While FX’s upcomingAlienseriesAlien: Earthwas always going to be a big change for the franchise, the second teaser trailer for the show proves the project will change its canon even more thanPrometheus.All theAlienmovieshave changed the canon of the series, altering the abilities of the Xenomorph, changing details of its life cycle, and retconning story elements that no longer fit. However, the manymysteries of director Ridley Scott’sPrometheusmade the story of the franchise feel more complex than ever.
Prometheusarrived in 2012 and theAlienprequel immediately made the entire franchise’s story more convoluted and complex. 2017’s sequelAlien: Covenantdid nothing to simplify things, although 2024’sAlien: Romulusdid clarify some plot elements and tie up a few loose ends. Now,FX’sAlien: Earthwill seeFargoshowrunner Noah Hawley bring the franchise to the small screen for the first time.Alien: Earthwill expand on the backstory of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation seen in the movies, and its teaser trailer promises more than just that.
Alien: Earth Is All But Confirmed To Rewrite Alien’s Canon With A Xenomorph On Earth
The FX Show’s Teaser Depicts A Xenomorph En Route To Earth
According to the second teaser trailer for the series,Alien: Earthwill finally bring a Xenomorph to Earth in theAlientimeline. This might not seem like such a big deal to viewers who have seenAlien Vs Predatoror its 2007 sequelAliens Vs Predator: Requiem. After all, both of these divisive crossover showdowns featured Xenomorphs on Earth. InAlien Vs Predator, the Xenomorphs were let loose in a subterranean pyramid beneath the Antarctic while, in thecritically deridedAliens Vs Predator: Requiem, they caused mayhem in the town of Gunnison, Colorado.
However, it is important not that neither of theAlien Vs Predatormovies take place in the same continuity as theAlienfranchise. This was already taken as a given by many fans who disliked the crossovers in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but Scott made it official whenPrometheusretconned almost all ofAlien Vs Predator’s story.Prometheusoffers a new origin story for the Xenomorph, a new founder of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and a whole host of other contradictory plot details that ensure theAlien Vs Predatormovies must take place in a separate, alternate timeline.
Why Having A Xenomorph On Earth Is Such A Big Deal For The Alien Franchise
The Alien Movies Have Never Depicted Xenomorphs On Earth
Outside theAlien Vs Predatorspinoffs,theAlienseries has never unleashed a Xenomorph on Earth’s human population before. The series came close during the development ofAlien 3, which infamously had an early teaser trailer that proclaimed “On earth, everyone can hear you scream.” This heavily implied that the sequel’s story would take place on Earth, but by the timeAlien 3’s tortured production processended, the movie ended up set on a futuristic prison spaceship instead. As a result, theAlienmovies have never spent too much time on Earth.
Prometheus' Original Story Made David The Alien Franchise’s Best Villain
Michael Fassbender’s David was Prometheus' best villain, but originally his original Weyland-Yutani connections and motivations made much more sense.
Prometheusdid offer viewers a glimpse of the franchise’s version of Earth early on, as the movie’s human characters were introduced in Scotland in 2089. However, it was not long before the Weyland-Yutani Corporation brought the characters on board the eponymous space vessel and set off for LV-223. EvenAlien: Romulus, which took an admirable stab at clarifying much of the franchise’s mythology, was set on the colonized planet LV-410.
Bringing the Xenomorph to Earth is exciting primarily because viewers have never seen the monsters attacking ordinary human populations outside the disappointingAliens Vs Predator: Requiem. However,the news thatAlien: Earthis set on Earthis also compelling for another, unrelated reason. Viewers don’t know what the everyday reality of life on Earth looks like in the dystopian world of the franchise, soAlien: Earthcan show how the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has impacted the lives of those still living on humanity’s home planet.
How Alien: Earth’s Story Can Work Without Ruining The Alien Movies’ Continuity
Alien: Earth Can Explain How Weyland-Yutani Kept The Xenomorph Under Wraps
It should not be too difficult forAlien: Earthto justify the Xenomorph’s presence on Earth, even though this seemingly retcons 1979’s originalAlien. InAlien, viewers might reasonably have assumed that humanity had never encountered the Xenomorph before the Nostromo’s fateful arrival on a mysterious planet. However,Prometheusproved this was not quite true by revealing that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation already knew about the Xenomorph’s existence decades beforehand. As such,Alien: Earth’s story already feels less far-fetched than it otherwise might have been.
Thus, if characters fromAlien: Earth’s storybring the Xenomorph to Earth and try to contain the monster in a Weyland-Yutani Corporation facility, it is possible that the broader canon of the franchise won’t be ruined. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation is clearly a powerful, dangerous force in the world of the series, one whose unchecked corporate influence allows them to run entire planets like they were prisons inAlien: Romulus. It hardly seems beyond their powers to contain news of the Xenormoph’s first arrival on Earth. This seems particularly believable considering their history of secrecy and lies.
Disney’s First Alien Movie Did A Good Job Handling The Franchise’s Lore
Alien: Romulus Effectively Cleared Up Prometheus’ Confusing Mythology
While the Xenomorph’s arrival on Earth has always seemed like it had a lot of narrative potential, this doesn’t mean thatAlien: Earth’s story is without risks. The show could easily disrupt the established canon of the movie series, retconning chunks oftheAlienfranchise timelinewith only a few careless comments. That said, Disney’s firstAlienrelease, Alien: Romulus, bodes well in this regard.Alien: Romulusembraced a lot of elements that worked inPrometheusbut offered a more streamlined, clearer story for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, andAlien: Earthcan now do the same.
2025
2092
2012
2093
2017
2104
1979
2122
2024
2142
1986
2179
1992
2180
1997
2379
Alien: Earthwill not only be the first project in the series to bring the Xenomorph to Earth, but it will also be the franchise’s first experiment with long-form storytelling.Alien: Earth’s divergences from the franchise formula seem risky, but the show is set up to succeed. LikeAlien: Romulus,Alien: Earthcan take the elements that work from the movies of the series and use these to build an engaging, original story. In the process,Alien: Earthcan continue theAlienfranchise’s recent reinvention without throwing away the more intriguing elements ofPrometheus’s fascinating but flawed story.
