Alien: Covenant to introduce franchise’s first ever gay couple
By Will Stroude
Good news, horror fans – Alien: Covenant is set to introduce the franchise’s first-ever gay characters when it gets its UK release this Friday (May 12).
Starring Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston, the eagerly-anticipated sci-fi horror sequel follows the crew of the Covenant spaceship as they explore an uncharted planet with the hope of colonising it, only to make a terrifying discovery (you can probably guess what at this point).
The Covenant’s crew is made up entirely of couples hoping to colonise the new world, but in a small but significant twist, one of those couples will be a same-sex one.
The film, which is the sixth instalment in the Alien franchise and third directed by Ridley Scott, will explicitly acknowledge that crew-mates Lope (Demián Bichir) and Hallett (Nathaniel Dean) are romantically-involved with one another, but won’t make a song and dance of their sexuality, according the the stars themselves.
Nathaniel Dean told ScreenRant: “It’s really great in the future… The thing within this film is that we don’t really italicize it. You know, it’s just a thing, they’re just two men who love each other and they’re happy to be bad-ass soldiers.”
The Australian actor adds: “We are all couples on this ship, all kinds of couples, even men and men. For me that’s a beautiful side of the story when you can have these two almost iconic macho types being together and loving each other and being a part of keeping everyone alive.”
Alien: Covenant opens in cinemas on May 12.
More stories:
George Shelley’s sister tragically dies after being hit by a car
Tom Daley shares first picture of wedding to Dustin Lance Black