The Alien film series is one of the most iconic science fiction horror franchises of all time, and the new series Alien: Earth looks set to add another interesting prequel to the series. Since 1979, the Alien franchise and its Xenomorphs have been a horror staple, and Alien: Earth will see the Xenomorphs return to wreak havoc in a new location. Along with the classic Xenomorphs that can be seen briefly throughout the trailer, Alien: Earth has 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 trailer has already shown that the series is going to look more like Prometheus rather than a traditional Alien installment like the 1979 original, its 1986 sequel, or even the more recent Alien: Romulus, thanks to a few key details.
Alien: Earth's Premise & Setting Feel Similar To Prometheus
The Prequel s Scientists Seeking Out Aliens
While the original Alien movie and several of its sequels focus on working-class employees or soldiers of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Alien: Earth’s approach feels more in line with that of Prometheus, which sees scientists attempting to reach the limits of scientific exploration. The 2012 movie s researchers for the Weyland Corporation as they journey to a distant moon in 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.
Though Prometheus does still have some great horror scenes, it feels different from previous Alien movies 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: Earth seems 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 a synthetic woman, but the new trailer has further revealed her to be the first human-synthetic hybrid.
The time periods of Prometheus and Alien: Earth are very close, which could allow the series to explore some similar technology belonging to Weyland-Yutani.
What’s more, Alien: Earth focusing on multiple alien species could be a huge deal for the franchise. Each Alien movie has had its own slightly differentiated Xenomorph that adds new details to the canon, but expanding to creatures outside the Xenomorphs will set Alien: Earth apart. Arguably, this was also true with Prometheus and its introduction of the Engineers. Additionally, the time periods of Prometheus and Alien: Earth are 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
Prometheus was far from a perfect prequel, as its concepts were a bit messy at times, but it was clearly better than its 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant. Covenant did help further the canon of the series by showing definitively that David was the driving force behind the creation and propagation of the Xenomorphs, but many of its scares and the characters themselves did not feel like a notable departure from past movies in the series. Alien: Earth has the chance to fix that with its new characters and aliens.
Especially because Prometheus takes place in the late 21st century (2089), Covenant takes place in 2104, and Alien: Earth will be set in 2120, the series will be able to truly explore what has happened back on Earth since the crew of the Prometheus disappeared. 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 in Prometheus.
Alien: Earth can 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: Earth can 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 in Prometheus, risking everything for his betterment, the characters in Alien: Earth and their actions may force audiences to grapple with the lengths that science can and should go to in 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 various Alien movies often inherently reference each other and the lore that has been established over the years, but Alien: 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 of Prometheus is unlikely. Back in 2024, when the series was being filmed, Hawley said that the events of Prometheus and the technology that 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 grandeur and makes them entirely different in the audience’s minds. Thus, while the series can be tied to Prometheus in its time period and scientific focus, it may try to honor the original Alien movies 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: Earth may not entirely the canon that Prometheus and Alien: Covenant established, but I hope it doesn’t completely destroy it either. The Alien series’ timeline can already be quite confusing, particularly if you include the Alien vs. Predator movies, so completely retconning it would be even more complicated. Considering that Alien: Earth takes place just two years before the events of Alien and 16 years after Alien: Covenant, the series should unify the franchise instead.
Alien: Earth will premiere on FX and Hulu on August 12, 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 the Prometheus or the Covenant. This would allow the series’ characters to experience the aliens with no knowledge of what has happened previously or where they came from. Alien: Earth will 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.
Alien: Earth s a young woman and a group of tactical soldiers who confront humanity’s greatest threat after a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth. Released in 2025, the film explores their shocking discovery and the ensuing struggle for survival.
