Summary
Elizabeth Shaw is a key character within theAlienfranchise, even though her story was abruptly cut short. There was much rejoicing when Ridley Scott rejoined the series for what was initially announced as anAlienprequel, which later evolved into a spinoff titledPrometheus. Having the original director return to guide the saga back on track felt like a great move, though unfortunately, bothPrometheusandAlien: Covenantbecame just as divisive as outings likeAlien 3. One thing Scott’s prequels boasted were great ensemble casts, including Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Katherine Waterston.
Prometheushad a major casting search for its lead character Elizabeth Shaw, with the role eventually going toThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoostar Noomi Rapace.Elizabeth Shaw was positioned as the new Ripley, with the plan being that futureAlienfranchise movieswould follow her journey as she learned more about mankind’s origins, and whyThe Engineer creatureswere seeking to wipe out human life.Prometheus' ending set up future Shaw adventures, though Scott later changed his mind and made Fassbender’s murderous android David 8 the protagonist ofCovenant.
Elizabeth Shaw Made It To The Engineer Planet With David
The two former enemies became friends on their trip to Planet 4
David’s ascension made thematic sense, since Scott planned to replace the Xenomorph with the android as the titularAlienof the series. David 8 resents his creators and is intent on wiping out humanity usingThe Engineer’s black goo pathogen. Sadly, this meant pushing Rapace’s Shaw to the side, with David later explaining her fate inCovenant. The viral shortAlien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossingdetailed Shaw and David’s trip to the Engineer planet, with the two becoming unlikely pals.
This is a little odd given David’s sketchy actions inPrometheus, including intentionally infecting Shaw’s lover Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) to test the effects of the pathogen. Still, with nobody else to keep her company out in deep space, Shaw repaired the broken David and they formed a bond.Shaw trusted that David shared her passion to uncover more about humanity’s origins, but of course, the android had different designsin mind.
Alien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossingconsists of footage that was originally intended to appear in the movie itself.
1979
1986
1992
1997
2004
2007
2012
2017
Alien: Romulus
2024
When the protagonists ofAlien: Covenantlanded on the Engineer homeworld Planet 4, they find it almost entirely devoid of life. That’s becauseonce David and Shaw arrived a decade prior, the android unleashed a payload of the deadly black goo on the Engineer population. Once awoken from hypersleep, Shaw was (understandably) horrified by David’s actions, despite his framing the genocide as some kind of gift to her.
It’s unknown how the planet would have reacted to a human suddenly arriving on their homeworld in a stolen Engineer ship. It’s possible they would have just killed Shaw and David the moment they landed, but equally, they may have been impressed that one of their “failed” creations made it so far. Shaw never got to find out, since David robbed her of the meeting she so craved. In the aftermath,Shaw then found her stranded on a dead world with a murderous android and his emerging God complex.
David Used Shaw In His Genetic Experiments
Shaw became the mother of David’s “perfect” organism
David reveals that Shaw died shortly after they arrived at Planet 4, but is vague on the details.Alien: Covenantlater shows Shaw’s mutated body, with David 8 outlining how he used her corpse to help shape his “perfect” lifeform, AKA The Xenomorph itself. This reveal naturally divided opinions from devotees of the series, since it essentially states David created the franchise’s monsters, conflicting with the canon of previous entries.
Regardless, the crew of the Covenant landing on Planet 4 gave David some fresh subjects to experiment on.The ship’s captain, Oram (Billy Crudup), became the unwilling first host to David’s Praetomorph, and the android puts his claim that the creatures are “perfect” to the test. After his two creations are destroyed by the survivors,Alien: Covenant’sgrim endingsees David heading back to the drawing board, but this time with a whole ship full of human hosts in cryosleep to work with.
David’s Experiments Killed Shaw Before The Start Of Alien: Covenant
Shaw at least never got to see David’s creations in action
In a similar fashion to Hicks and Newt being killed offscreen inAlien 3, Elizabeth Shaw’s sudden demise between sequels upset those viewers who invested in her adventure.
Alien: Covenantis also vague about what kind of experiments David ran on Shaw - or whether she was still alive as he was running them. Regardless,David’s experiments on Shaw eventually killed her, with her DNA being used to create the Xenomorph prototypesthat stalks the prequel’s heroes during the story. In a similar fashion to Hicks and Newt being killed offscreen inAlien 3, Shaw’s sudden demise upset those viewers who invested in her adventure.
It’s clear fromPrometheusthat a planned sequel was intended to follow her, and early production artwork showcased an alternate storyline where she was very much the lead character.While Rapace briefly reprised Shaw forThe Crossing, she doesn’t play a role in the film itself, outside of Shaw’s body being seen in David’s lab. A version ofCovenantfollowing Shaw would likely have made the movie feel less oppressive and bleak, with her unpleasant offscreen death underlining how broken David has become.
Why Shaw Wasn’t In Alien: Covenant
There are conflicting reports as to why Noomi Rapace wasn’t part of Covenant
In a 2019 interview withHN Entertainment(ViaCollider),Alien: Covenantcreature designer Carlos Huantes revealed Shaw was originally supposed to be found alive on Planet 4, and in hiding from David.Huantes believed it was a “studio call” to drop Shaw fromCovenant, dubbing the decision a “shame.” This could be the case, though again, Scott’s growing fascination with the David character may have convinced the filmmaker to frame the story around him. He may have also felt it was cleaner from a narrative perspective to have Shaw already dead when the movie’s second half unfolds.
Alien Complete Timeline Explained
From Prometheus to Alien: Romulus to the movies with Ellen Ripley, the complete Alien franchise timeline spans hundreds of years of xenomorphs.
Given that Rapace was willing to play Shaw again forThe Crossing, it doesn’t appear the actress had any issues with returningfor a sequel. Indeed, Shaw versus David could have been the throughline of all of Scott’s prequels, with the director having planned a third movie where David had his own planet of Dr. Moreau-style experiments running loose. The roadmap for the prequels was in a constant state of flux, however, and it appears a clean slate where David was the only real recurring character was desired.
There is also the fact thatMichael Fassbender was the bigger star around the timeCovenantwas released, so the studio may have felt making him the face of the series was a wiser move. This plan didn’t work out either, sinceAlien: Covenantwas a box-office letdown and future Scott sequels were canceled. It’s hard to say if the film would have worked any better with Elizabeth Shaw in a bigger role - but it wouldn’t have hurt its chances either.
