‘Alien: Covenant’ Adds ‘The Hateful Eight’ Star Demian Bichir

The cast for Alien: Covenant is certainly shaping up to be a good one, and if nothing else, we’ll soon be able to see a new Alien prequel starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride (!!!) — that’s a pretty solid lineup thus far, but it just got a bit more solid with the addition of The Hateful Eight star Demian Bichir.

Deadline reports that Bichir has joined the cast of Ridley Scott’s new Alien prequel, and while they don’t have any details on his part in Covenant, it’s safe to assume that he’ll be joining the derelict crew captained by Waterston’s character. Bichir is a very versatile actor, whose credits include The Hateful Eight, AMC’s The Bridge, The Heat and Savages.

The trade incorrectly reports that Noomi Rapace is returning to reprise her role as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw — Scott originally planned for Shaw to make a brief appearance in Alien: Covenant, but recently revealed that she will not be appearing after all.

The upcoming Alien prequel / Prometheus sequel centers on a new derelict crew that discovers a seemingly uncharted paradise, but further exploration reveals an unsettling truth, as Fassbender’s mischievous synthetic David is the planet’s only inhabitant. Last we saw David, he took off in a spacecraft with Shaw to search for the Engineers’ home planet. According to Scott, the new trilogy of Alien prequels will not only explore the Engineers’ history, but will reveal the origins of the Xenomorphs, and is aiming for an R rating.

Alien: Covenant hits theaters on October 6, 2017.