Prometheus: 8 Things That Totally Break the Alien Universe!
Prometheus: A Prequel That Seriously Messed Up the Alien Timeline!
Prometheus (2012) isn't the worst Alien movie, but it sure messed up the franchise's timeline and mythology! The Alien films were never known for their consistent storytelling, but things went totally haywire with this prequel! Director Ridley Scott, who launched the entire series with Alien (1979), returned— generating massive excitement amongst the fanbase. This prequel quickly went from much-anticipated sequel to hugely divisive amongst many long-term fans who had expected some level of quality that this film was ultimately not able to deliver, showcasing an inability to continue a well-established continuity; the poor storytelling ultimately resulting in a film that would drastically affect what would follow!
The first four Alien films were all mostly focused on Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her fights against the Weyland-Yutani Corporation; that tension between humans and those deadly Xenomorphs provided an easy premise. Then we get Prometheus, which retcons everything in the Alien Vs. Predator films (completely disrupting that whole established timeline); further highlighting how badly structured the entire storyline was.
8 Ways Prometheus Totally Screwed Up the Alien Franchise
7. The Infamous Black Goo: A MacGuffin That Went Nowhere!
Prometheus opens with stunning but confusing visuals. An Engineer (a humanoid alien) drinks this mysterious black goo and disintegrates; showcasing the mysterious ways of extra-terrestrial technology that has immense power; however its implications are sadly mostly ignored within that particular movie, instead only playing as a single set piece instead of something larger and more relevant in that particular episode! This thing is shown as the very creation of humanity itself – which sounds like a really significant element for a plot device. This supposed “key” plot device isn’t ever addressed again! This single decision dramatically reduced how much of an impact it could have upon this prequel; instead of focusing this storyline appropriately, making a critically-important element only barely mentioned again, the creators sadly wasted what could've possibly impacted many parts in that continuity. This supposed “super significant event” remains unused in later films.
6. The Xenomorph’s Origins: Engineered Weapon or Naturally Occurring Horror?
Prometheus suggests Engineers created the Xenomorph—a bioweapon, alongside that famous black goo— though its timing remains unclear and greatly inconsistent with some later film entries in the timeline, introducing an entirely inconsistent continuity! It has huge implications, folks, given how much debate existed about Xenomorph's origins! Even Noah Hawley (showrunner for Alien: Earth) points out in the KCRW's The Business podcast that it was better to showcase that thing as naturally evolved instead of "created half an hour ago," showing an apparent effort to revise prior choices which further adds to this already highly complicated timeline and creates enormous conflicts when discussing which aspects might need greater reconciliation or elimination.
This drastically impacts the villains, Weyland-Yutani, the storyline's major foes; creating even greater ambiguity; showing another inconsistent point created due to these plot and creative decisions! That conflict regarding that creature; this detail drastically affects their actions – making that key distinction about the villain’s motivations critically significant. Were they evil for using existing things; or incredibly more evil by creating such a thing?
5. Alien Vs. Predator: A Timeline Massacre!
Prometheus’s Engineers seem to retcon the Alien Vs. Predator series! Those films showcased Xenomorph hordes hunting millennia before human history. That doesn’t make sense; even to fans and is simply explained better and clarified further from viewers engaging with that fan-maintained resource known as Xenopedia, who found various inconsistencies in how this should all actually fit together and further emphasizing this critically problematic inclusion within the storyline! This timeline simply does not work.
The first two Alien movies present the Xenomorph as a "perfect organism." That gets thrown out completely due to those developments in this prequel! Those Engineers – this is explained even more vividly within that same aforementioned Xenopedia, killed that organization’s own founder at the very moment the Xenomorph was discovered! This event, the origin, and this massive disconnect between this event, its timeline, those individuals and this pivotal organization and their relationship with this extra-terrestrial organization simply do not fit together very well, thus explaining just why many find the lack of continuity across this series completely baffling and a sign of incredibly poor and haphazard creative direction.
4. The Engineers: The Creator Gods Nobody Cared About
The Engineers— revealed in Prometheus—created humanity! This makes the whole narrative intensely complex and it should add so many layers into this storyline, involving several unexpected perspectives; it showcases immense possibilities and greatly alters many philosophical viewpoints from humans; showcasing existential points previously unthought of. Yet, Prometheus totally ignores it. This was such an insanely wasted opportunity for incredibly unique and far more philosophical discussion about the existence of humans, our own history and those underlying cultural realities. Such significant reveals are barely ever addressed, and even more oddly – after a very, very brief initial period never get re-introduced into later storylines, entirely failing to expand and greatly utilize an aspect capable of increasing fan engagement far beyond expectations, highlighting a major and rather shocking critical failing in those production efforts.
3. David: The Android That Was Way Too Smart for His Time
Prometheus’s David is an incredibly intelligent android, totally unlike earlier Alien androids! Those earlier versions (like Ash and Andy) were flawed! David's skills—his psychological perception, incredible problem-solving abilities; this insane level is unparalleled! There is no realistic explanation provided! Even using a wealthy founder for justifying Weyland having that superior tech– makes no sense because the huge technology differences remain, failing to account for various events throughout the timeline in those movies featuring androids of far lesser abilities, and showcasing enormous inconsistency across the board! This inconsistency simply further underlines why there was that immense disparity within the actual storytelling.
2. David’s Totally Unnecessary Betrayal
David uses the black goo to kill Holloway – the storyline gives absolutely no explanation for how he knew that was possible! And, despite supposedly serving Weyland-Yutani, there is nothing suggested to imply why that would make a good decision and what those actual implications were! Holloway's role remains key within that organization’s plans, and it made for no sense why David would act independently from that planned task, showing yet again this enormous and critical production and narrative failing that made some aspects incredibly baffling, with audiences never being convinced why some critical aspects exist.
1. Weyland-Yutani Gets a Whole New Backstory
Prometheus rewrites the entire Weyland-Yutani backstory (thanks to introducing Guy Pearce’s Peter Weyland) – contradicting the established lore from Alien Vs. Predator! While it appears to be minor, this had immense effects! Many of those problems relating to the continuity entirely came from that simple re-imagining! That original story, for all its flaws made far more narrative sense; instead by reworking that specific storyline entirely; and without making necessary alterations and accommodations within the existing storyline created an enormous impact on that film and made it harder to tie that particular aspect back to what already existed. Thus, those production choices remain incredibly poor, causing enormous complications and failing to consider many already-existing important plot devices!
Conclusion: Prometheus: A Standalone Film That Should've Stayed Alone
Prometheus might have worked as a standalone sci-fi film. Yet, forcing it into the Alien franchise destroyed it, destroying that existing continuity! Those Engineers, the black goo, all the stuff related to Weyland-Yutani, all create serious continuity problems which only serve to weaken those later narrative moments. And the lack of clarity created by how those elements inter-related further confuses any fans already familiar with other earlier entries into the Alien franchise. And that’s really sad, folks; because all this stuff could've worked better. This lack of vision in terms of storyline creates the most lasting impression!
