This June sees the release of Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s return to the realm of science fiction. Only twice before in his career he has turned his camera to the genre that is so rarely well represented in cinema, but both those works are regarded as genuine masterpieces. It is thirty years since Rick Deckard fled his apartment, the replicant Rachael in his care, and Scott has indicated that he may be prepared to return to the world of Blade Runner as early as next year if he is satisfied with the script, but this summer he returns to the earlier work that established his reputation.
There has been rumour and speculation about how closely Prometheus will tie to the established universe and continuity of Alien and the sequels that followed, whether it will ignore the later films of David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whether it will even acknowledge, obliquely or not, James Cameron’s immediate sequel. Conversely, while each of those films has followers who would wish an expanded and consistent universe to be established, most, including these writers, choose to disregard the aberrations masquerading under the banner Alien vs. Predator.
The trailers have confirmed certain facts, the later promotional spots perhaps revealing too much of a plot once closely guarded, specifically the inclusion of an android, played by Michael Fassbender, presumably of the same origin as Ian Holm’s Ash and Lance Henrikson’s Bishop, that Guy Pearce will play Peter Weyland of the Weyland Megacorporation, precursor of Weyland-Yutani, the ubiquitous “company” of the original films, and most importantly that the “Derelict” and the “Space Jockey” would appear, and presumably play key roles within the narrative.
As a prelude to the release of Prometheus, Geek Chocolate have examined the original quartet and only the officially released information of the new film and considered what they reveal of that broader universe, and what we may hope to see when Prometheus lands. We’ve deliberately avoided hunting for spoilers, and everything discussed here is from early publicity, so hopefully our assumptions, assertions and extrapolations are also spoiler-lite. Whether they are in any way accurate, we discover next week…
