There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott’s upcoming sequel to Prometheus that will further establish the connection between his prequel trilogy and the events of his 1979 franchise-spawning classic, Alien, but one thing that just became a lot clearer is who we’ll see on the screen when the film arrives in theaters.
Inherent Vice actress Katherine Waterston will reportedly play one of the lead roles in Covenant, portraying a character named “Daniels” in the film.
Waterston is expected to join returning cast members Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender in the 2017 sequel, according to Deadline, although the facts surrounding her character’s role remain just as much of a mystery as the film itself.
Official plot details remain scarce, but Alien: Covenant is expected to follow a colony ship that lands on a distant planet that initially seems like a paradise, but is soon revealed to be a terrifying, dangerous world. After landing on the mysterious planet, they encounter David, the android played by Fassbender in Prometheus — and as one might expect, events quickly begin to spiral out of control for the ship’s crew.
Waterston, who won an Independent Spirit Award as part of the ensemble cast of Inherent Vice, appeared in the Steve Jobs biopic released earlier this year, and will also play a supporting role in the upcoming Harry Potter spinoff movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Scott recently indicated that Alien: Covenant will feature many of the more familiar forms of the alien xenomorph creatures from Alien and its sequels.
Production is expected to begin on Alien: Covenant early next year, with Scott directing the film from a script penned by Jack Paglen (Transcendence) and Michael Green (Green Lantern).
Alien: Covenant is currently scheduled to hit theaters October 6, 2017.
