Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus made the biggest impression on the geek faithful Saturday at WonderCon, where glimpses into the film’s set-up and ensuing space shenanigans were revealed in a new two-and-a-half minute trailer for the sci-fi action film. The trailer (not to be confused with the more truncated one-minute teaser that leaked yesterday) offered more hints at spoilers and narrative threads for fans to try to piece together, not to mention some very interesting new imagery – but how much do Prometheus-watchers really want to know? [Spoiler alert, obviously.]
That’s the intriguing question ahead as Fox carefully disseminates more and more information about Prometheus and the mysterious story it contains. On the one hand, Friday’s teaser and Saturday’s WonderCon trailer still only comprise a series of (admittedly awesome) shots and snippets of scenes, seemingly key dialogue, and ominous soundscapes, leaving most of the plot and potential reveals up to a viewer to piece together. But the more we see of Prometheus, the more these sparse rations of information add up into a jumble that almost feels like too much information.
After presenting the new trailer, which you can watch below, Scott, co-writer Damon Lindelof, and stars Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender answered a handful of Twitter questions before making their way backstage, where the group (minus Theron, who stayed behind to attend her Snow White and the Huntsman panel) fueled even more Prometheus speculation. Here are the nine most provocative, intriguing, maybe-spoilery and potentially revealing clues the Prometheus filmmakers spilled at WonderCon.
[Trailer screengrabs via 20th Century Fox]
1. New trailer, new clues
Prometheus’s setup is revealed in the new trailer, which shows Noomi Rapace’s scientist-heroine Elizabeth Shaw and Logan Marshall-Green’s Holloway presenting evidence of a startling new discovery: Multiple ancient civilizations have been found which all use the same mysterious pictograms – and Shaw believes those symbols are an invitation sent by an unknown entity to seek out their makers, prompting the crew of the Prometheus to depart into space on their journey.
That seemingly leads our heroes to a planet where their probes discover life forms. Which somehow leads to this:
Is that... a baby facehugger being extracted from close quarters with Shaw, prior to the hallway-stumbling in LeeLoo-style skivvies glimpsed in the trailers?
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2. The devil is in the dialogue
Consider two key quotes that bookend the trailer. The first, spoken by Theron as the icy corporate tool Meredith Vickers: “A king has his reign and then he dies… it’s inevitable.”
And the last, uttered by Fassbender as David, the ship’s android servant: “Big things have small beginnings.”
Now also consider Theron's response to the last fan question of the day: What does Michael Fassbender smell like? "Musk and chilies... sometimes mixed in with a little mint."
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3. Speaking of the trailer, WTF??
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4. Fassbender rumors: True or false?
Selecting a few questions sent in via Twitter to answer onstage, Lindelof picked one burning question that fans have been dying to know. “There are rumors on the net that Fassbender gives birth to mankind in the movie,” he read. “Are these rumors true?
“Absolutely,” answered Fassbender with a coy Mona Lisa smile. Was he serious? Hard to say. Did Lindelof just randomly pick that one Twitter question out of many to address onstage with a non-answer? Another mystery to add to the list.
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5. Is Prometheus really just a story about a guy looking for love?
During the panel, Lindelof joked with Theron and Fassbender. Given the film’s mysterious nature, how do they explain to friends and family what Prometheus is? “I told them it was a romantic comedy, so they’re going to be shocked,” quipped Theron.
Fassbender agreed, describing his character David – an android with lifelike human qualities, a la Bishop – as “just a guy trying to find love in all the wrong places.”
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6. More on David, the cybernetic butler of Prometheus
Admitting that David’s robotic nature is revealed early on in the film, Fassbender identified his character’s personal journey as one of a sentient android acutely aware of his otherness and, perhaps, attempting to become more human. “I thought, how much will a program program itself?,” Fassbender said. “Would he start to develop his own personality traits and ego and insecurities, all the fun human stuff?”
In the film, David’s been the only crew member awake during their space voyage, who’s “been on his own for two and a half years while everyone else is in cryo… He relies on his imagination to keep himself occupied.”
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7. A “killer app”
In the universe of Prometheus, Fassbender’s David is just one of thousands of service androids used as butlers, maids, valets, etc. “There are 20,000 other Davids out there who look like Fassbender,” Lindelof hinted, comparing the cybernetic beings to iPods – they’re all initially identical products that become individualized and re-skinned so that one is distinguishable from another.
Or, as Lindelof describes: David is the ultimate “killer app.” BUT WHAT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN??
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8. The makers of Prometheus don’t want you to know too much, for your own good.
Scott and Lindelof addressed the tricky business of having to market a film like Prometheus while not wanting their audience to know too much going in. “There’s a quiet suspense to the movie,” Lindelof said. “It really takes its time… We don’t need things exploding every 10 minutes.”
Citing their trust in their audience to have faith and a bit of patience, they hope viewers will embrace more challenging storytelling that doesn’t force-feed viewers or talk down to them.
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9. A Prometheus sequel is very possible – but won’t necessarily bridge the gap with Alien.
After Scott announced the possibility of continuing the Prometheus saga in additional films, Lindelof explained how Prometheus and any sequels would fit into Alien canon: Neither would serve as a direct lead-in to Alien, but would contextualize the Alien films while moving tangentially farther away from those stories, exploring new space in that same universe.
So there you have it: All the answers you've been seeking, right? If you ask me, stop reading spoilers and watching trailers and viral videos and whatnot from here on out. It's not that long until June - preserve what could be the best, most intelligent and scary and inventive science fiction moviegoing experience you'll have in a long time by going in like the maybe-probably doomed crew of the Prometheus.
Prometheus is in theaters June 8. Get more from WonderCon 2012.