The story of Alien: Earth promises to be something fresh and different, which is exactly what this franchise has been looking for.

Alien: Earth’s cast is filled with recognizable faces and rising talents, including actors like Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, and Sydney Chandler. The show will also be written and directed by Noah Hawley, who’s best known for his work on the popular TV adaptation of Fargo. With this much talent both in front and behind the camera, expectations for this subversive sci-fi show couldn’t be higher. Alien: Earth will reveal important details about the Xenomorph’s origins, which is something that long-time fans of the franchise have been begging for since Ridley Scott’s Prometheus raised these important debates in the first place.

Alien: Earth Is Unlike Anything We’ve Seen In The Alien Franchise So Far

The Sci-Fi Series Has Never Done An Earth-Based Story

By far the most interesting thing about Alien: Earth, as suggested by its title, is the fact that it takes place much closer to home than most entries in the franchise. The majority of the show’s story will happen on Earth, as a mysterious vessel crash-lands on the planet and brings humanity face-to-face with a deadly Xenomorph. This is totally unlike the previous movies in the franchise, all of which detail conflicts between humanity and aliens in the latter’s home turf. This series brings the fight to us, which could be a very interesting twist on an otherwise overfamiliar structure.

Additionally, Alien: Earth will be the first-ever TV show in this franchise. Every other entry has been a feature-length film, which has ittedly served the series pretty well until this point, but bringing Alien to the small screen opens up plenty of new storytelling possibilities. Alien: Earth could even rewrite the franchise’s canon in ways that aren’t necessarily possible with shorter stories, as it has more time to expand upon any major decisions that it makes. There will surely be more complex subplots and more intricate characters, which is something that certain Alien sequels suffer without.

Alien: Romulus Was Great, But It Wasn’t That Different From Previous Alien Movies

Fede Álvarez' Prequel Didn't Break The Mold Enough

While Fede Álvarez’ Alien: Romulus was a near-perfect example of how to succeed with a more self-contained spinoff in this franchise, the project ultimately felt too familiar and repetitive for those long-time fans who’ve been with this series since the beginning. The film marketed itself as a breath of fresh air for Alien, but the film didn’t quite leave enough distance between itself and the previous sequels to subvert expectations as much as it clearly wanted to.

This is something that Alien: Earth can easily succeed at. It will obviously be different from previous Alien stories because of its longer format, so that stale repetitiveness isn’t something the writers necessarily have to worry about. It’s a completely new venture for this franchise, and that’s incredibly exciting. Alien: Earth must answer some important questions about Xenomorphs, but other than that, it has plenty of creative freedom.

I’m Still Trying To Figure Out How Alien: Earth’s Premise Will Work

Prometheus Seemingly Contradicts The Existence Of Xenomorphs On Earth

Another exciting feature about Alien: Earth is that on the surface, its story seems like a paradox. It’s not entirely clear how there could have been a Xenomorph invasion of Earth before the events of Ridley Scott’s original movie, unless it was flawlessly covered up or inexplicably reversed. It’s the only narrative hurdle that Alien: Earth really needs to watch out for, because Alien could retroactively be affected by this story.

Alien: Earth must integrate neatly into the existing timeline, somehow explaining why Weyland-Yutani sent its employees directly into a Xenomorph hotspot just two years after the latter’s invasion of Earth.

Of course, Alien: Earth could ignore the canon of Alien completely by retconning certain aspects of Scott’s original film - but this likely wouldn’t go down too well among long-time fans of the franchise. Alien: Earth must integrate neatly into the existing timeline, somehow explaining why Weyland-Yutani sent its employees directly into a Xenomorph hotspot just two years after the latter’s invasion of Earth. There’s surely an answer, but it could take some careful writing to avoid any glaring plot holes.