David is gone. Long live Walter.
Michael Fassbender is the only cast member of ‘Prometheus’ who will have a major role in the follow-up ‘Alien: Covenant’ and naturally the assumption was that he’d reprise his role as artificial human David, which he is, but that’s not all. Fassbender will also be playing a DIFFERENT AI, this one named Walter. (NOTE: Noomi Rapace‘s Elizabeth Shaw will appear, but it is believed her role will be very small.)
The switch actually makes sense. The “Fassbender model” probably has hundreds of duplicates roaming around space, all operating in different capacities and under various aliases. Walter, it seems, will encounter the crew of the starship Covenant when they arrive on an idyllic, seemingly uninhabited planet. But as we already know, the planet is inhabited and the hosts aren’t terribly welcoming.
The following promotional clip is very brief, but gives you a small idea of what to expect from Fassbender’s latest ‘Alien’ role:
As you can see, Walter is differentiated from David by his dark hair, which contrasts with David’s platinum blond. But is that the only thing that separates these two artificial humans? Probably not, but we may have to wait until the movie is released to see how else they vary.
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
Are you excited to double your Fassbender pleasure?
‘Alien: Covenant’ directed by Ridley Scott stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Guy Pearce, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby and opens in theaters on May 19th.
