The original ending to Alien was far more terrifying and fatal than the one used

Alien: Covenant is just on the horizon and as director Ridley Scott starts promoting the film, he’s opened up about other movies in the Alien franchise, including the 1979 film that started it all.

One of the biggest revelations Scott has brought to attention is the original ending he wanted to go with for Alien. Scott told Entertainment Weekly he thought a more appropriate ending for the film would be to have Ripley die. Instead of having Ripley, played famously by Sigourney Weaver, emerge victorious after a ferocious battle with a Xenomorph, she was supposed to try and fight the alien to no avail.

“I thought that the alien should come in, and Ripley harpoons it and it makes no difference, so it slams through her mask and rips her head off,” Scott said.

Ultimately, it’s a good thing that Ripley was able to defeat the Xenomorph and move on with the series, but there’s no question that an alien who can’t be stopped is far more terrifying. Scott said the idea was shot down almost immediately by executive producers at Fox, who weren’t okay with the idea of the movie’s main character dying in such a graphic manner.

Ripley went on to appear in Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. Weaver has said multiple times that she’d love to join the franchise again, but that’s unlikely at this time. Covenant, which is the sequel to Prometheus and the second installment in a new trilogy, takes place before the events of the original Alien and, therefore, Ripley’s debut.

Still, there is hope that Ripley could reappear. Scott has also recently stated that he wants to make another six Alien movies, and they won’t all be set before the events of the first movie.

Alien: Covenant will be released on May 19.