The Black Goo takes over the franchise

[Biomechanoid]

The studio wanted him to bring back the alien so he brought it back in the best way possible, creatively.

Assuming Scott is moving forward with Act 3, that film will be the end of a director legacy in the Alien universe. At his age, I can't imagine him taking another trip down xeno lane in the future. This will be it. Ridley's swan song. He may continue producing/directing other films, but I don't see him ever entering this world again. And if it turns out to be true what some here have said, the alien is cooked, what better way to cap it than with the franchise's original director.

[Rudiger]

Maybe it's Ridley that's cooked? I mean, Prometheus and Covenant are pretty poor. The problems go far beyond the alien itself.

[Biomechanoid]

Possibly, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut as that. Has the xeno gone the way of Frankenstein's monster, a horror icon that thrived for decades? Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between. As much as the Frankenstein's monster has been a star attraction for a number of decades, likely audiences grew tired of seeing the rigid reborn giant. So too with the xeno, it has also had its share in the spotlight for growing on four decades now terrorizing theater crowds. That's a pretty good run, but I never expected it would last forever.

[Scorpio]

They are still making Frankenstein movies, though. 

Maybe it's Ridley that's cooked? I mean, Prometheus and Covenant are pretty poor. The problems go far beyond the alien itself.

It's an interesting new creative direction, much more interesting than 'more marines, more aliens'.

[Biomechanoid]

They are still making Frankenstein movies, though. 

Hence, my comment, "Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between."

[whiterabbit]

I wondered this since day two. What if instead of the black goo, it was a white goo? Quite literally engineer ejaculate could impregnate any type of meat.

[Rudiger]

Possibly, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut as that. Has the xeno gone the way of Frankenstein's monster, a horror icon that thrived for decades? Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between. As much as the Frankenstein's monster has been a star attraction for a number of decades, likely audiences grew tired of seeing the rigid reborn giant. So too with the xeno, it has also had its share in the spotlight for growing on four decades now terrorizing theater crowds. That's a pretty good run, but I never expected it would last forever.

It seems quite simple to me. Either scare the audience (like Alien) or excite the audience (like Aliens). None of the other films do either.

[Paranoid Android]

Possibly, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut as that. Has the xeno gone the way of Frankenstein's monster, a horror icon that thrived for decades? Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between. As much as the Frankenstein's monster has been a star attraction for a number of decades, likely audiences grew tired of seeing the rigid reborn giant. So too with the xeno, it has also had its share in the spotlight for growing on four decades now terrorizing theater crowds. That's a pretty good run, but I never expected it would last forever.

There were several Frankenstein based films made in the last couple of decades: I, Frankenstein (2014), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein's Army (2013), The Frankenstein Theory (2013), Frankenstein (2004), and Frankenweenie (2012). It was also featured in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Van Helsing (2004). Neckbolt's presence, even today, greatly outnumbers the alien.

All of those films tried to do something new with the monster, and every single one of them was bad (except for maybe Hotel Transylvania; Haven't seen it).

Frankenstein and his monster were also major characters in Penny Dreadful - A successful TV series that ran for 3 seasons. Frankenstein's monster in that series was the closest thing to the book I have ever seen on screen, and the character was a fan favorite.

[Jonesy1974]

Possibly, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut as that. Has the xeno gone the way of Frankenstein's monster, a horror icon that thrived for decades? Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between. As much as the Frankenstein's monster has been a star attraction for a number of decades, likely audiences grew tired of seeing the rigid reborn giant. So too with the xeno, it has also had its share in the spotlight for growing on four decades now terrorizing theater crowds. That's a pretty good run, but I never expected it would last forever.

There were several Frankenstein based films made in the last couple of decades: I, Frankenstein (2014), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein's Army (2013), The Frankenstein Theory (2013), Frankenstein (2004), and Frankenweenie (2012). It was also featured in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Van Helsing (2004). Neckbolt's presence, even today, greatly outnumbers the alien.

All of those films tried to do something new with the monster, and every single one of them was bad (except for maybe Hotel Transylvania; Haven't seen it).

Frankenstein and his monster were also major characters in Penny Dreadful - A successful TV series that ran for 3 seasons. Frankenstein's monster in that series was the closest thing to the book I have ever seen on screen, and the character was a fan favorite.

I quite like Frankenstein's Army. I know its not a great film but Its got some pretty freaky/creepy monster designs and is satisfyingly nasty at times.

I'm a sucker for found footage style movies though.

[Biomechanoid]

There were several Frankenstein based films made in the last couple of decades: I, Frankenstein (2014), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein's Army (2013), The Frankenstein Theory (2013), Frankenstein (2004), and Frankenweenie (2012). It was also featured in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Van Helsing (2004). Neckbolt's presence, even today, greatly outnumbers the alien.

Interesting. I hadn't noticed Frankenstein's monster had made a recent resurgence. Some of those, though, are not really about the Frankenstein monster, it's more just a minor side character, like Hotel Transylvania is centered around vampires and Frankenweenie is a cartoon dog. Still though, it's more presence than I had previously thought. Thanks for share!

