One of the biggest selling points of the highly anticipated Alien: Covenant is that it promises to bridge the gap between the somewhat confusing prequel Prometheus and Alien, Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror masterpiece. Covenant looks like it’s bursting with connections to that original, and a new image for the film highlights that association with a chilling quote from Alien.
The image, an eerily beautiful send-up to H.R. Giger’s iconic work, appears on the cover of an upcoming special edition of Empire Magazine that’s only going to be delivered to subscribers. Designed by graphic artist Jacey, the cardboard-embossed cover depicts the instantly identifiable xenomorph in profile surrounded by machinery along with a quote from Alien:
“Unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.”
That line was originally delivered by Ash, the secret android aboard the USCSS Nostromo. As played by Ian Holm, Ash’s mission was to ensure the safe return of the xenomorph that was hunting Ripley and the rest of the crew in order for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to turn it into a weapon. After the surviving crew discovers his true nature and mission, decapitating him, they ask his milky disembodied head about the alien. He says they can’t kill it.
“You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you?” Ash tells his interrogators. “The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.”
“You admire it,” Veronica Cartwright’s Joan Lambert fires back.
“I admire its purity. A survivor … unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality,” he responds, shortly before the crew finishes the job of destroying him.
As far as anyone can tell, Ash isn’t in Alien: Covenant. But, two other androids, David and Walter (both played by Michael Fassbender) will be. And, David, at least, is already a big fan of xenomorphs. Advance footage reveals that he created the alien from the original.
The Alien: Covenant alien is going to be deadly, but it seems like the sycophantic androids of the series are just as scary.
Alien: Covenant hits theaters on May 19, 2017.
