In the near future, Noah Hawley will deliver Alien: Earth to the world, a prequel series to the landmark sci-fi franchise that could very well become one of the best shows on Hulu. The FX on Hulu series will come out in a time when the property is at a level of popularity not seen in years, thanks in part to the box office success of Alien: Romulus, and it sounds like it will have something for diehard fans of the series and newcomers alike.
Below is a breakdown of everything we know about Alien: Earth including its possible release window, its expansive cast, and how writer, director, and showrunner Noah Hawley plans to make the show feel right at home with some of the best sci-fi movies directed by Ridley Scott and James Cameron. Let’s take a look at the series that will soon be available for anyone with a Hulu subscription.
What Is The Alien: Earth Premiere Date?
As much as we would love to see Alien: Earth on the 2024 TV schedule, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a premiere date until some point in 2025. This is based on comments showrunner Noah Hawley has made in the past, like the time he told The Wrap in November 2023 that he was aiming for “the first half of ‘25.” However, FX hasn’t come out and provided any concrete information on when we’ll see the highly anticipated series at this time.
The Alien: Earth Cast
Though Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley won’t be part of the story when Noah Hawley’s show arrives in the near future, the Alien: Earth cast looks impressive, to say the least. Let’s meet them now.
Sydney Chandler as Wendy
According to Deadline, Sydney Chandler will be leading the Alien: Earth cast as Wendy, a woman with the body of an adult but the brain of a young child. Chandler’s previous credits include Sugar, Pistol, and Don’t Worry Darling.
Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh
Timothy Olyphant will be taking on the role of Kirsh, a synthetic human who helps guide and train Wendy. In addition to leading the Justified cast, Olyphant has also appeared in Deadwood, Santa Clarita Diet, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, among others.
Alex Lawther as CJ
What would an Alien show be without some near-future soldiers in the mix? Well, the Alien Earth cast won’t have to worry about that as Alex Lawther is set to play a soldier named CJ. Star of The End of the Fucking World and Andor, Lawther has also appeared in The Imitation Game and The Last Duel.
Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier
Samuel Blenkin is set to portray Boy Kavalier, a CEO figure, in the new show. Blenkin’s previous credits include The Continental, Black Mirror, and Atlanta.
Essie Davis as Dame Silvia
Essie Davis will play a mysterious character named Dame Silvia in Alien: Earth. Davis, who is best known for her intense performance in The Babadook, has also appeared on shows like Game of Thrones and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
Adarsh Gourav as Slightly
Adarsh Gourav is set to play a character known as Slightly. Before joining the cast, Gourav appeared on shows like Hostel Daze, Extrapolations, and Guns & Gulaabs.
Kit Young as Tootles
Kit Young will appear in the Alien: Earth cast as Tootles. Young previously appeared on Endeavour and Shadow and Bone.
What Is Alien: Earth About?
When Alien: Earth premieres, it will instead be set on Earth at some point near the end of the 21st century, which would have it taking place around the same time as Prometheus (2089 - 2093) on the Alien timeline and many years before the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien. However, specific plot details about the series have not yet been revealed by FX.
The Earth setting was first confirmed in a December 2020 tease by the official Disney Twitter account that also revealed that the show would take place “not too far in the future.” FX Chairman John Landgraf gave further confirmation and clarification at a Television Critics Association event in February 2022 (via The Hollywood Reporter), where he stated the series would be set “70-odd years” from now, which would be around 2093 (same as Prometheus).
With the show taking place on Earth, it will focus on the corporations that were always in the background of the movies. In a January 2022 interview with Esquire, Noah Hawley explained that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is developing AI... but what about other corporations? What are they working on?
The Alien: Earth Trailer
Four years after the show was first announced, we finally got a look at Alien: Earth in September 2024 when FX released a brief (and we mean brief) teaser trailer. Clocking in at 15 seconds, the short video didn't provide many details about the upcoming series, but it did show off a terrifying xenomorph staring at Earth.
This is remarkable, as outside of the Alien vs. Predator movies, none of the films in the franchise have been set on Earth (the closest being the early space station scenes from Aliens). But expect to hear more in the coming months when a proper (and longer) trailer makes its way to the internet.
Alien Director Ridley Scott Is Serving As One Of The Show’s Executive Producers
Ridley Scott – the man who helped launch the franchise 45 years ago – is serving as one of the show’s executive producers. Scott’s involvement was revealed by Variety in December 2020, and since then, it sounds like he’s been instrumental in the development process alongside showrunner Noah Hawley.
In a November 2021 interview with the BBC, Scott explained that they were in the process of writing a pilot for the upcoming series but didn’t say what it entailed. During the same interview, the Academy Award winner also talked about the announced Blade Runner series. Expect to hear more on both shows in the very near future.
Noah Hawley Has Said He Made A Choice When Developing Alien: Earth: ‘Retro-Futurism Or Prometheus’
We’ve known for a while that Alien: Earth will look and feel like it’s part of the classic Alien movies after FX Chairman John Landgraf made comments about the show during the 2021 TCA event (via Deadline), in which he said it would be in line with those early films, but we didn’t know what that meant for some time. That changed in June 2024 when Noah Hawley told Deadline about a choice he made early on:
What I said to Ridley is ‘I’m adapting your movie.’ I had to make a decision — retro-futurism or Prometheus? And I chose retro-futurism. When I close my eyes and you say Alien to me, I see that green Ascii text. You know, I hear that sound. I see that keyboard with the weird Egyptian ruins on it. I see those hallways.
Fans of practical effects, like those used in Alien: Romulus, will feel right at home when Alien: Earth premieres, especially if Hawley managed to bring back all the sights, sounds, and atmosphere of those Scott and James Cameron films.
Production On Alien: Earth Wrapped In July 2024
It shouldn’t be too much longer before we get a first look at some Alien: Earth footage, as production has already wrapped up. In July 2024, Noah Hawley told Variety that principal photography had already wrapped, but there was still much work to be done, stating:
We just wrapped production and so now I’m into the long post that gets into visual effects. It’s a very big show. It’s nice to have some time with it. The first year of anything, you want to feel like you’re not up against the wall in terms of time. I’ve seen four of the eight hours of director cuts and engaged in the process of figuring out, cinematically, what it wants to be. It’s one of my favorite parts of making a show.
One part of that sticks out in that quote is Hawley’s comment about “four of the eight hours of director cuts,” which leads us to think the first season of the new sci-fi TV series will be anywhere from eight to 10 episodes depending on the length of each installment.
There Could Be Multiple Seasons Of Alien: Earth In The Future
Though many fans would be happy just for a one-and-done series, it’s beginning to sound like we’ll be seeing much more of Alien: Earth in the years to come. When speaking about the series during a July 2024 interview with Variety, FX chief John Landgraf had a very telling answer when asked when fans could expect to see the next season of Noah Hawley’s Fargo anthology series, stating:
Noah is deep in work on Season 1 of Alien: Earth right now. We’re in post-production, and we are talking to him and watching cuts every week. We’re pretty bullish on “Alien: Earth” and we’ve told him that assuming, as we hope, Alien: Earth is a returning television series, we want him to focus on at least writing two seasons of it before returning to a possible sixth season of Fargo.
The “returning television series” portion of those comments could mean we’ll be seeing much more of Alien: Earth at some point in the future. And as cool as it would be for the Season 1 story to carry on into the next chapter, it would be equally as awesome for Hawley to tell a different tale each time around.
Expect to hear much more about Alien: Earth in the weeks and months to come. But in the meantime, there are plenty of upcoming sci-fi movies on the radar that look promising.
