Alien: Covenant - Alien Universe Timeline

When Alien hit theaters in 1979, it blew up the alien archetype and revolutionized the science fiction genre by taking a step away from the friendly, space imagery to a scarier perspective of space. With the upcoming release of the sixth installment of the series, it can be hard to keep track of the timeline. Below is a general overview of the series to help you brush up on your Alien knowledge to prepare for the premiere of Alien: Covenant.
Prometheus (2012)
Prometheus takes place 30 years before the first Alien movie (1979). Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan-Marshall Green) lead a team that are searching for the origins of humanity. They journey on the ship Prometheus and arrive on a distant world in the same region in which Alien is found. They discover the remains of an advanced civilization and terror elicited by a horrific alien race. This is not necessarily a prequel to Alien, but is set in the same universe.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Covenant is set 10 years after Prometheus. A crew travels to an unexplored paradise hoping to find exactly that. They encounter sole inhabitant David (Michael Fassbender) and realize that the paradise they were hoping for is far, far from a utopia.
Alien (1979)
A commercial mining ship is heading back to Earth is diverted after receiving a signal from an unknown planetoid. The crew wakes to answer the signal only to find a destroyed ship laden with thousands of egg-like objects. One crew member approaches one of the eggs, it hatches, latches onto his face, and renders him unconscious. As the crew brings him onto the ship, the man wakes up seemingly fine but soon and alien bursts from his chest and grows rapidly and goes on a killing rampage.
Aliens (1986)
57 years after the first Alien encounter, sole survivor Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is found by a salvage team. Her horror story is not believed and when they arrive at LV-426, they find only one survivor, a 9-year old girl. But, this team of marines are no match for the aliens that has invaded the colony.
Alien 3 (1992)
Again, Ellen Ripley defeats the odds and escapes to a planet that is home to former inmates of the planet’s maximum security prison. Not much time has passed between Aliens and Alien 3. Unbeknownst to her, there were a few aliens aboard the ship she escaped on and before long, the aliens grow and hunt down anyone that crosses their path. They have no weapons nor technology of any kind and must battle the destructive creature.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
200 years later after Ellen Ripley died. A team of scientist clone Ellen Ripley by using genetic samples that were collected and remove the alien queen embryo that was growing inside of her. Attempting to revive the alien species, the scientists have no idea what they are in for as the aliens escape and destroy everything and everyone in their path.
By marrying horror and sci-fi, the Alien franchise paved a way to a new subgenre.
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