Synopsis for ‘Alien: Covenant’ reveals Michael Fassbender’s fate

Director Ridley Scott has dropped the “Prometheus” title from his “Alien” prequel trilogy films. The new name for the “Prometheus” sequel now directly channels the 1979 original as “Alien: Covenant,” and the new synopsis reveals what happened to the mischievous android David.

Last we saw of the crew from the spaceship Prometheus, survivor Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) was jettisoning off into the beyond with the still-functioning head of android David (Michael Fassbender) in tow. Their fate was unknown, but Shaw was hellbent on getting answers in the wake of the slaughtered crew of the Prometheus.

What happened to Shaw on that expedition still remains to be seen, but the official synopsis does let us know the fate of the blond-bot David. “Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world -- whose sole inhabitant is the ‘synthetic’ David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.”

Sounds like David will have yet another ship full of folks to terrorize, or perhaps the wicked robot’s ways have changed. At this juncture anything is possible.

Meanwhile, despite much instagramming and buzz around the additional “Alien” sequel from “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp, his film has been pushed back. Presumably to give “Alien: Covenant” a bit of breathing room.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this announcement is the dropping of the “Prometheus” name from the film. It feels like a re-focus on the reason most audiences tuned into this franchise prequel in the first place, for the love of “Alien.”

However, how “Alien: Covenant” (or perhaps the next, untitled film) will link up with the crew of the Nostromo is anyone’s guess. And we’re still a long way from any answers, “Alien: Covenant” will be released on Oct. 6, 2017.