時間推至當年探險隊與異形首次相遇的30年前，太空船「普羅米修斯號」正在遠赴外太空探索人類起源的秘密。他們相信在遙遠的星系之中，一些高等「異種生物」參與創造人類計劃，而這個剛被發現的星系，相信與人類進化，有莫大關係。太空船企業老闆彼得偉蘭（佳皮里斯）遂派出探險隊出征，作出為期兩年的太空飛行，女考古學家伊莉莎伯（露美慧柏絲）滿懷希望地與男友荷蘭（勞根瑪素堅）一起上船，並與機械人大衛（麥可法斯班德）及企業代表瑪莉迪芙（查理絲泰朗）齊齊踏上征途。怎料，在浩瀚宇宙中等待著他們的，卻是前所未有凶難和危機；不但影響到各人性命安危，更險些永遠解不開人類發跡的驚人謎團…

When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution nearly 150 years ago, he shattered the dominant belief of his day – that humans were the product of divine creation. Through his observations of nature, Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. This caused uproar. After all, if the story of creation could be doubted, so too could the existence of the creator. Ever since its proposal, this cornerstone of biology has sustained wave after wave of attack. Now some scientists fear it is facing the most formidable challenge yet: a controversial new theory called intelligent design.