Prometheus sees Ridley Scott return to Alien world

It was a terrifying tagline right up there with: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water" or "From the producers of Xanadu...".

But the catalyst for the new film Prometheus is not the sleek, razor-jawed H.R. Giger-designed xenomorph of the first movie and its sequels but rather a huge, unnamed figure who is only briefly glimpsed on screen.

"I was thinking about it afterwards when I was doing interviews and what's interesting is that nobody asked about him," says director Sir Ridley Scott referring back to his original 1979 breakout hit.

The huge figure in question has come to be known by fans as the "Space Jockey" - the lone pilot of a derelict spaceship investigated by the crew of the Nostromo - which featured Sigourney Weaver in her most famous role as Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley.

The mummified figure, which looks at least twelve feet tall, sits at a set of controls with a large hole in its chest - a grim portent of the action to follow.

"I watched the further three Alien movies and it never came up," Sir Ridley adds.

Set around 40 years prior to the first movie, it features Girl With The Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba, star of The Wire and Luther.

According to BBC, the film takes its name from the Greek mythological titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the mortal world, only to be punished by having his liver torn out and eaten by an eagle day after day for all time.

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