Whose decisions doom the mission? "Alien: Covenant," part of The Next Reel's Alien series, is Ridley Scott's return to the franchise he started—a sequel to "Prometheus" and a prequel to the rest of the series—built around a colony ship, a mysterious transmission, and a rogue synthetic. Michael Fassbender plays twin androids—David, an unshackled older model operating alone for a decade, and Walter, his constrained successor—alongside Katherine Waterston as Daniels and Billy Crudup as the crew's embattled new captain.
Pete and Andy dig into why the film fails as both a creature feature and a philosophical inquiry—tracing the production history behind the script's competing visions, dissecting the protagonist problem (nobody meaningfully changes, not even the villain), and examining what Fassbender's dual performance achieves in a film that couldn't support it. If you've ever felt these prequels were working against the franchise, this conversation gives you the language for why. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in—The Next Reel on TruStory FM, when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family: The Next Reel — Alien Series—the full run from "Alien" through "Prometheus" that leads directly to this conversation The Film Board — Prometheus—Pete and Andy's companion discussion of the direct predecessor that started the prequel arc The Film Board — Alien: Covenant—their original conversation at the film's 2017 release, which this episode revisits and extends
🔒 This episode includes member-only bonus content. The movie ends. The conversation goes further—and there's more of it in the member feed. Become a member. 🎧 Members get this episode early and ad-free in their private feed—plus every show in The Next Reel family.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
TruStory FM. Innehållet i podden är skapat av TruStory FM och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
