Noomi Rapace Will Be In 'Alien: Covenant' After All

Alien: Covenant isn't even opening for another year, and already it's throwing plot twists at us. Earlier this year we heard Noomi Rapace would not be returning as Elizabeth Shaw, despite being one of the few characters left alive at the end of Prometheus. Now it seems things have changed. According to a new report, Rapace will reprise her role after all, and in fact is on set as we speak. Deadline reports Rapace is already in Australia to shoot scenes for Alien: Covenant. It's unclear whether this was the plan all along, or whether director Ridley Scott recently had a change of heart. Nor do we know exactly how Elizabeth Shaw fits into the story. Michael Fassbender's David is the only other character returning from Prometheus, and so far we've heard nothing about why the two characters (who set out for the Engineers' home planet together at the end of Prometheus) have split up.

Here's the official synopsis for Alien: Covenant:

Set as the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with Prometheus, Alien: Covenant connects directly to Ridley Scott's 1979 seminal work of science fiction. It begins with the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. There, the crew discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

It's possible Elizabeth Shaw will get tangled up with David and the crew of the Covenant, but it seems more likely we'll see her in some sort of flashback sequence or perhaps an early scene that explains how David ended up alone.

In addition to Fassbender, Alien: Covenant stars Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, and Amy Seimetz. It lands in theaters August 4, 2017.