‘Prometheus’: Unveiling the Birth of The First Xenomorph

Three decades after the 1979 release of ‘Alien’, Ridley Scott revisited the franchise with 2012’s ‘Prometheus’. Serving as both a prequel and a bridge to the ‘Alien’ universe, the film stars Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green as archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway. 

Their quest leads them to a distant moon, LV-223, seeking answers from humanity’s presumed creators, the Engineers. Accompanied by a diverse crew, including Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers and Michael Fassbender as the android David, the mission quickly devolves into chaos.

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The crew discovers that the Engineers’ ship, initially thought to be a mere derelict, is a military vessel. The mysterious black liquid on board turns crew members into monstrous forms, while Shaw’s pregnancy with an alien organism adds to the horror. 

The climax reveals that the Engineers’ plan was to use the ship’s biological weapon to annihilate humanity, which they see as a failed creation. Captain Janek and the crew sacrifice themselves to prevent this disaster.

Shaw survives, only to face a newly emerged Xenomorph-like creature from the Engineer’s corpse. Although ‘Prometheus’ set up a promising sequel, it was ultimately overshadowed by ‘Alien: Covenant’, which abandoned Shaw’s storyline. Future projects like FX’s ‘Alien: Earth’ may revisit these themes, but Shaw’s potential and the Engineers’ backstory remain largely unexplored.

–Farheen Ali