Alien: Covenant: New footage is some glorious mayhem, sees a new Ripley emerge

It may be the follow-up to 2012's Prometheus - but this first look suggests it will feel far more like a direct prequel to Alien

*WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR ALIEN: COVENANT*

Alien: Covenant looks both terrifying, and deeply stressful. Exactly how any Alien movie should be.

New footage was shown to journalists as part of a slate of upcoming Fox films, featuring two scenes and a short trailer centered on Katherine Waterston's character, Daniels.

The first was a fairly straightforward scene following the crew of the Covenant as they prepare to land on a mysterious planet, uncovered by following the signal of what's described as a "friendly ghost". There's some routine banter between the likes of Danny McBride's pilot and Billy Crudup's captain characters, while a group of them board a landing ship and descend through the planet's stormy atmosphere and down to its surface.

The next scene is what will be of great interest to fans, launching straight into the peak of the film's alien-infested mayhem; two of the crew have become infected, the group has been separated, and everything's going very badly indeed. For horror fans, it's a kind of glorious mayhem. The infected projectile vomit black, viscous blood all over their compatriots as the rest descend into complete panic mode - seemingly unaware of the exact nature of what they've encountered in this strange, new world.

One of the infected is rushed into the medical bay of the landing ship, while two female crew members look on in horror as sores start appearing across his back, with one of the women attempting to hold him down and finding her hand pierced by some strange bone suddenly jutting out of his spine. The other manages to escape, locking the door behind her - trapping infected and non-infected in a room together, as a nightmare starts to unfold.

The man's back rips open as a creature erupts straight from his spine. That'll be the Neomorph, a new kind of "baby Xenomorph" which would almost be adorable if not for the fact it immediately chases the woman down and starts clawing at her face, killing her. The second woman shows up with a firearm and attempts to gun down the Neomorph, but isn't quite successful as the creature proves terrifyingly nimble.

Outside, things aren't much better, as a disinterested Michael Fassbender (in what is presumably his role as not David, but another robot called Walter) looks on while another infected man has a Neomorph burst out from his own mouth much to the shock of those around him, before crawling away in the grass and escaping.

That group finally reach the landing ship, but must watch in horror as the woman's attempt to shoot the Neomorph running rampant inside within the hull seeing her accidentally hit a gas tank and explode the entire ship, killing her as well. Oops.

If Alien: Covenant can keep up this kind of hysteric horror mania for its full length, it's safe to say we're in for a pretty huge treat; with the short trailer cutting together a whole array of clips of Daniels shooting guns, looking badass, and firmly setting her up as a spiritual successor to Ripley.

Alien: Covenant hits UK cinemas 19 May.