Over the past few days, the Alien franchise Twitter account has been releasing some cryptic photos, including yesterday's gruesome image that teases the aftermath of a Chestburster incident. Most of these photos haven't featured any actual cast members, but today it seems they're changing their approach. The Twitter feed debuted an image offering our first look at Michael Fassbender as as new android character Walter, who is wearing all white while sitting at a piano, barefoot.

It was recently confirmed that Michael Fassbender is returning as his Prometheus character David, a former crew member aboard the Prometheus ship, while also playing another robot named Walter, an assistant to the crew on the Covenant ship. It remains to be seen what the significance and/or meaning of this latest photo could be, but we have another new shot of Katherine Waterston's character Daniels.

Empire debuted the new Katherine Waterston photo, with the publication also speaking to Michael Fassbender, who would only state that this film will be "really, really scary." They also spoke with Katherine Waterson, whose character Daniels has already drawn comparisons to the original Alien hero, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. The actress wouldn't comment on rumors that her character Daniels is actually Ripley's mother, but she did offer new details about Daniels. Here's what she had to say, when asked about Daniels' comparison to Ripley.

"These are things you actively don't think about until you get interview to remind you that you should be pissing yourself. Unlike Sigourney in Alien, [Daniels] is in a survival mode of sorts from the beginning. She's not the captain, but she's a natural leader so in times of crisis she falls into that position quite easily."

The most recent photos have been accompanied with mysterious numbers, which were rumored to serve as a countdown to the first trailer's release, which was supposed to be yesterday night, but that never happened. The first Alien: Covenant footage was shown to press members during a special presentation in New York earlier this month, but the studio has never confirmed when the first trailer may debut. However, since 20th Century Fox recently pushed up the release date from August 4, 2017 to May 19, 2017, most expected the first trailer to debut sooner rather than later.

We also go confirmation last week that James Franco is starring in Alien: Covenant, although he wouldn't confirm any details about the character. The initial report claimed the actor is playing a character named Branson, who serves as the captain of the Covenant ship, and is married to Katherine Waterston's character Daniels. Alien: Covenant centers on members of an intergalactic expedition, aboard the ship Covenant, who discover what they think is an uncharted paradise. They soon find that this planet is a dark and dangerous place, whose only inhabitant is David (Michael Fassbender), the sole surviving member of the Prometheus expedition.

Back in November, director Ridley Scott teased that Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw, who was also alive at the end of Prometheus, will have just a small role in Alien: Covenant, but there have been other reports that her role has been cut entirely. Alien: Covenant also stars Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo and Callie Hernandez. Ridley Scott is directing from a script by Jack Paglen, Michael Green and John Logan. Take a look at these new photos from Alien: Covenant below.

Alien: Covenant Photo 1
Alien: Covenant Photo 2