Ridley Scott admits where he went wrong with Prometheus

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Although Ridley Scott now seems to be quite invested in the ALIEN franchise, he wasn't always willing to embrace the series quite so completely. Although PROMETHEUS does take place in the same universe as ALIEN, the film set out to develop its own mythology and explore new ideas. Ridley Scott later said that the classic xenomorph wouldn't appear in any PROMETHEUS sequels, but if you take one look at ALIEN: COVENANT, it's clear that he changed his mind at some point.

While speaking with Yahoo UK, Ridley Scott admitted that he was surprised by the reaction to PROMETHEUS as well as the desire of fans to see more of the xenomorph.

What changed was the reaction to ‘Prometheus’, which was a pretty good ground zero reaction. It went straight up there, and we discovered from it that [the fans] were really frustrated. They wanted to see more of the original [monster] and I thought he was definitely cooked, with an orange in his mouth. So I thought: ‘Wow, OK, I’m wrong’… The fans, in a funny kind of way – they’re not the final word – but they are the reflection of your doubts about something, and then you realize ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I was right’. I think that’s where it comes in. I think you’re not sensible if you don’t actually take [the fans’ reaction] into account.

Although I quite enjoy PROMETHEUS, warts and all, I'd have to disagree with Ridley Scott and say that the lack of xenomorphs was not one of its issues. I'm sure there were fans who would have loved to have seen them included, but I think most of us would have gladly traded an appearance by the creatures for characters who were better written. The upcoming ALIEN: COVENANT does seem to have improved on several aspects of PROMETHEUS, but it isn't without its own problems. Even so, it's Ridley Scott giving us another epic sci-fi adventure filled with creatures and suspense, I know damn well that he's already got my $10 in his pocket.

ALIEN: COVENANT will hit theaters on May 19th, so be sure to check out a review from our own Paul Shirey!