It was widely speculated that Noomi Rapace would not be returning for "Alien: Covenant," the sequel to the 2012 film "Prometheus," given that only Michael Fassbender had been announced thus far. However, a report from Deadline confirms that she is on set in Australia and is reprising her role of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw.
The official synopsis for the film does not mention Shaw at all. Instead, it details a crew and their ship, the Covenant, sent by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to the far side of the galaxy to find a lost paradise of sorts. Instead, the ship finds David (Michael Fassbender), the android from the first film.
As stated in a report from /Film it is undetermined if Rapace's involvement was planned all along or if director Ridley Scott had a change of plans while shooting the film. This is noted to be the first time Rapace has been mentioned to be a part of the movie, which has been in the middle of production for the past few weeks.
The report also points out that Rapace's involvement does not immediately mean she is going to play a large part in the film. While it is likely she is still one of the main characters, it is speculated that she may only appear at the very end of the movie to tie the series into the 1979 "Alien" movie or she may just be there for flashback sequences that depict how she and David separated.
Fans will recall that "Prometheus" ended with David and Shaw escaping the alien planet aboard one of the alien Engineers' spaceships, hoping to reach the Engineer home planet and discover why the Engineers created and then ultimately aimed to destroy mankind. Somewhere along the way they got split up and this occurs before "Alien: Covenant" begins, which is set roughly a decade later.
"Alien: Covenant" releases in theaters on Aug. 4, 2017.
