Katherine Waterston cast in Alien: Covenant as Daniels. According to Deadline, Katherine Waterston has been cast as the main character in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Prometheus sequel, Alien: Covenant.
“Katherine Waterston, who co-starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, is set to star in Alien: Covenant, the Ridley Scott-directed sequel to his Prometheus. In what will be the biggest role of her career to date, Waterston has been cast as the lead, Daniels.”
Katherine Waterston Cast in Alien: Covenant as Daniels.
So far all we know is the name Daniels. No further character details are available yet and outside of Michael Fassbander’s David and a brief mention of Noomi Rapace’s Shaw (both of whom are confirmed to be returning), this is the first we’ve heard of the Alien: Covenant’s characters.
Back in October it was reported that Rebecca Ferguson was being eyed for a role in the film – is it possible that Waterston has landed that role? And what could that role possible be?
Katherine Waterston has previously starred alongside Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs.
Waterston will be seen next as Porpentina Goldstein in the Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which is due for release in 2016. Although Waterston hasn’t worked with Ridley Scott before she has starred alongside David actor, Michael Fassbender, in the biopic about Apple co-creator Steve Jobs.
Alien: Covenant is currently slated for release in October 2017 and the official synopsis provided so far is: ““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.”
Thanks to hfeldhaus and Foster for the news.
Granted, in Alien, the characters were older, or appeared older than average--always a plus when defying expectations for the so-called pro-slasher film demographic. Sometimes in order for a film to work, you have to get the audience to think it's going to be one thing and then pleasantly (or not so pleasantly) surprise them.
The point is, young talent for the latest film is going to be inevitable. The fact that she's a pretty girl is just Hollywood, is just someone being cast based on her appearance. That's nothing new. Though I'm praying for the entire crew being expendable, including Ms. What's-her-face. She can come from good stock, but unless she's an executive officer on a fancy-ass ship, I'd like to think make-up and nice clothes should be secondary to the reality of essentially being a space trucker.
But look at me, getting ahead of myself. Is this going to be a retread of Alien, with space truckers being used to advance nefarious corporate agendas? Or is it going to be something a little different. Personally I love the "haunted house in space" approach. Gothic Horror is where this series excels. But there was so much good going for Alien based on some really ingenious tweaks to the formula while at the same time never losing what makes good science fiction/and horror each of those things respectively. It stayed grounded, but got clever, in spots, and defied audience expectations, and really was an artistic Renaissance for the genre that still resonates today. I hate to sound cynical but expecting that this time around when Ridley is completely in charge seems less likely. Though you never know.
Funnily enough, Danny Webb was at one point rumoured to star in Alien: Covenant back when it was still titled Prometheus 2. Not sure where the rumour originally came from but IMDb had him listed among the cast as well.
...or to put it another way...
Oh the Stupid, it BURNS!
If we were to see Morse return in 'ALIEN 5' instead, now, that would be great! Bring back that argumentative prick. He'd make a Great anti-hero. Actually, yeah. As much as I love Ripley and Hicks I'd trade 'em both in for Morse.
Let's hear it from the man himself. Waddya think, Morse? I asked him and this is what he said about 'ALIEN5 ', "We ain't got no entertainment center, no climate control, no video system, no surveillance, no freezers, no f**king ice cream, no rubbers, no Ripley, no Hicks. All we got here is shit!"
-Windebieste.
Yes please. That would be really refreshing. A3 kind of broke the mold, and in a very original and unique way, so why not go all in in one of the coming Alien movies? Would be kind of funny if they did it in A5 after pretty much resurrecting Hicks, Newt and Ripley and then just have them all killed by the end of the movie
In my opinion, Alien: Isolation proved that the Final Girl trope worked fairly well, though it was a given that you'd probably make it to the end of the game (though something that isn't always the case, like in Red Dead: Redemption) as the main protagonist. And the characters that you meet along the way usually all die horrible deaths. That's kind of a given with this series. Just about everyone dies. I think it'd be interesting if the alien won, for a change. What if everyone died at the end of the film except the alien, like in Ridley's original ending? Maybe not the parts where it talks, but still. I love bad endings in horror films and the survivors are always surviving. I want an Alien film where the alien wins and all the humans die.
I'll agree it was a great choice to have Ripley be a women for the shock value of being the sole survivor at the end of 'ALIEN' but the audience has moved on since 1979. As it stands right now, the whole 'strong-willed' woman as survivor is as cliched as this series can get. It's no surprise Lexa Woods survived the pyramid. It's nothing new that Amanda Ripley escaped Sevastopol. It was no surprise that Shaw... well, you get what I mean. What if Lambert, a character that audiences could more readily relate to had escaped aboard the Narcissus instead of Ripley?
I honestly believe that this female character template has been getting tired now for some time and is due for a change. One of the great things about the first movie is how normal people going about their daily working lives were forced to cope with an extraordinary situation. I would like to see a return to that premise where the survivor(s) were no longer predictable.
Isn't that the point of these movies in the first place? There's no reason why it couldn't be a man or a woman... and now that I think of it, someone more highly strung like Lambert, desperately escaping would be quite the change this series needs.
-Windebieste.
The Alien is usually referred to as a she or it, whereas the Predator usually is referred to as a he. The Alien represents a nightmarish & amorphous femininity, and mechanical psychosexuality - it's fleshy and mechanic at the same time, it has no ego, it has no feelings or emotions yet it breeds. It's intrusive and invasive. It wants your body to propagate. It's a bringer of life.
The Predator represents beast-like & exaggerated masculinity, and organic asexuality - it's muscular and polished at the same time, it has a big ego, it has feelings and emotions but is figuratively unable to breed. It's unreachable and exclusive. It wants your body for a trophy. It's a bringer of death.
