When some official production photos from Ridley Scott's
Alien: Covenant surfaced, actor Michael Fassbender - who was already confirmed to return as the mysterious android
David - was seen sporting a brunette look as opposed to the blonde hair he had in
Prometheus. This led to speculation that Fassbender might be playing another role in the film in addition to David, and as it turns out, he is!
Fassbender confirmed in an interview with
The Irish Times that he is playing a second android named Walter, presumably an assistant onboard the Covenant.
"I am allowed to say I am playing two robots – Walter and David. I think what’s great about it is that Ridley has gone back to the original DNA of Alien, the horror element of that. But is also has the scope and the scale of Prometheus. Ridley has cut it already. He is a machine. He is an incredible human being and he was in such good form. He is such an imaginative and mischievous figure."
Having androids possess the same appearance is not a new trope in science fiction, especially in the
Alien film universe, so it will be interesting to see how Fassbender's performance and personality differs between the two characters.
Alien: Covenant stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Demien Bichir and Danny McBride, and releases on on
August 4, 2017.
“Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the ‘synthetic’ David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.”