Earth will not break the alien timeline

Key points

• Alien: Earth will be the first Alien series, going back in time to Earth for a new origin story.
• The series will explore the evolution of the Xenomorphs and show them already as a threat, diverging from previous interpretations.
• Alien: Earth could answer unanswered questions from previous films, potentially weaving together the franchise's complex history.

A new breed is hatching from the eggs of the Alien IP, and while fans are still shaking from the horrors of Alien: Romulusthe franchise is about to go in a very different direction. Coming to FX Hulu in 2025, Noah Hawley Alien: Earth it's bound to go somewhere Alien movies have always been afraid to go: humanity's home planet.

Besides being the first Alien television series, Alien: Earth will chart a different era of the franchise's history and take audiences further back than ever for an origin story set on Earth. While this won't necessarily serve as an origin story for the Xenomorphs themselves, it will instead examine how humanity gets to the sorry state it was in during Ridley Scott's original. Alien.

Where does Alien: Earth take place in the Alien timeline?

When Alien arrived on the scene in 1979, everything was pretty simple, and from there the franchise moved forward starting in the year 2122. There was already a time jump between the original and James Cameron's Alienswith Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) saved in the year 2179. The underrated life of David Fincher Alien 3 once again it remained simple as Ripley crashed into the Fiorina 161 soon after Aliensbut with another huge leap, Alien: Resurrection completed the original series with a ruined Earth in 2381.

Seeing promise in the early days of Xenomorph evolution, Scott went back to the beginning and delivered Prometheus, a prequel set 29 years before the Nostromo's doomed voyage in the first film. There were plans for up to four prequels that would lead up to the events of Alien. Although a Alien: Covenant the sequel was abandoned, elements of this can be seen thanks to a Ripley Easter egg Romulus. However, Alien: Earth ignore all this and go back even further Prometheus.

Occurred in the year 2092, Alien: Earth lands shortly before Prometheus. It shouldn't matter, because Prometheus took place primarily on the moon LV-223, while (as the name suggests) Alien: Earth happens on Earth. There might be some crossover, like Prometheus opens with Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) finding a star map in Scotland. However, Hawley promises that his series will tell its own story. Speaking to Variety in January 2024, the director explained how he's taking it Alien: Earth return to the battered retrofuturism of the '79s Alien rather than the strangely futuristic feel of Prometheus:

“There's something about this that doesn't add up to me. I prefer the retro-futurism of the first two films, and that's the choice I made: there are no holograms. The convenience of that wonderful technology at the Apple Store is not available to me.”

Despite the Alien versus predator films set on Earth are not considered canon due to more recent events Alien AND Predator movie. Although Hawley's series is expected to fit into the twisted Alien timeline, Alien: Earth treading new territory means it's freer than the movies.

Alien: Earth suggests a different origin for the Xenomorphs

Scott has been criticized for diving too deeply into the genesis of the Xenomorphs, with both of them Prometheus AND Alien: Covenant revealing new types of aliens and implying that David (the android played by Michael Fassbender) was their creator. The Engineers had a mural of the Xenomorphs on the wall of their black goo bioweapons facility, suggesting that they are a much older race that David simply engineered an offshoot from.

Hawley is leaning into this leeway and has confirmed that the Xenomorphs already pose a threat Alien: Earth. This was later confirmed by the sizzling short clip from November 2024. Also in the Variety interview, Hawley said he and Scott discussed the logistics:

“For me, and for many people, this 'perfect life form' — as it was described in the first film — is the product of millions of years of evolution.” […] The idea that, on some level, it was a bioweapon created half an hour ago, is just less useful to me.”

With the first trailer showing a shot of the Earth reflected in the skull of a Xenomorph, it hinted that the series would follow the arrival of the species on the planet. Instead of just focusing on the Xenomorphs, Hawley teased this out Alien: Earth will dive deeper into the antagonist Weyland-Yutani Corporation's obsession with developing artificial intelligence. This may tie into the casting of Timothy Olyphant as a synth named Kirsh.

Shows Xenomorphs on Earth

The official synopsis of Alien: Earth confirms some of the above and gives some serious ones Aliens (1986) vibrates without revealing too much:

“When a mysterious spaceship crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face to face with the planet's greatest threat.”

Hawley reiterated Earth's unique setting, telling Deadline:

“There's something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth, with your own eyes, that is truly chilling.”

He said that while he can't confirm under what circumstances this will happen, there is the implication that the aliens will escape their corporate cages once Weyland-Yutani inevitably gets them. The fact that the films don't mention that Earth has been invaded by Xenomorphs means that this could only be a small or temporary infestation.

The special edition of Alien: Resurrection shows Ripley and Winona Ryder's Cal arriving on the ruins of Earth in 2381. In the same film, Ron Perlman's character refers to Earth as “shit”. Meanwhile, inside Covenant, David says that the human race is a “dying species” that is leaving Earth in search of resurrection. While it looks like Hawley will undo some of the Xenomorph lore teased by Scott's prequels and perhaps reveal the state of planet Earth, the fact that he's been in contact with the franchise's overlord suggests it will all be woven together.

Despite the non-canonical status of the AvP movie, Hawley may even revisit the idea that the Xenomorphs were scattered across the galaxy as part of a predator-hunting ritual. After all, RomulusFede Álvarez discussed the idea of ​​a new one Alien versus predator movie. In any case, the frustrated ones CovenantThe dangling plot threads of may find some of their questions answered in this prequel. With Alien: Earth arriving in a post-Romulus boom of love for the Alien IP, there couldn't be a better time to take audiences back to the beginning and put a little more meat on those Xenomorph bones, especially against the familiar backdrop of Earth.