10 Unexpected Movie Deaths That Came Out Of NOWHERE
2. Branson - Alien: Covenant
For those who didn't catch the few (uncredited) seconds James Franco got in Alien: Covenant, his character, named Jake Branson, was the captain of the USCSS Covenant and its crew that audiences spend the film with.
Though he is only officially identified after his untimely demise, his death at the very beginning of the film is no less shocking. As the Covenant's android monitor Walter attempts to wake up the crew from their cryosleep, Branson is locked inside his own capsule and quickly incinerated. His body is later jettisoned out into space, but that's about it for the ship's captain save for a couple of references and the odd photo.
For any audience members out there that were aware of James Franco being involved with Alien: Covenant, seeing their main man suddenly burst into flames and never be seen again must have been a bit of a shock. And whilst the Alien franchise certainly doesn't have a great track record when it comes to ship captains making it to the end of their films, they're usually able to last a little bit longer than the opening few minutes.