Sir Ridley Scott’s return to the Foreigner Franchise was a cause for celebration among sci-fi fans, but in 2012 Prometheus was not exactly what the majority had expected.

The prequel explored the confusing origins of the Xenomorphs and introduced the Engineers, an alien race responsible for the creation of humanity. Five years later Alien: Covenant continued the story, only that the poor box office numbers thwarted Scott’s plans to produce a trilogy that would lead directly to the events of Foreigner.

As a result, we have a long list of unanswered questions. Alien: Covenant – set between Foreigner And Aliens – has a surprising connection to Scott’s prequels, in that a black substance (which has its origin in Prometheus), which is intended to improve humanity and make it better suited to colonizing space.

However, when pregnant Kay uses it to save herself and her baby, she gives birth to a monstrous creature that is half human, half xenomorph, and half engineer.

Asked by Variety about the similarities to the humanoid Xenomorph from the 1997 film Alien – Rebirth, Alien: Covenant Director Fede Álvarez said: “(My son) had recently watched all the ‘Alien’ movies with a friend, and when the offspring came out, he said, ‘It’s like ‘Resurrection.’ I hadn’t really processed it that way – but it’s true, it’s this hideousness that comes out.”

“I was hoping that people would get the whole engineering part,” he added. “The black goo is the root of the whole thing that was introduced in ‘Prometheus.’ It’s the root of all life, but the Xenomorphs in particular come from this thing, which means it must be in them. It’s basically the sperm of the Xenomorphs.”

“So we thought if it affects your DNA and the Engineers obviously evolved from the same root of life, it made perfect sense to me that (the offspring of a human and a xenomorph) would look like this.”

There is no word about a Alien: Romulus sequel, it feels like the door is open for one and Álvarez could be the one to bring meaning to this franchise. Elsewhere in the interview, he acknowledged that the introduction of this creature probably raises more questions than answers at the moment.

“It is probably a new species because this mixture has never existed before.” he teased.

The sci-fi/horror thriller takes the phenomenally successful Foreigner Franchise back to its roots: While combing the depths of an abandoned space station, a group of young space colonizers encounter the most terrifying life form in the universe.

The main roles in the film are played by Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s murder is simple), Archie Renaux (Shadows and Bones), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (After sun), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (evil Dead) directs from a screenplay he wrote together with Rodo Sayagues (Don’t breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.

The film is now in cinemas.