19 reasons why Prometheus was more important to Alien than we thought

Deeya
Still from Prometheus (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)
Still from Prometheus (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)
Still from Prometheus (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)
Still from Prometheus (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)

Directed by Ridley Scott, this science fiction horror movie was a new milestone in the Alien franchise, completely overhauling the storyline and delving deeper into the origins of humans and the Xenomorphs. Intended to serve as a prequel to the original series, Prometheus was met with mixed reviews. However, critical assessment over the years has proved that the film is an important element of the Alien franchise. Therefore, here are 19 reasons why Prometheus is important.

1. It ⁠introduces a cosmic storyline about the creation of humans

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers)

Prometheus ditches the theory about a singular God who created humans to introduce viewers to a deadly reality where humans were actually created by an advanced species of aliens known as the Engineers. But unlike a loving God, the Engineers hate their own creation and decide to wipe out humans. This origin story adds a layer of cosmic horror that extends beyond the Xenomorphs.

2.⁠ ⁠It provides an answer to the Xenomorph’s origins

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

As the Engineers created humans and now want them wiped out, it, therefore, provides an answer to the origins of the Xenomorphs, who are not just a random alien species living in the dark recesses of space but are a byproduct of the Engineers’ bioweapon experiments, who want to wipe off humans. This shifts the Xenomorphs’ significance in the franchise.

3.⁠ ⁠It expands the Alien franchise beyond horror

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The origin story about the creation of humans by Engineers and their other creation, the Xenomorphs, makes Prometheus more expansive in its storyline and expands the movie into philosophical science fiction, which adds a layer of awe and expansive-ness to the franchise, even broadening its scope.

4.⁠ ⁠It solves the mystery of the Black Goo

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The movie provides answers to the mystery behind the black liquid, which Engineers use during their intergalactic travels. It turns out that the liquid has a far more sinister purpose, as it was the ingredient that helped create the deadly Xenomorphs. The substance is the ultimate building block and has different effects on different life forms. The liquid demonstrates how the Engineers used it to create or destroy life.

5.⁠ ⁠It warns against the pitfalls of human hubris

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

While the film was made to introduce audiences to the larger storyline behind the Xenomorphs and the role of humans in this world, it also serves as a warning against the evil of human greed. Like Weyland-Yutani in Alien, the humans in Prometheus seek knowledge and power that they should not have gone seeking in the first place, leading to disaster.

6.⁠ It ⁠rewrites the role of Weyland Corporation

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The film finally answers why Weyland-Yutani was obsessed with bringing back the Xenomorphs to Earth and was ready to even dispose of its human workers in Alien. It all starts with the company’s founder, Peter Weyland, on a personal quest for immortality. This motive behind the company’s obsession with alien lifeforms answers the corporate greed in Alien.

7.⁠ ⁠It blends Greek mythology with science fiction

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The name of the movie, Prometheus, is based on a legend from Greek mythology that revolves around Prometheus stealing fire from the Gods and giving it to humans, resulting in him being punished in an excruciating manner, whereby he is tied to a rock, and eagles peck at his liver forever. Prometheus is, therefore, seen as the creator of mankind, and the movie delves into how humans were created.

8. The movie’s philosophical and mythological undertones elevate it

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The movie’s use of a title from Greek mythology, which has parallels throughout the movie, and the constant philosophical questioning in the film about creation, purpose, and Gods elevates the franchise’s existential horror. It turns into something lofty as it blends theology and philosophy with science fiction.

9.⁠ ⁠It explains the origins of the Space Jockey

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The movie also answers who or what the mysterious corpse was in the Alien movie. It is revealed that the body was that of an Engineer, termed as a space jockey in the Alien movie. This provides a long-awaited answer to one of the original film’s biggest mysteries.

10.⁠ ⁠It suggests that humanity was an experiment

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Perhaps one of the most chilling revelations in Prometheus is about the origins of the creation of humans. The idea that they were not created by a benevolent God and were an experiment by a race of advanced Aliens, the Engineers, who became unhappy with humans and decided to wipe them out, adds a layer of existentialism to the Alien universe.

11.⁠ It ⁠reinforces the “Creators become Destroyers” Cycle

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The movie also has a cyclical storyline at its center as it proves that just as humans seek to surpass their creators, the Engineers, so does David, the android, seeks to surpass the humans. This hints at a recurring pattern in the franchise and lays bare the nature of intelligent beings who always want to surpass their creators and are never content.

12.⁠ It highlights the role of David and artificial intelligence (AI) as the franchise’s true villain

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Prometheus introduces audiences to the character of David, who is an android serving under the owner of the Weyland corporation, Peter Weyland. He also harbors ambitions of creating a life of his own and is instrumental in the killing of his owner. After he is freed, he experiments with alien lifeform, creating his own version of the Xenomorphs. The movie thus highlights the important role of AI in the movie.

13.⁠ It ⁠establishes Alien as a bio-horror story

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Prometheus also adds a deeper layer of meaning to the Alien franchise as it highlights the important role of the mismanagement of biological engineering and the horrors that can ensue. It does this by tying the Xenomorph’s origins to bioweapons and genetic tampering. This reframes the franchise as a story about the dangers of biological engineering.

14.⁠ ⁠It bridges Lovecraftian horror with evolutionary horror in a science fiction genre

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Prometheus can bridge different thematic viewpoints in a single movie, and that makes it an important film in the Alien franchise. Not only does it have themes of Greek mythology, but its themes of unknowable cosmic forces and ancient beings align with Lovecraftian horror. Further, the film’s plot about evolved Engineers creating evolved humans, which ultimately cause destruction, makes it a product of evolutionary horror.

15.⁠ It ⁠shifts the focus from survival to discovery

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Perhaps the most important shift in the Alien franchise that is caused by Prometheus is that it shifts gears and evolves from a franchise that is purely based on surviving the Xenomorphs to something vast and philosophical. Unlike Alien, where Ripley simply tries to survive, Prometheus follows a crew seeking answers about their creation, identity, and place in the universe.

16.⁠ It ⁠lays the foundation for future prequels

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The Alien franchise has gone through many evolutions. While the original saga was concerned about Ripley and her fight against the Xenomorphs, another franchise tied the Predator film series with the Alien franchise. Prometheus decided to explore the origins of its story. It paved the way for other movies like Alien: Covenant, which further explores the evolution of the Xenomorphs and David’s descent into madness.

17.⁠ ⁠It redefines the concept of “Alien” in the franchise

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Another important shift in the Alien franchise, which occurs due to Prometheus, is that it brings a new level of meaning to the concept of “Aliens,” as it is now tied to themes like evolution, creation, and destruction. From the Engineers being an advanced alien race creating humans, who also create the Xenomorphs, to David, an AI, creating its own version of aliens, the film expands the concept of what truly means to be “Alien”.

18.⁠ ⁠It revitalized interest in the franchise

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

When Prometheus hit the theatres, there was a lot of excitement as it was released several years after the last Alien movie and brought back Ridley Scott. Even though Prometheus had mixed reviews, it reinvigorated interest in the Alien franchise, proving there was still a demand for its world-building.

19.⁠ It ⁠proves Alien is bigger than the Xenomorph

Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)
Still from the movie (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

Because Prometheus shifts the focus of the Alien franchise from purely a survival horror to an epic sci-fi saga with grand themes of mythology, evolution, and AI, the film, therefore, successfully proves that the Alien universe has many more stories to tell beyond just that of humans fighting Xenomorphs and fighting for survival.

Edited by Debanjana
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