[acrediblesource]

Interesting analogy to the franken- franchise.
Here we have the Goo in the Alien franchise where the Alien (and all) might make a cameo or a half lead role.
This will be an interesting yet deceiving goal of this franchise but ultimately will deliver as Ridley had spoke of that will lead up to the original movie. Which means hopefully the next movie will show us HOW it turned mech and HOW the engineer turned big.

Possibly, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut as that. Has the xeno gone the way of Frankenstein's monster, a horror icon that thrived for decades? Today, Neckbolt's presence has been few and far between. As much as the Frankenstein's monster has been a star attraction for a number of decades, likely audiences grew tired of seeing the rigid reborn giant. So too with the xeno, it has also had its share in the spotlight for growing on four decades now terrorizing theater crowds. That's a pretty good run, but I never expected it would last forever.

There were several Frankenstein based films made in the last couple of decades: I, Frankenstein (2014), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein (2015), Frankenstein's Army (2013), The Frankenstein Theory (2013), Frankenstein (2004), and Frankenweenie (2012). It was also featured in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Van Helsing (2004). Neckbolt's presence, even today, greatly outnumbers the alien.

All of those films tried to do something new with the monster, and every single one of them was bad (except for maybe Hotel Transylvania; Haven't seen it).

Frankenstein and his monster were also major characters in Penny Dreadful - A successful TV series that ran for 3 seasons. Frankenstein's monster in that series was the closest thing to the book I have ever seen on screen, and the character was a fan favorite.

I quite like Frankenstein's Army. I know its not a great film but Its got some pretty freaky/creepy monster designs and is satisfyingly nasty at times.

I'm a sucker for found footage style movies though.

[Paranoid Android]

I quite like Frankenstein's Army. I know its not a great film but Its got some pretty freaky/creepy monster designs and is satisfyingly nasty at times.

I'm a sucker for found footage style movies though.

It is perfectly fine to like a film in spite of its flaws, so long as you notice and acknowledge the flaws.

Anyway, my point in that post was that Frankenstein and his monster aren't "cooked", and neither is the alien. It is all a matter of how you use your monster. Penny Dreadful did a spectacular job with Frankenstein's monster because they "got it". They understood what it was about; What its core characteristics were. All the movies I listed failed because either they didn't "get it", or because they were so busy with introducing something new that they didn't realize they were undermining the old. In short, they screwed up the formula.

Alien:Covenant might feature the alien in the most shallow sense (it looks similar and does similar things), but as far as what the alien actually is - an alien creature stumbled upon by accident that represents humanity's fear of what lies in the far reaches of space - does not even exist in that film. The backlash to Covenant is because Ridley Scott was so busy with introducing something new, he didn't notice that he undermines the old. He screwed up the formula.

Formulas exist for a reason - they work. Which is why good stories build on top of them, not try to "evolve" them. You can change the genre, you can add new stuff, but the core stuff has to remain intact.

[Baron Von Marlon]

I quite like Frankenstein's Army. I know its not a great film but Its got some pretty freaky/creepy monster designs and is satisfyingly nasty at times.

I'm a sucker for found footage style movies though.

Same here.
Have you seen the Worst Case Scenario trailer? It's a real trailer for a movie that never got made. But the creator used some of the designs for Frankenstein's Army.
I'm quite looking forward to his latest project: The Profundis. Nothing on Imdb yet but there some stuff on the Mad Scientist Movement facebook page.
It's a small group of people including the director/creator.

and HOW the engineer turned big.

I thought it's clear by now they chanced the size of the Engineers.

The backlash to Covenant is because Ridley Scott was so busy with introducing something new, he didn't notice that he undermines the old. He screwed up the formula.

From an Alien movie point of view, yes.

From a Prometheus pov, it's the other way around.
The new was already introduced and the old undermined this.

[Biomechanoid]

Anyway, my point in that post was that Frankenstein and his monster aren't "cooked", and neither is the alien.

And it looks like Big Frank will be getting his own film in Universal's Dark Universe story arc.

Something else to consider, there's the other form of "cooked." That being both creatures' terror factor. You've probably read articles on audience reaction to Frankenstein's Monster, people of the thirties racing out of the theater in shock, reports of fainting......no less horrified than when people of the seventies first experienced the xeno. Today, neither creature strikes no where near that level of fear. So both creatures' horror impact can be described as cooked.

They should be used in other ways as you suggest, and I agree with you that Penny Dreadful (PD) used the iconic character cleverly, no longer focused on its horror factor. PD is not the first to do that with the creature though. Michael Sarrazin's Frankenstein is the first that I know of where the creature begins pretty much as a regular person, then deteriorates. But I think Rory Kinnear as the creature in PD delivered a great performance.

[Rudiger]

Assuming UDU takes off, I read the other day that Bride of Frankenstein is up first which seems odd.