Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley has confirmed his upcoming Earth-set prequel series will include at least one of the franchise’s fearsome Xenomorphs.
The creative in charge of the upcoming FX TV series opened up about how the soon-to-release show ties into the greater Alien universe during a conversation with Deadline. Many had begun to fear that the franchise’s iconic monster would be left out of Alien: Earth due to its early placement in the timeline. Hawley teases that the creature will indeed make some sort of appearance, though he isn’t quite ready to spill how it will terrify the series’ characters.
“There’s something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes,” Hawley says.
Hawley says he’s hoping to deliver a take on the Xenomorph that feels both familiar and new in fresh, terrifying ways.
“What was really fun for me was to really engage with the creature, bring some of my own thoughts to the design while not touching the silhouette, because that’s sacrosanct,” Hawley says “But some of the elements as we know, whatever the host is, informs what the final creature is. I just wanted to play around a little bit to make it as scary as it should be.”
It’s a chilling comment that should whet the appetite of those anticipating Alien’s foray into the realm of television. Select fans grew concerned after Alien: Earth was revealed to take place in the early 2090s, placing it a few decades before the original Alien movie. It’s also a choice that means the series takes place even before Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, which follows events set in 2093 and explores the creation of the Xenomorphs. Although some have pointed out that the 2012 film is a bit ambiguous when it comes to how exactly it ties into certain portions of Alien lore, many were still worried Alien: Earth wouldn’t include the Xenomorph in any form.
Hawley said earlier this year that he decided to ignore Prometheus’ world-building when creating the story for Alien: Earth because “the idea that, on some level, it was a bioweapon created half an hour ago, that’s just inherently less useful to me.” Instead, he’s more interested in embracing the retro-futurism of the first two movies.
Alien: Earth is set to drop onto unsuspecting viewers sometime in 2025 and stars Syndey Chandler, Alex Lawther, and Timothy Olyphant. Its official title was confirmed just two months ago when Hawley announced that the team had officially wrapped production and would soon move on to spruce up the visual effects. Upon its premiere, the series will join the recently released Alien: Romulus, which takes place in between Alien and Aliens and took over theaters last month.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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