The Predator is a purely masculine, asexual and egocentric killer whereas the Alien is an amorphously androgynous, psychosexual and egoless breeder. One is a polished Greek god from hell, the other is a representation of Mother Earth in the most nightmarish kind of way. They represent two different archetypes.
This is alluring, at least to me, as you're pitting a human archetype against its monstrous counterpart. It turns into a nemesis fight. It represents the endless struggle. David vs. Goliath. So when the protagonist in an Alien movie is either a woman or an android, it works as the underdog equivalent to the Alien, just like a male protagonist in a Predator movie works as the underdog equivalent to the Predator. If you switch the two you theoretically and archetypically get a different dynamic.
A female main protagonist in a Predator movie would technically bring an underlying feminist and anti-patriarcal discourse and dimension to the movie. Revolution against authority.
A male main protagonist in an Alien movie on the other hand would bring an underlying struggle for familiarity and traditional hegemony to the table. Man versus Mother Nature.
Ok... SUPER PRETENTIOUS, I know, but that's my mumbo-jumbo wannabe schoolar analysis on why I rather have female (or android) main-characters in Alien movies and male main characters in Predator movies. With that said, I'm absolutely sure we can break the mold and have excellent male main-characters in Alien movies and vice versa.
You know coming in and flaming people like this makes it impossible to have a normal, civilized conversation. Lighten up.
Wow... whole lotta hate coming off of you, there.
Anyway, I've said it's how I feel. Having a woman as the viewpoint character just puts me in a different headspace than would a man. You don't feel that way. I think you've proved that you and I are two different people!
An interesting compromise would be to have a male android as the lead...
I don't see why. A man getting skull-f*cked by an alien penis tongue is no more or less disturbing than having it happen to a woman.
I honestly think switching it up and going with a male lead might be a great thing for the series, if only to dispel the usual Ripley comparisons we inevitably get every time they cast yet another female lead.
Yeah, let's not even entertain the idea that a male lead could be just as good if not better than a female one. There should no discernible difference in dynamic between a female and alien than a male and alien because guess what? Men and women are both humans. If the whole series had used male leads up to this point, you can bet your ass that the series would be getting shit for not having a female lead, but let's not even consider having a male one because you opine that it just works better, despite the fact that a male has never been given a chance of a lead role.
It's not sexist or anything to just assume that a woman would be more fit for the role of lead actor in an Alien movie than a man despite the fact that no man has ever been given that role before.
Spoiler
Good point. It seems kind of hokey for a guy to fight a phallic monster..
If anything, it's become somewhat a cliche now. Even the last video game, Amanda Ripley was the sole survivor of her encounters with Stompy.
It wouldn't surprise me if Scott decides that this is a trope that needs to be broken. Just like he deliberately broke the 'lived in and used' design philosophies of 'ALIEN' and 'Blade Runner' to adopt a much cleaner and modern aesthetic for 'Prometheus' simply because he'd done it before.
We'll see. I'm not confident that we'll see any lead make it to the end of 'ALIEN: Covenant'; and certainly not convinced they will make it to the end of a trilogy. Scott has very different ideas to what we expect - and he has been known to throw more than one red herring at the audience. That's for sure.
-Windebieste.
Well if Alien and Prometheus are anything to go by the lead female character will be there to the end. None of it matters really.
The only way a male lead will survive over a female character in an Alien film is if he is James Bond.
Make it an even bigger twist by casting a black male lead. No black man has ever survived an Alien flick before, it will be quite a surprise!
It'd be a nice twist on the head as far as Alien is concerned to have it - perhaps have 2 leads and then have the male survive instead. Regardless though, as long as the lead is actually well written I don't really mind what gender it is. I just want a decent character.
-Windebieste.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mgmemorabilia.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fuser%2F35-250712213837.JPG&hash=0c330afed6a2ad47f6c6d7e86e15c8a048df9322
Nope. There's no guarantee the lead actor will make it to the end of a Ridley Scott 'ALIEN' movie. ...or even close to the end.
-Windebieste.
As long as her performance is up to it. I never thought Sigourney Weaver was good looking but that didn't matter. Noomi Rapace has divisive looks as well.
Well, there are all these words coming from somewhere but I just really need to see something a bit more concrete about this role she's in. I don't mean to be rude but do I really have to see her face all the way to the end?
She's been cast as lead apparently, if she is the lead she won't be dying till the end.
I just think it's nice when franchise filmmakers refrain from trampling all over games if they don't have too, especially if they were well-received additions to the franchise. Don't need to acknowledge them, but similarly you don't need to go out of your way to contradict them.
I agree. I actually don't understand the latest trend to fit video games into canon.
When it was announced she'd be in it we didn't know that.
I don't think there's a single one of us who would want to see another Sigourney or Ripley character. It'll be really nice if Daniels is her own character and not intended to harken back to Ripley.
Forgive me I was merely referring to my initial reaction when I heard Ripley's daughter was put in the game feeling it was stretch putting a character who's not The Ellen Ripley but Amanda Ripley being put in that identical situation. But it worked in the end because of her goal of trying to search for her long lost mother was integral to the game's plot as you so put it. Didn't feel forced. Sorry I should have emphasized more on how our concerns of it being a stretched were thankfully proven wrong.
True, Amanda being in the game was justified owing to her goal of searching for her Mum. I was merely referring to the initial reaction we had that Ripley's daughter Amanda whom's only mention in the Aliens special edition. But she had a reason that for being in the game and it wasn't forced. I should have emphasized more on how our concerns were proven wrong.