1: Prometheus opens with the Engineers seeding life on a planet (implied to be Earth).
This is a form of ritual self-sacrifice where an Engineer consumes a biological agent that breaks down its cellular structure and reassembles its DNA as the foundation for human life.
Self-sacrifice will be a recurring theme.
2:
The Engineers apparently supervised the evolution of life on Earth—guiding humanity not only genetically, but also sociologically, with visitations recorded in tablets by various cultures (AKA Ancient Astronaut tropes).
I’ll note that the star map included in these ancient pictographs, which the crew of the Prometheus follow to “meet their maker”, is evocative of Biblical Magi imagery and the Star of Bethlehem.
3:
When the crew of the Prometheus follow the star chart to its planetary destination, they find an abandoned complex, piles of dead Engineers, and a creepy black goo room.
The murals in the “black goo room” literally depict the Engineers as the Greek god Prometheus.
Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to humanity. He was punished for this trespass by being tied to a rock where an eagle would eat his liver for eternity.
The similar wound on the side of the Engineer in the mural visually ties Prometheus’s wound to the aftermath of a Xenomorph Chestburster.
To give life, one must sacrifice their own. All “gods” must die.
4:
Why is the Xenomorph and the Chestburster part of this evolutionary experiment? It’s the kill switch for the whole thing.
If humanity strayed too far from their set evolutionary path, the Engineers would drop bioweapons on the planet and infect the population with a multi-stage lifeform that eventually grows into the Xenomorph.
To quote another film, they would essentially “nuke them from orbit”.
Of course, that’s exactly what happened. Humanity sucks, so the Engineers decided to pull the plug.
But someone dropped a test tube before they could launch the bomber, and it took out the entire instillation, sparing humanity from its death sentence.
When did the Engineers decide to end humanity? According to the carbon dating of the Engineer’s corpse: “2000 years ago, give or take”.
5:
The events of the film take place between December 21 and January 1, 2093, with characters making explicit reference to it being Christmas on two occasions.
What happened on Earth approximately 2000 years before this, give or take?
The crucifixion of Christ.
6:
In the Alien Cinematic Universe, Jesus Christ was an emissary of the Engineers.
Executing Alien Jesus was evidently the last straw, and humanity was therefore scheduled for extinction.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. In the original Jon Spaihts drafts of the script, the character’s explicitly speculate that Jesus was an Engineer. And both Lindelof and Scott have stated in interviews that this is still subtext in the final film.
7:
Which brings us back to the movie’s themes of sacrifice and mortality.
Weyland goes in search of his maker because he is looking for immortality. He sees himself as a god.
The Engineers see death and sacrifice as a necessary corollary for life. Immortality is anathema to this belief. All gods must die to create.
So the Engineer beats Weyland to death with his own creation.
So remember, when you sit down for Alien: Romulus, the universe’s perfect killing machine is canonically related to Alien Jesus…..
The man became a hero to every socially awkward/potential incel millenial with Drive. When Stupid Crazy Love came out I saw an overnight shift in 50% of guys on my college campus tried to step up their fashion game. Bespoke suits and chelsea boots to an 8am FIN301 course is nasty work.
