Dear Ridley....My Letter to Ridley Scott

So I spent some time typing this up and wanted to know what some of you think.

Dear Sir,

Please allow me to begin this letter with the oldest cliche in stardom by saying that I am a huge fan of you and your work. I appreciate your no nonsense approach to directing, and am continually astonished that you have the ability to take far out, imaginary concepts, and ground them in reality. I remember several years ago, my cousin turned on the television and forced me to watch the Director's Cut of "Alien." I remember finding myself morbidly fascinated by H. R. Giger's monstrosity, and found myself envious that you had the privilege of bringing it to life. In fact, you so masterfully brought this monster to bear, that today it is a science fictional icon. Therein lies my concern for the monster though. Since the day your masterpiece was released, many have tried, and failed miserably, to bring back that original terror that the Big Chap brought to the cinema. This over-saturation has led to the neutering and bastardization of the beast. Never the less, the beast remained an icon.
And so we come to "Prometheus." This film was going to bring a different spin on Alien. It was going to shake up the lore, bring context to that mysterious horseshoe-shaped craft, and even throw humanity in the mix, linking our genetic heritage to that if the mysterious Space Jockey. It was new! It was fresh! It was....where was the Big Boy, where had he been hiding? Of all the questions that Prometheus raised for its viewers to mull over in their heads, this was sadly the only thing that we were all thinking. Thus, here lies the true tragedy of Prometheus. It isn't that the movie was a bad idea, or that it wasn't what it was meant to be, but that it was MARKETED as something that it wasn't. We were told to EXPECT something that we didn't get. I believe that this is why it garnered the reactions that it did. Naturally, there was a response to this backlash of cutting back the grand, mystical, questions of the Engineers, combined with the addition of the Alien himself. I believe that humbly, sir, you may have skipped a step. And in so doing, alienated (for lack of a better word) many filmgoers.
I remember a couple of months ago reading John Spaights' original draft, "Alien: Engineers." I was amazed at the ideas, the characters, and the setting, but most of all I was satisfied with the BALANCE. There was a fine balance between answering the grand questions of what the Engineers are, what the big boy is, where humanity comes from, and the claustrophobia of the original Alien. However, we didn't see the Big Boy; not in his original state, anyway. Instead we got the Beluga-Xenomorph, a sort of precursor to the big boy, which of course would be reused as the Neomorphs; a more traditional Xenomorph, that had very little time in the limelight, which is a good thing; and of course the Ultramorph. A genius idea really. A perfect balanced combination of Alien horror, combined with the deep question of the Engineers, it having been birthed from the hulking giants originally. This balance, of course, is what gave "Engineers" a place above "Prometheus" for those who have read the script. I understand that Fox likes to stick their fingers into their properties, but in this case, they shot themselves in the foot.
Now, you did what you could with what you were given with "Prometheus," and I think, upon deep meditation and analysis, that you did a damn fine job at it. You gave us this grand new mythology and deepened the Alien Universe in a way that no one ever had before. Now, as a result of fans wanting the Alien, you decided to give us the Alien, but I believe you did so prematurely. "Covenant", a good film, tries to steer us back to form, but it doesn't QUITE get that balance I mentioned earlier.
Going forward, I, and many others like me, are urging that you find this balance. You may be surprised how many of us actually greatly enjoy what you presented with "Prometheus," and I implore you to reconsider your new direction of forgetting it's mythos entirely.
Now as far as beasts are concerned, may I suggest that THIS is where the shift in gear needs to take place. At the end of "Prometheus", you introduced to us a brand new creature: the Deacon: a monstrous, organic demon, spawned from a combination of human and Engineer DNA. In "Covenant" you resurrected the Beluga in the form of the Neomorph. THESE creatures are fresh, THESE creatures have life. And if all else fails, you still have the nightmarish Ultramorph in reserves in case these don't pan out. Giger's original work, though magnificent, had been worn thin. Why not let these new monsters shine, all whilst developing the mysterious Engineers? As for me, I sincerely hope to see the Deacon again, especially in an adult form (Perhaps, you could call the next film "D E A C O N"? I jest, of course). However, many of us agree that, as you said months ago, the original Alien IS cooked. With an apple in his mouth, ready for supper. I would certainly love to see more original creatures like the Deacon, Neomorph, and Ultramorph have their time to strike fear into the minds of cinema goers everywhere with claustrophobic terror, all while finding the balance of widening and expanding the mythos of Alien with the deep questions raised in your "Prometheus" prequel.
I and many others like me are cheering you on, sending you all of our love and adoration for you and your craft, and believe us when we say that it isn't just the Big Boy that's keeping us coming back.

Love with regards,

Riley Nichols