It appears the Alien: Covenant re-writes have put more of an emphasis on the Xenomorph than we had initially thought! In a new interview with The Wrap, director Ridley Scott has revealed that his Prometheus sequel will in fact feature all three stages of the Alien's evolutionary life cycle. More so, Alien: Covenant will explain how the Alien was created and for what purpose. Below is an excerpt from the interview where Scott specifically mentions his plans for Alien: Covenant and the re-introduction of the Xenomorph:
The Wrap: Your next film is a sequel to “Prometheus.”
Ridley Scott: Yeah. Well, really it’s “Alien.” They’re going to go to the planet where the engineers came from, and come across the evolving creature that they had made. Why did they make it? Why would they make such a terrifying beast? It felt bio-mechanoid, it felt like a weapon. And so the movie will explain that, and reintroduce the alien back into it.
There was always this discussion: Is Alien, the character, the beast, played out or not? We’ll have them all: egg, face-hugger, chest-burster, then the big boy. I think maybe we can go another round or two.
The Wrap: When you were making the first “Alien,” did you think there was more to explore with that creature?
Ridley Scott: Yeah, definitely. I knew we had done something special. I mean, I knew it as soon as I met with [painter, illustrator and creature designer] H.R. Giger. He was an artist in every sense of the word, but very businesslike. There was no rock ‘n’ roll — well, there was quietly, but he never brought it to the set. And I knew I had something special with this creature that he designed. Without that creature, the film wouldn’t have been the same.
This all essentially goes against what Scott initially said months ago when discussing the sequel, stating that he felt the beast (the Alien) was "cooked" and over-used. It appears now, following a script revision by John Logan, the emphasis has switched and Scott now seems to be focused once again on the beast he helped create back in 1979.
Whether by inspiration from Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 concepts or an executive decision at 20th Century Fox, it seems the expansion of the Prometheus lore will be taking a backseat for this one and instead playing into every Alien fan's wet dream. Hopefully, Scott stays on course and delivers as many questions as answers, so we continue to have momentum going forward with the next 3 sequels he has lined up.