Alien producer confirms that Earth will not validate events from the prequel films as part of the official canon, citing the advantage of their originality and novelty.
The upcoming FX TV series, Alien: Earth, is set to premiere on August 12 in the US and August 13 internationally, and it's making waves in the science-fiction world. This new installment in the Alien franchise, created by Noah Hawley, takes a unique approach to the series, deliberately ignoring earlier franchise mythology.
Despite being set in the same timeline as the original Alien film, Alien: Earth operates as a parallel story. Noah Hawley, the show's creator, used the original Alien film as his departure point, but he was given creative freedom to tell a new story about Xenomorphs on Earth without being constrained by the complex and sometimes contradictory lore of the prior films.
This creative freedom allows Alien: Earth to explore fresh territory. Unlike the original films, the series delves into corporate and government entanglements with the aliens on Earth itself, a topic that the prior movies had not fully addressed.
The show's independence also means it does not actively reference events from films that take place before it, nor does it reference the events from Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. David W Zucker, one of the producers, stated that there wasn't much mythology to contend with from earlier films prior to Alien: Earth's development.
The series introduces new creatures as terrifying as the Xenomorph, but Hawley avoids a 'vending machine of alien life' for the sake of it. Instead, he believes that the Xenomorph creatures in Alien: Earth have existed for millions of years and do not need to be tied to specific events from earlier films.
John Landgraf, the FX Chairman, considered Noah Hawley to be the ideal person to create the Alien: Earth series. During the production of the series, Hawley and Ridley Scott developed a close relationship.
There is speculation about whether the scheming tech bro character in Alien: Earth is inspired by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, or Mark Zuckerberg, but no definitive answer has been given yet.
Alien: Earth is set in the year 2120, two years before the original 1979 Alien (set in 2122), but it introduces Xenomorphs on Earth — something the films depict as a discovery only happening later in space. FX's president Gina Balian confirmed the show is a "parallel" story that shares the universe elements (Weyland-Yutani, synthetics, aliens) but doesn't follow or need to align with the existing film timelines.
In summary, Alien: Earth presents a fresh take on the Alien franchise by intentionally ignoring earlier franchise mythology. This approach allows the series to tell a new story about Xenomorphs on Earth without being constrained by the complex and sometimes contradictory lore of the prior films, while still maintaining the essence of the Alien universe.
This new installment in the Alien franchise, Alien: Earth, presents an independent story in the science-fiction world of movies and entertainment. Unlike the original films, it delves into the corporate and government entanglements with Xenomorphs on Earth, providing fresh territory for viewers.
