Alien: Covenant and Prometheus link revealed in new CinemaCon footage

The direct connection between the two has remained unclear - until now

It's known that new Sir Ridley Scott film Alien: Covenant is a sequel to his 2012 film Prometheus, but it's remained unclear how the two are connected - until now.

The filmmaker attended CinemaCon in Las Vegas to present a preview of his new film to exhibitors, footage of which provided firm details of how each film is linked.

It's Michael Fassbender's robot David who provides the films with their connection - The Playlist reports how the sneak peek reveals that he's the one who creates the “horrific world” depicted in Alien: Covenant.

If you want to remain completely unspoiled, look away now.

The clip - a prologue-of-sorts - begins with Prometheus' spacecraft arriving at the Engineers' home world. David emerges, fully operational, as a multitude of bombs begin falling from his ship - bombs dousing gathered Engineers with a black ooze seen in Prometheus, transforming them into alien creatures as David watches on.

Fast forward to present day and it seems that this film's crew - including Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride and James Franco - land on the planet where the above scene occurred, hundreds of years later. Either way, it's a planet that David turned into a prowling ground for aliens.

It's unknown whether David will return later in the film or if he just appears in the above scene - Fassbender will be appearing as another identical robot named Walter. It's also unknown how Dr. Elizabeth Shaw - the Prometheus character played by Noomi Rapace - will feature in the film.

There's not long to wait - Alien: Covenant will be released 12 May and will be followed by a series of sequels bridging the gap between Prometheus and his 1979 classic Alien.