Abandoned Alien Story Reveals David’s Fate After Covenant’s Twist Ending

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The movie Alien: Covenant left the fate of Michael Fassbender’s character, David, uncertain, but plans for a sequel that were later scrapped showed what would have happened next. The film ends with David, a dangerous android, in control of a spaceship full of sleeping people and Xenomorph embryos, essentially giving him a lot of time to pursue his own goals.

Ridley Scott originally envisioned a future for the Alien films where the creature itself would be replaced by the character David. But the movie Covenant didn’t resonate with audiences and wasn’t a financial success, which led to a fresh start with Alien: Romulus seven years later. It’s now unclear if David’s storyline will ever be concluded, as the new films seem to be moving in a different direction.

Alan Dean Foster’s Alien: Covenant Sequel Took David To The Engineer’s “Horror Planet”

Rumors have circulated about the potential third Alien prequel, possibly titled Alien: Awakening, suggesting a storyline where David encounters a group of Engineers seeking revenge. Now, Alan Dean Foster, a well-known author who has written novels based on several Alien films, has revealed he was once asked to write a novel directly continuing the story of Covenant.

In a January 2025 interview with Game Invention, Foster discussed his idea for a sequel to Alien: Covenant. The story would have continued David’s journey to a previously unexplored Engineer planet, which Foster described as a “horror planet.” According to Foster, the Engineers had been conducting genetic experiments there, using “every terrestrial animal you can think of.”

Foster imagined bizarre, alien-like versions of common animals – dogs, cats, cows, and others – roaming the landscape, and envisioned the survivors of the Covenant trying to escape. Interestingly, Foster’s idea shares similarities with a discarded script for Alien 3 written by Eric Red, the screenwriter of The Hitcher.

Called Alien World, this story took place on a space station designed to look like a typical American town. The Army was conducting experiments with alien DNA, even creating hybrid creatures from animals like dogs, pigs, and chickens. The script, written by Red, was quickly turned down, and Sigourney Weaver later described it as “a complete disaster.”

Covenant’s Sequel Would Have Revealed What Happened After Alien: Resurrection

Interestingly, Foster revealed that his planned novel would have filled in the gaps in the Alien timeline, showing what happened between the events of Alien: Covenant and Alien: Resurrection. Considering there’s a 280-year gap between those two films, it would have been a very expansive story.

Unfortunately, the author didn’t share any details about where he planned to take the story after the events of Resurrection, or what revelations he had in mind. Considering David’s effectively immortal nature, and the potential longevity of the Engineers, it’s possible they could have appeared in the 24th century. How all of that would have connected back to Resurrection remains a mystery for now.

The Studio Canceled The Alien: Covenant Sequel Novel

20th Century Fox became hesitant about continuing Alan Dean Foster’s Covenant story, worried it might conflict with director Ridley Scott’s plans for the Alien franchise. Instead of making a direct sequel, they commissioned Foster to write a prequel novel, Alien: Covenant – Origins, which was released in 2017. This novel provides more background and details about the events that happen before the movie.

The story features a group trying to sabotage the Covenant’s mission, led by someone who has premonitions of the ship bringing dangerous alien lifeforms to Earth. While the book isn’t particularly strong, it’s made even more unusual by the studio’s rule that the Xenomorphs couldn’t be included. Ultimately, it’s disappointing that Alan Dean Foster wasn’t able to write the follow-up to Alien: Covenant focusing on the character David.

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2026-02-06 19:38