Shaw and eventual impregnation by the Trilobite.The Deacon was also the last shot ofPrometheus, which made it seem like a kicker for the next movie to explore, yetCovenantdidn’t do anything with it. We don’t even know if the Deacon is specifically tied to the black goo, a regular xenomorph, or more closely related to David’s reverse engineering efforts.
Alien: Covenant Glossed Over A Lot Of Important Questions From Prometheus
Covenant Refused To Answer Questions About The Engineers, Xenomorphs, David, & How It All Tied Into Alien
The Deacon is probably the biggest unsolved mystery thatPrometheusteased, but it’s far from the only such unanswered question.Alien: Covenantreally glossed over a lot ofPrometheus' more important plot points, and it only really bothered to answer the question of what happened to David and Shaw once they reached Paradise.Covenantnever answeredhow an Engineer ship got to LV-426 in time for the originalAlien, it never showed the true origin of the xenomorphs (beyond the cave paintings inPrometheus), and it never explained anything about the Engineers themselves.Prometheuswas an intriguing start to a sagaCovenantseemingly had no interest in continuing.
Ridley Scott’s Untitled Alien Movie
TBA
The only hope of finding answers to Ridley Scott’s prequel trilogy is by letting him finish it, and there’s one movie that could finally deliver on that hope.Scott is directing an upcomingAlienmovie, and there’s a very good chance that he’ll revisit the story of David and his quest to create the perfect species. If that proves true,Scott could finally revisit the Deacon, the black goo, and the Engineers after eight full years, and his nextAlienmovie could do forPrometheuswhatCovenantnever did: finish the story.
