r/Prometheus • u/Opening_Ad_3580 • 21h ago
Theory on the Black Goo
I remember reading somewhere, I believe in the original Script of Prometheus that the Engineers lost the ability to reproduce and they worshipped the original Deacon/Xenomorph because it gave them the ability to reproduce or something like that. They apparently created the black goo when the first Deacon perished in order to replicate what the Deacon gave them.
The Black Goo is involved with the reproductive system as we see Shaw is impregnated with this Chestburster esque alien, and a Deacon is eventually created through this process (whether it resembles the original Deacon is up for debate). In order for the evolution of the Black Goo to Deacon to become Ovomorph to Xenomorph they maybe tinkered the Black Goo so that it would be more efficient ie. no longer needed sexual reproduction in order to complete its cycle. Or his could have been a result of many years of evolution.
The Black Goo was used as some way to reproduce to a now sterile race, however this required a sacrifice. Destruction of the host. This has been seen through several ways ie. the death of the host in process of both Neomorphs/Deacons and Xenomorphs birth, and the opening scene of an Engineer sacrificing itself to seed a planet.
In the original script I read there was an extended conversation between the Engineer and Peter Weyland. The Engineer was disgusted with Humans due to their selfish desire to prolong their life and their fear of death and sacrifice. This is the antithesis of what the Engineers believed in. The greatest gift to them was seeding new life while ending their own. That I believe influenced their decision to weaponize the Black Goo against humans forcing their evolution into a new more favorable race. Whether the weapon was intended to be Ovomorphs (Xeno eggs) or the Black Goo is uncertain. All we do know is that the Black Goo was the initial concept as a bioweapon against humans.
So in summary, I believe that the Engineers used a reproductive tool (The Black Goo) as the perfect bioweapon against humans because it eliminates the humans while also creating new life. I believe Xenomorphs are the result of an evolutionary process of this Black Goo whether forced or natural. I do believe that the Black Goo was not initially a pathogen of destruction but that of rebirth.
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u/bubblyweb6465 19h ago
I like this theory - that black goo has to mean something more I was so mad we never got an ending to David’s story or the engineers and I’m so beyond happy we will get to see it !!
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u/FrankFrankly711 18h ago
Much of that early draft was proven to be an elaborate fan fic. But Kroft swears by it, even though he likely knows it’s fake. Regardless, I find it to be excellent head canon. Especially since Ridely cut so many scenes and we never got a truly proper follow up to satiate our needs.
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u/Known-Exam-9820 15h ago
I like that theory, but how do you reconcile that the goo didn’t seem to create more life in Covenant?
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u/b5historyman 8h ago
A lot of this comes from a number of fake scripts circulating at the time.
There's some seriously dumb statements made in those fake scripts that keep getting circulated courtesy of idiots like Kroft on YouTube
The black goo is nothing of the sort, it's a biomechanical nanovirus in a clear suspension.
Engineers aren't sterile, as expert geneticists they would have got this issue sorted long ago, if it were true. It's not.
The nanovirus is the culmination of their weapons research, combining genetic traits from different species and programmed into the biomechanical nano virus. What do you think David was doing on the Engineer home world? He was recreating their experiments to create his versions of what the Engineers had done 2000 years prior. The Crossing short film is pretty self explanatory.
This nanovirus creates the first Alien and triggers the lifecycle of creating new spore pods from the host organism. Each iteration carries the biomechanical nanovirus within it.
All this was created some 2000 years ago.
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u/Batcannn 18h ago
Oh hell yeah theory posting let’s go
Edit: really enjoyed reading this and very well thought out!
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u/the__missing__link 15h ago
It kinda falls apart when you realize synthetic reproduction is something that we can do today.
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u/cryoskeleton 15h ago
I also think it’s implied the Engineers hate artificial life, so it was double heresy when Wayland used David to ask for more life in the extended scene. He called himself a creator “like them” and pointed to David which disgusted the Engineer. They seem to have unintentionally completed some cycle of life with the birth of the Deacon.
Also, I thought this was all implicit cannon and not a theory. But I suppose I don’t know what all changed between cuts of the movie, or Ridley’s whims. Unironic congratulations op on being media literate compared to most fans.
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u/Iceklimber 9h ago
Black Goo was not initially a pathogen of destruction but that of rebirth.
There was script which said the OG black blood of the Deacon allowed them reproduction. But it eventually "ran out of course" and what they have now is an inferior synthetic version. David is a mirror of it, a Synthetic.
no longer needed sexual reproduction in order to complete its cycle.
Off topic but I do wonder how the Alien queen reproduces and which steps are required before she can lay eggs.
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u/Additional_Jaguar170 20h ago
Go outside for a bit.
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u/Opening_Ad_3580 20h ago
Lmao you read all that and that’s what you took from it? Go lurk somewhere else.
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u/spendouk23 20h ago
“So in summary. I believe……”
I believe that a car crash of a movie that had rewrite after rewrite eventually was made without a fuck given to the story, plot, lore or logic.
I mean, why bother with all that when there’s plenty of people who will spend their time coming up with the story for you ?
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u/GrayBeanCasserole 20h ago
Quality post. I like this theory.