With the bizarre tonal hurricane of Prometheus still troubling Alien fanatics the recent news that Neill Blomkamp’s eagerly-awaited Alien sequel (given the name Alien 5, though it would forget that Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection ever happened) was being pushed back to allow Sir Ridley to finish another Alien prequel was something of a disappointment.

That prequel, Alien: Covenant, has just finished filming, and given the uneven nature of its immediate prequel it’s going to be a long wait to see if Covenant can live up to the standard set by James Cameron and Scott himself.

Concerning the gestating Alien 5 we do know that the film is intended to give Ripley’s story a decent conclusion, something which was muddled in the confused gait of the previous films. We understand that Newt will still be alive in this new timeline and, it seems, Michael Biehn’s Hicks is still very much in the picture.

Speaking to our good friend Simon Thompson for Forbes, Biehn spoke about the franchise and his proposed role in the new film. He confirmed he was still involved, and still expecting to be in the film. Here’s the quote in question,

I don’t know when it’s going to happen but I know it’s going to happen and I know I’m going to be in it and there’s going to be a new Newt, she’s going to be about 26 or 27 and looks a lot like Jennifer Lawrence to me…

The interview is well worth a read as Biehn gives his opinion on the Alien franchise after his character was summarily killed off in the early part of Alien 3. Blomkamp has made no bones about the fact that his new film would disregard everything following the end of Aliens, and for this we, as well as Biehn, should be grateful for.

Read the full interview here.