A breakdown of Alien: Covenant’s most important scene from its debut trailer

On Christmas Day, Fox released the first trailer for Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, and there’s one particular scene that’s worth focusing on.

[Warning: The following could be considered spoilers for the film.]

About 20 seconds into the trailer, we can see a man almost convulsing before the angle changes and there’s a closeup of his back. The image of him slightly hunched over, in pain, while something tries to claw its way out of his back is the first look at Alien’s new monster, the Neomorph.

YouTube/Fox

According to AvPGalaxy, a website dedicated to covering the Alien franchise, the Neomorph begins as a spore that enters a human body, causing that person to become infected. The Neomorph then grows inside the body and, once the gestation period is over, erupts. The Neomorph is similar to the iconic Chestbuster in many ways, but according to AvPGalaxy, Neomorphs can burst out of various places. The one that can be seen trying to pierce through the skin of the host in the photo above, for example, is called a “backbuster.” The photo below also shows a spore floating toward the ear of an unsuspecting marine.

The Neomorphs have been described as more animal-like in behavior than its Xenomorph counterpart, sporting fang-like teeth. According to AvPGalaxy, they’re also far more translucent, appearing with a white glow. Early versions of the Neomorph were reportedly drawn up for Prometheus when it was released in 2012, but were never actually used.

YouTube/Fox

The name for the new breed of alien was first revealed by Michael Fassbender in an interview on BBC Radio 2 in October. Fassbender, who played David in Scott’s Prometheus, will be returning to reprise his role.

Alien: Covenant will be released worldwide on May 19, 2017.