Alien: Earth Series Preview

The "Alien" franchise has been a staple of the sci-fi horror genre for decades. With the release of the new series "Alien: Earth" on Hulu, the exciting story is getting a new chapter. But what can we expect from it? A new streaming highlight - or the final content cash-in on a legendary film series? In this article, we take a look at the cast, the plot and the production behind the scenes!

What Alien: Earth Is All About

"Alien: Earth" is based on the first two parts of the film series and is set in the year 2120, around two years before the events of the first "Alien" film. The series begins with the crash of a mysterious spaceship on Earth. At the center of the plot is Wendy, who investigates the wreckage together with a group of soldiers. They come across a threat that has the potential to wipe out the entire human race.

Besides the direct danger posed by the famous Xenomorph, there is also a fierce rivalry between large corporations, such as the well-known Weyland-Yutani Corporation. They are competing to be the first to create lifelike androids. The unscrupulous greed of the corporations and the special role of androids are familiar themes in the movies.

We are particularly curious to find out how a potential contradiction with the films can be resolved: At the time of the first movie, the aliens seem to be generally unknown to humanity. But if, according to the series, a Xenomorph was raging on Earth two years earlier, then this information never seems to have reached the public. Well, you can already imagine: The corporations are sure to have an interest in eliminating unwelcome witnesses.

Cast

As with "Alien: Romulus", the newcomers are given priority when it comes to the cast - but there are nonetheless some big names involved.

The starring role of Wendy is played by Sydney Chandler, known from "Don't Worry Darling". She plays an engineer whose invention attracts the attention of a ruthless corporation and the Xenomorph. Wendy is a so-called meta-human who has the body of an adult and the brain of a child.

Her synthetic mentor, named Kirsh, is played by Timothy Olyphant. He is an old hand in the film and series business. He played the lead role in the video game adaptation "Hitman", for example, but has also appeared in several "Star Wars" series.

Another actor who is not entirely unknown is Alex Lawther: most of you will recognize him from the Netflix series "The End of the F***ing World" and "Andor". Although he doesn't look particularly threatening, he is supposed to play a soldier called CJ. Samuel Blenkin is to play a CEO named Bob Kavalier. Meta-humans, androids, soldiers and CEOs: the characters do sound typical for the franchise.

There is also speculation that an iconic character from the franchise could return in the form of a cameo, but whether it is Ellen Ripley or another well-known name remains unconfirmed for the time being. In the case of Ellen Ripley, however, the character would have to be digitally rejuvenated.

Production

The series is being developed by Noah Hawley, who has already produced well-known series such as "Fargo" and "Legion". He is an expert at telling complex stories with a unique visual style - certainly an asset to the "Alien" franchise and a good indication for the quality of the series.

Ridley Scott, the creator of the franchise, is involved as a producer. He will make sure that the series remains stylistically and thematically true to its predecessors. Filming took place in Thailand and was completed in July 2024. In the United States, the series will be available on Hulu in summer 2025. We therefore expect a prompt release of "Alien: Earth" on Disney+ for international audiences.

There was already a first teaser trailer last November. So we hope to be able to provide you with the first real trailer for the series soon. A little tip: Get the KinoCheck app on your smartphone - that way you're guaranteed not to miss any exciting news or trailers!

Our Conclusion

If you ask us: we're up for it! Noah Hawley usually knows what he's doing. "Fargo" in particular is synonymous with great acting in a series and highly original storytelling. The big question now is how the relatively new actors will perform and whether Hawley will also be able to convince in the science fiction and horror genres.

According to the showrunner himself, he explicitly wanted to move away from a pure fight for survival in a confined space with Earth as the setting. On the one hand, of course, this raises hopes for spectacular visual appeal. On the other hand, it could be a challenge to combine the intense survival horror of the movies with a larger-scale story about futuristic corporate politics.