10 Sequels That Totally Undermined The Previous Movie's Ending

You could argue that the best sequels are the ones that are planned from the start, and that have the feel of a natural continuation from the original movie. This could have been the case with the next chapter in the Alien franchise after Prometheus very clearly set up Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David (Michael Fassbender) exploring the universe and searching for the homeworld of the Engineers.

Shaw was the only human survivor of the Prometheus, and used the very last moments of the movie to say that she was leaving death behind and still searching. However, such an obvious and perfect set-up for what happened to her and David next never came. Instead, the franchise went in the direction of Alien: Covenant, following a completely new crew.

Shaw was ultimately killed by David off-screen before the events of Covenant, something that feels like it would have made for a much better and more interesting story than the sequel ultimately did.

Even director Ridley Scott himself said that keeping Elizabeth Shaw alive was essential, and that the plan was to follow their trajectory at the end of Prometheus. Ultimately Alien: Covenant isn't the worst of the franchise, but it could have been so much better.