While Ridley Scott’sPrometheusis undoubtedly flawed, it is underrated, and one of its failings is not unique to the film. As the fifth movie in theAliensci-fi horror franchise, it is hard not to compare the latest movies in theAlienfranchise to the first two, and the iconic character Ellen Ripley. Though each subsequent installment intheAlienseries features at least one strong female character, none have yet reached the popularity or cultural status that Ripley did. As forPrometheus, it had Charlize Theron’s Elizabeth Shaw, the archaeologist whose quest sparks the events of the movie.
Prometheus’s ambiguous opening sceneintroduces the Engineers, who engineer DNA to create life on other planets, including humans. This fact causes the religious Shaw to struggle with her faith, and she ends up opposing the Engineers, who are returning to Earth with the Xenomorphs to destroy human life there.Scott had planned to make Shaw, meant to be played by Noomi Rapace, a recurring protagonistsimilar to Ripley, with theAlienfranchise following her journey, but,Shaw’s story was cut short, with the character’s body appearing briefly inAlien: Covenant, while android David 8 became the main protagonist.
Charlize Theron Was Originally Lined Up To Play Elizabeth Shaw In Prometheus
Theron Plays The Calculating Meredith Vickers Instead
When originally castingPrometheus, Scott had considered severaldifferent actresses for the part of Shaw, before choosing Charlize Theron. Theron had experience in a futuristic action role, playing rebel warrior Aeon Flux, and demonstrated that she could transform herself to play a character inMonster. However, Theron had already committed to playing Furiosa in George Miller’sMad Max: Fury Road, and the schedules did not work together.WhenFury Roadwas delayed, Theron returned toPrometheuseven though Shaw had already been cast. Theron instead took the role of Meredith Vickers, the corporate employee with an agenda.
Theron described Vickers as a character unlike any of her previous roles.
Theron described herPrometheuscharacter in a Comic-Con panel as “a suit who slowly sheds that skin through the film,“and compared her to a version of Ripley, even though Vickers is one oftheAlienfranchise’s many villains. Unlike Shaw, whose motivation is exploring both human history and her own faith,Vickers is desperate for control, and acts as the antagonist to ShawthroughoutPrometheus, with Theron bringing elements of her action persona to her portrayal of Vickers.
Theron’s Shaw Would’ve Been Very Different To Noomi Rapace’s Version
Noomi Rapace Created An Entire Backstory For Her Role In Prometheus
Theron’s first speaking role was as an assassin in2 Days In The Valley, in which she fought Teri Hatcher’s character, and one of Theron’s first action movie roles was safe cracker Stella inThe Italian Job.Over time, she began to do many of her own stunts, take on more action roles, andtough, warrior-type characters became her signature. Now,Theron is an experienced action star, whileRapace brings a different, more understated presenceto her roles. Theron’s interpretation of Shaw would have been very different from Rapace’s less guarded portrayal of the character.
Anne Hathaway, Abbie Cornish, Carey Mulligan, Natalie Portman, and Gemma Arterton were all considered for the role of Shaw.
Scott first noticed Rapace for her award-winning portrayal of Lisbeth Salander inThe Girl With The Dragon Tattooand its sequels, and at the time she agreed to work on the movie,Prometheusdidn’t even have its titleand was being called “a prequel to Alien.” Rapace’s characters often have an unconventional personal style, and she needed to make Shaw feel unique inPrometheus, when most characters wore similar space suits.Rapace created an entire backstory for Shaw, from childhood to boarding Prometheus, and she worked with a dialect coach to master an English accent.
Charlize Theron’s Shaw Might’ve Been Closer To Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley
The Future Success Of The Alien Franchise Might Mean Leaving Ripley Behind
Theron’s action characters tend to appear stoic unless something significant causes their facades to drop. Audiences saw this in her portrayal of Furiosa inFury Road, and Theron has confirmed thatFuriosa was heavily based on Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. IfTheron had been cast as Shaw inPrometheus, audiences might have seen a less expressive character, with one big and powerfully emotive moment. Rapace tends to allow the inner thoughts of her characters to show, which brings an element of uncertainty to her portrayal of Shaw, which sets her apart from both Theron and Ripley.
Alien: Ridley Scott’s Original Fate For Prometheus’ Shaw Was Horrific
Alien: Covenant may have killed off Prometheus heroine Elizabeth Shaw, but early concept art for the film saw her turned into a Xenomorph hybrid.
Any female protagonist inPrometheuswas going to be compared to Ripley, and the success of futureAlienmovies might depend on creating a well-written character in her own right. It might be a good thing that Theron was not cast as Shaw, leaving Rapace to put a different spin on the character. Even thoughPrometheuswas less popular than earlierAlienmovies, it introduced new kinds of characters and different motivations, like Vickers and her monstrous youth-obsessed father.Prometheusmight not have fully succeeded in giving audiences something different with its protagonist, but it tried.
Prometheus
Cast
Prometheus, released in 2012, is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a team of explorers as they uncover clues about humanity’s origins, embarking on a perilous interstellar expedition where they confront formidable challenges to secure the future of mankind.
