TheAlienfilm series is one of the most iconic science fiction horror franchises of all time, and the new seriesAlien: Earthlooks set to add another interesting prequel to the series. Since 1979, theAlienfranchise and its Xenomorphs have been a horror staple, andAlien: Earthwill see the Xenomorphs returnto wreak havoc in a new location. Along with the classic Xenomorphs that can be seen briefly throughout the trailer,Alien: Earthhas already shown several new alien species, expanding the series in a fun way.
The series will see a spaceship filled with different alien specimens crash-land on Earth in the year 2120. In an attempt to uncover what was inside the ship, a group of scientists, soldiers, and synthetics decides to recover the material, but they encounter more danger than they anticipated. What’s more,Alien: Earth’s new trailerhas already shown that the series is going to look more likePrometheusrather than a traditional Alien installment like the 1979 original, its 1986 sequel, or even the more recentAlien: Romulus,thanks to a few key details.
Alien: Earth’s Premise & Setting Feel Similar To Prometheus
The Prequel Follows Scientists Seeking Out Aliens
While the originalAlienmovie and several of its sequels focus on working-class employees or soldiers of theWeyland-Yutani Corporation,Alien: Earth’s approach feels more in line with that ofPrometheus, which sees scientists attempting to reach the limits of scientific exploration.The 2012 movie follows researchers for the Weyland Corporation as they journey to a distant moonin search of humanity’s creators, the Engineers, but the movie shifts to reveal the darker motives of the android David and the Engineers in destroying humanity and creating new life.
ThoughPrometheusdoes still have some great horror scenes, it feels different from previousAlienmovies because its approach is much more heavily focused on the science behind what audiences are shown and how that folds into where the Xenomorphs came from. Similarly,Alien: Earthseems set to explore the origins and science behind the synthetics, which have become such a crucial part of the series, through the character of Wendy. It had previously been confirmed that the series would follow a synthetic woman, but the new trailer has further revealed her to be the first human-synthetic hybrid.
The time periods ofPrometheusandAlien: Earthare very close, which could allow the series to explore some similar technology belonging to Weyland-Yutani.
What’s more,Alien: Earthfocusing on multiple alien species could be a huge deal for the franchise. EachAlienmovie has had its own slightly differentiated Xenomorph that adds new details to the canon, butexpanding to creatures outside the Xenomorphs will setAlien: Earthapart. Arguably, this was also true withPrometheusand its introduction of the Engineers. Additionally, the time periods ofPrometheusandAlien: Earthare very close, which could allow the series to explore some similar technology belonging to Weyland-Yutani.
Alien: Earth Can Be A Better Sequel To Prometheus Than Covenant
Alien: Earth Could Add Interesting New History To The Franchise
Prometheuswas far from a perfect prequel, as its concepts were a bit messy at times, but it was clearly better than its 2017 sequelAlien: Covenant.Covenantdid help further the canon of the series by showing definitively that David was the driving force behind the creation and propagation of the Xenomorphs, butmany of its scares and the characters themselves did not feel like a notable departure from past movies in the series.Alien: Earthhas the chance to fix that with its new characters and aliens.
Especially becausePrometheustakes place in the late 21st century (2089),Covenanttakes place in 2104, andAlien: Earthwill be set in 2120, the series will be able to truly explorewhat has happened back on Earth since the crew of thePrometheusdisappeared. Scientific advances have clearly been made, which may also prompt the series to reflect a bit more on the interesting philosophical questions that came to the forefront inPrometheus.
Alien: Earthcan easily explore the ethical implications of a child’s consciousness being put into an adult body and then seeing that body put into dangerous situations with deadly aliens.
Alien: Earthcan easily explore the ethical implications of a child’s consciousness being put into an adult body and then seeing that body put into dangerous situations with deadly aliens. Just as Weyland sought to learn how to live forever inPrometheus, risking everything for his betterment, the characters inAlien: Earthandtheir actions may force audiences to grapple with the lengths that science can and should go toin very intriguing ways.
Don’t Expect Alien: Earth To Reference Prometheus A Lot (Or At All)
Noah Hawley Is Taking The Series In A New Direction
The variousAlienmovies often inherently reference each other and the lore that has been established over the years, butAlien: Earth’s creator,Noah Hawley, has made it clear that he wants the new series to stand on its own, meaning that a strong reliance on the events ofPrometheusis unlikely. Back in 2024, when the series was being filmed, Hawley said that theevents ofPrometheusand the technologythat the characters were using felt counter to what was established in the original films.
As a result, Hawley stated that he “prefer[s] the retro-futurism of the first two films” because it contrasts so sharply with the much more advanced Xenomorphs.Making the Xenomorphs a recent creation of other life forms takes away some of their grandeurand makes them entirely different in the audience’s minds. Thus, while the series can be tied toPrometheusin its time period and scientific focus, it may attempt to honor the originalAlienmovies in its style and sensibilities.
I Hope Alien: Earth Helps Unify Alien’s Canon Like Romulus Has Done
The Series' Canon Doesn’t Always Add Up
Based on Hawley’s own stated feelings about the prequels,Alien: Earthmay not entirely follow the canon thatPrometheusandAlien: Covenantestablished, but I hope it doesn’t completely destroy it either. TheAlienseries' timelinecan already be quite confusing, particularly if you include theAlien vs. Predatormovies, so completely retconning it would be even more complicated. Considering thatAlien: Earthtakes place just two years before the events ofAlienand 16 years afterAlien: Covenant, the series should unify the franchise instead.
Alien: Earthwill premiere on FX and Hulu on June 17, 2025.
Realistically, 16 years is not a very long time, especially in a world with space travel that takes years, so it seems possible that people on Earth would not necessarily know what happened aboard thePrometheusor theCovenant. This would allow the series' characters to experience the aliens with no knowledge of what has happened previously or where they came from.Alien: Earthwill have some explaining to do concerning how the different species were collected, but I hope it blends that explanation with some of what audiences have learned previously.
