After delivering an unexpected triumph in the form of the multiple Emmy-winning juggernaut that was Shogun, FX network is bringing out Alien: Earth, from creator Noah Hawley, known for his outstanding work in the five-season Fargo series.
The series, a prequel set two years before the events of Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic, Alien, is the latest entry in the popular franchise after Alien: Romulus, released last year. The makers have confirmed that they are going in a different direction this time around, with the action set, for a change, on Earth, a first in the history of the franchise that, until now, kept the storytelling confined to threats encountered in space, where no one can hear you scream.
In an interview with Variety, FX Entertainment president Gina Balian said the series will present a "brave new world" that ignores plot elements we saw in Scott’s prequels and "exists in parallel" to the film franchise of which Romulus was the most recent.
“Everything doesn’t have to fit together the way you expect from Marvel. Fans don’t expect that in this universe. It doesn’t have the same pressure,” she added.
As seen in the newly released trailers, Alien: Earth will take viewers to a research island ominously named Neverland. In this future, Earth is run by five mega-corporations—Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold—that shape all aspects of life. Within this "Corporate Era," humans coexist uneasily with the synthetic humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence and cyborgs, the enhanced humans with artificial parts. But the plot takes a stark turn when Prodigy Corporation’s CEO, the young and enigmatic Boy Kavalier, played by Samuel Blenkin, unleashes a radical new advancement, introducing hybrids, robots implanted with actual human consciousness.
“All I tried to do was think one or two steps ahead," Hawley told Variety. "Is it realistic to think that billionaires are going to be trillionaires? The planet is heating up, and the seas are going to rise — it’s going to be a hot, wet planet that we live on.”
Pulled into the mishaps of this groundbreaking twist is Wendy, played by Sydney Chandler, the very first human to successfully upload her consciousness into a synthetic body, becoming the prototype hybrid. Years after her transformation, Wendy ventures on a critical mission with a unit of hybrid soldiers in order to investigate the crash of Weyland-Yutani's deep-space research vessel USCSS Maginot in Prodigy City. Their discovery is truly chilling, portraying shattered cryo-chambers, blood-smeared walls, and, as one crew member grimly puts it, “like a zoo where all the animals escaped.”
The true horror is soon revealed. The Maginot had been collecting dangerous alien life forms from “the darkest corners of the universe.” As another character, Morrow (played by Babou Ceesay), grimly states, “This ship collected five different life forms. Monsters. Invasive species. Predatory.” Among these terrifying organisms is the infamous Xenomorph, whose brief but appalling appearance in the trailer has left longtime fans screaming in fear and frenzy.
Alien: Earth is set to premiere on Disney+ on August 12, 2025, with a total of eight episodes unfolding weekly through September 24. Launching amid the growing hype surrounding the new entries in the Predator franchise, this new chapter in the Alien saga promises to establish its place as a defining force in the sci-fi genre.
