The Alien: Covenant Xenomorphs are “a simple beast really”

Prometheus might have been a stupid movie…not scratch that, the leaps of logic were so massive in that film that they could have achieved escape velocity. Why would you touch a vagina-snake. WHY? IT CLEARLY WANTS TO MURDER YOUR FACE…Anyway, Prometheus had its share of mind-numblingly stupid moments but it still managed to the franchise up for one important link: The birth of the first proto-Xenomorph, which was dubbed “the deacon”.

The beast is indeed back in Alien: Covenant, only this time evolution has taken a few steps further to the look and feel of the original nightmare fuel creature as the latest strain of hostile perfection goes from Neomorph through to the final Xenomorph design. Movie site Collider managed to take a tour of the set of Alien: Covenant, and they learnt a few cool new details regarding the re-introduction of this classic movie monsters.

One cool tidbit learnt? That the Xenomorphs are once again lethal killing machines who aren’t deluded by a sense of morality. “It’s a simple beast really. Just kind of pared down to its basics,” Creatures supervisor Conor O’Sullivan said to Collider.

It’s got teeth and a nasty tongue and it salivates a lot and kills people. It doesn’t express emotions, so we don’t have to worry about that.

Other secrets learnt below:

• Swiss surrealist artists HR Giger’s original designs have influenced the design of the Xenomorph more than ever, with director Ridley Scott sticking closer to them than ever before
• The creature effects department made all manner of Xenomorph and other alien costumes, from animatronic through to suits for actors to wear
• 3D Printing and advances in silicone materials have created giant leaps forward in the practical effects for the Xenomorph
• The Deacon has had a slight evolution, and was spotted on the set alongside Facehuggers and Chestbursters
• Some of the new aliens had an appearance that suggested that they were battling an infection
• The new Neomorph has a design inspired by goblin sharks and other aquatic creatures such as gulper eels and jellyfish
• The Neomorph also has a rapid growth cycle, going through five phases from birth through to maturity
• According to O’ Sullivan “there’s an enormous amount of creatures” in Alien: Covenant, with multiple variants attached to each species
• The creature effects team would not confirm if the Deacon does eventually become the signature Xenomorph
• There’s a lot of blood in Alien: Covenant, as the team O’Sullivan said “I think I’ve used more blood on this than I did on Saving Private Ryan.”
• Producer Mark Huffam added to that, saying that the team ordered blood in “the 40-gallon drums rather than the 5-gallon drums.”

And right now, I’m drooling more than your garden variety Xenomorph at the thought of Alien: Covenant being a return to brutal basics. “It’s got the scale of Prometheus, but also it brings in the suspense [of Alien],” Huffam said of the tone of this sequel.

The corridors get smaller, darker, and you’re just wondering what’s down there. It kind of takes very much the best of both those worlds and combines them.

In other words, I won’t lie about the chances that the crew of the Covenant has when dealing with these threats, but they do have my sympathies.

Last Updated: March 2, 2017