As promised, the latest chapter in Ridley Scott’s Alien saga will introduce a new iteration (evolution? variation?) of the classic Xenomorph — the Neomorph. This one is just as terrifying as its sleek predecessors, but unlike those iconic creatures, the Neomorph is leaner and more…limber (so to speak), its body a shade of unnerving white instead of black. Until now, the Neomorph has been only briefly spotted in trailers, but new photos from Alien: Covenant reveal our best (and bloodiest) look yet at the crew’s formidable antagonist.

Alien: Covenant covers the latest issue of Empire, which has debuted a trio of new photos from Ridley Scott’s upcoming prequel, one of at least three films that will bridge the gap between Prometheus and the original Alien. First things first: That gnarly Neomorph, seen here feasting on a victim. Once you get over the more gruesome aspects, you might begin to appreciate the design — it’s a little more humanoid than the traditional Xenomorph, and its head shape reminiscent of the creature from the end of Prometheus:

Two more photos tease Michael Fassbender’s dual roles as synthetics David and Walter. The latter, a more subservient synthetic, is on the left, with Guy Pearce’s Peter Weyland in the background. The former, the dangerously mischievous and entirely unhelpful synthetic last seen blasting off with Noomi Rapace’s Dr. Elizabeth Shaw at the end of Prometheus, is shown on the right; in Covenant, he’s found the Engineers’ home planet, and in the photo below, he appears to be bombing the hell out of it with what looks like a crap-load of alien eggs:

I attended a special sneak peek last month at SXSW, where Ridley Scott and stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride presented three scenes from Alien: Covenant. Two of those scenes featured the Neomorph wreaking havoc on the crew, and the results were pretty horrific, to say the least.

Alien: Covenant hits theaters on May 19.

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