Alien: Covenant Set Pics Slither Online, Sci-Fi Sequel Reveals Casting Surprise

UPDATE: The photos have been removed at the request of the studio.

Alien: Covenant has made room in its ranks for a last-minute addition: James Franco, star of Spring Breakers and Sausage Party, who is on board to portray Branson, the captain of the Covenant and husband to Katherine Waterson’s Daniels.

It’s a relatively small role, with AvP Galaxy reporting that Franco’s character will feature in the first ten minutes of Alien: Covenant, before cropping up a handful of times later on the film – so, a little similar to the role held by Guy Pearce in Prometheus. Perhaps what’s more interesting is that director Ridley Scott is reportedly planning to stage a big viral marketing campaign for Covenant, where James Franco’s Branson will be placed front and center. Does he have ties to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation?

One way or the other, Alien: Covenant was in attendance at a special screening event held by 20th Century Fox this week. Rubbing shoulders with Logan and War For the Planet of the Apes, the studio took the opportunity to screen 15 minutes of footage, and the overly positive reactions have now started to emerge online. With words like “disgusting,” “terrifying” and “bloody” peppered across the Tweets, it appears Ridley Scott’s 2017 sequel will be deserving of its rumored R rating.

Without further ado, here’s a sample of those reactions:

Alien: Covenant, also starring Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz and two Michael Fassbenders, will dock in theatres on May 19, 2017.