Has Katherine Waterston’s Alien: Covenant Role Been Revealed?

We recently received a first look at Katherine Waterston’s character in Alien: Covenant, which showed the actress hiding down a dark, shadow-filled hallway while an explosion roared nearby. As the shaven-headed commander of the titular colony ship, we don’t know that much about Daniels, except that she’s part of a larger crew sent to investigate a planet whose sole inhabitant is Michael Fassbender’s creepy android David.

The time has come though folks, when rumors begin to fly and eyes subsequently begin to roll as The Playlist has revealed several details concerning Daniels and her background. If you’re hoping to avoid any spoilers whatsoever about the movie, then please, click away now. Just because it’s a rumor doesn’t mean it might not be true.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW…..

The site’s sources claim that Waterston has a far more vital role in the movie than we had previously anticipated. Daniels isn’t your regular space-traveller, you see. According to this rumor, she’s actually Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)’s mother.

This latest tidbit of information concerning Ridley Scott’s film is certainly an interesting thing to chew over, yet not necessarily for the reasons you might expect. The Prometheus sequel/Alien prequel is aligned as the first in a new trilogy of films that will, in Scott’s words, lead right up to his original 1979 Alien. We know this already. He’s teased connections to Ripley that would occur later on, and these would be welcomed by fans no doubt – myself included – but doesn’t this seem like Fox is trying too hard to shoehorn in an Ellen Ripley connection too early?

If the plan really is for another two movies to sync up with Alien, then there are timelines to consider. Prometheus happens in 2093 and Alien: Covenant takes place ten years later, which would mean that if Daniels IS Ripley’s mother, then she’s left her young daughter back on Earth; in the official continuity Ellen Ripley is born in 2092. Of course, it’d be fitting, because that’s exactly what happens between Ellen Ripley and her daughter Amanda in Alien and Aliens.

What do you think of this rumor, then? Is it a good idea for Alien: Covenant to link up so perfectly to the rest of the brand? Sound off in the comments section below!