If you thought the story of chest-bursting aliens was a simple case of horrific science fiction thrills, think again. The latest promotional poster for Alien: Covenant sends a clear message that the movie isn’t messing around when it comes to deep, dark themes about retribution, and maybe even sin.
While 2012’s Prometheus obviously referenced the Greek myth of the same name and paralleled its themes about how and why mortals gain powers beyond their control, the next film is going more biblical. While the word “covenant” itself already has certain religious implications, the new poster is taking these themes to the next level, or perhaps, circle of hell. As pointed out by Hoai-Tran Bui on Slashfilm, the newly released Alien: Covenant poster seems to draw inspiration from the Frans Floris 1554 Renaissance painting, The Fall of the Rebellious Angels, which in turn illustrates the Book of Revelation, otherwise known as the part of the Bible all about the Apocalypse.
In both the painting and the Book of Revelation, fallen human angels turn into monsters, which looks like an indication to where the mythology of the Alien series is headed.
Recent rumblings from the Covenant production have indicated a wrinkle in the origins of the Xenomorphs. It seems the Engineers did not specifically create the monsters, and that instead, human DNA is required to actually make the famous chest-popping baddies. With plenty of human prey available for the aliens in this next film, it seems like pretty much everybody, save for the robot Walter, is a candidate to be a fallen angel, mutated into a terrible monster.
Alien: Covenant is out in theaters on May 19.
