Even over halfway through the year, there's still a ton of hoopla surrounding the remaining titles left on the 2024 TV schedule. However, as with any form of entertainment, the future is starting to come into focus; especially for fans of the Alien movies. In the midst of some awards season talk pertaining to the cable powerhouse network FX, the title for Noah Hawley’s Alien series was dropped in conversation. The result is a name that’s left fans annoyed, as well as inspiring me to ask some big questions that need to be answered.
What Alien Fans Have Said About The FX Series’ Title So Far
This news came from a chat between Variety and FX chairman John Landgraf, on behalf of the recent 76th Emmy nominations. In a move that almost feels like the channel’s marketing team trying to soft launch this moniker, Landgraf revealed that Alien: Earth is apparently the title of this upcoming series.
Once that news hit social media, fans started to show their upset through comments like the ones provided below:
- “Yay... Earth... What happened to imagination?” - @RothGamez
- “That’s aweful and to think someone got paid for that!” - @johnthegreenie
- “Maybe they should revisit this discussion.” - @GregPaceOhio
- “On Earth, nothing can hear you Alien.” - @MatWBT
- “AVP Requiem made the mistake of putting the xenomorphs on earth, it's a ridiculous premise that doesn't work.” - @KingofRockk
As a fellow fan of the Alien saga, I have to say I’m right there with these folks in their criticisms. And that’s even in a franchise that once saw James Cameron’s simple pitch to name Aliens with the aid of a dollar sign! Now granted, that film turned out to be an all-time legend, and I really want to know how people reacted to that title in the moment.
But at this phase in the franchise, and based on what we know about Alien: Earth’s cast and storyline so far, pretty large questions start to loom overhead. So let’s put our cards on the table, and dissect those concerns like a Company scientist would a Facehugger.
My Big Questions About The Future Of Alien: Earth
I’m starting to worry if people are going to appoint me the official head of the Alien Complaint Department. Previously I’ve addressed such subjects as my concerns over the Alien: Romulus popcorn buckets we’ll be seeing in theaters. But the questions I have for Alien: Earth are a totally different beast.
My first huge concern has been sitting in front of us the whole time, thanks to our previous rundown of quick facts on Noah Hawley’s Alien series. The title above confirms that yes Ellen, the Xenomorph will supposedly be on our planet.
On one hand, that kind of sounds cool, and gives me flashbacks to that time Alien 3’s teaser trailer promised that “on Earth, everyone can hear you scream.” This is something I'm going to include below, because frankly, it needs to be seen to be believed. Here's that original tease for a movie that eventually didn't go anywhere near Earth:
However, with Alien: Earth set to take place in 2092, 30 years before Alien happened, that would mean that the Weyland Corporation would have had a Xenomorph specimen roughly a year before the Prometheus mission arrived at its final destination. While tracking with Noah Hawley partially ignoring the Alien prequels, this approach makes for a bit of a mess to follow in concert with the franchise at large.
Hawley’s remarks also kind of fly in the face of his previous announcement that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s AI development program would be a focus of Alien: Earth’s story. In his retrofuturism vs. Ridley Scott’s “Apple store technology” argument, that could wreak havoc with the already in-place David/MUTHUR combo we’ve already seen in the series.
Not to mention, in Prometheus canon, we’re still seeing the Weyland Corporation as a singular, pre-merger entity. So unless there wasn’t a long-distance software update to the craft in Ridley Scott’s prequel, something got lost in the shuffle here. I mean, if Disney+ can have a new icon ready to go that embodied a teal color to signify its merging of access with the Hulu subscription, surely this would be a walk in the park?
I could definitely go on about Alien: Earth’s potential problems, but at the end of the day I’m still jazzed to see what’s coming. The FX brass are impressed, and Noah Hawley’s storytelling abilities are well-regarded in the entertainment world.
For now, I’m just going to have to put my concerns aside, and wait for this new Alien story to unfold; hopefully in 2025 on FX. And that's why it’s fantastic that Alien: Romulus will be hitting the 2024 movie schedule on August 16th, as I’m sure that will have a bunch of canon questions attached to its very bloody narrative.
