2024 has been an exciting year for the TV prequel titled Alien: Earth, with Fargo's showrunner Noah Hawley leading the project. For various reasons, this could be one of the most exciting projects the franchise has seen.
Given Alien: Romulus' box office success and the excitement building around the new show, the franchise could reach new heights over the coming years. The 2010s saw Ridley Scott return to the series with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, though both films received mixed reviews upon their release and still remain divisive among audiences. While they may not be the best Alien movies individually, there's near-unanimous praise for Michael Fassbender's performance as David. He's one of the franchise's best characters, and audiences still crave more of him.
Alien: Earth Is A Prequel Set Around The Same Time As Prometheus
Alien: Earth Will Incorporate The Weyland-Yutani Corporation
In the Alien timeline, the new series is set to be a prequel (in relation to 1979's Alien). It will take place slightly before Prometheus, meaning it will explore a world where the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is still under the control of Peter Weyland, though it's unknown if he'll appear in the series. This will be the first project in the franchise to take place on Earth, showing the imagined state of the world in the 2090s. While the show looks to be focused on exploring new characters, it still leaves plenty of room for Prometheus characters to return.
A synopsis from Deadline explained that the show would "deal with the emergence of the story’s infamous Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the race between corporations to create new android life." Androids have always been staples of the Alien franchise, with David being arguably the most important. Seeing the political/economic strife surrounding Weyland-Yutani's affairs should be fascinating, as they've been a phantom threat looming over the franchise since the very beginning.
Alien: Romulus gave a small taste of what human civilization would grow to look like in the mining colony early in the film. Corrupt corporations run rampant during this time with little regard for human life, and Alien: Earth can provide a glimpse at the progression to this state. Alien Resurrection shows a doomed version of the planet, but civilization is still intact decades before this, and it doesn't seem like it will be as ruinous as, say, the depiction of Earth in Blade Runner, Ridley Scott's other sci-fi world.
Michael Fassbender Wouldn’t Have To Be David Or Walter In Alien: Earth
Michael Fassbender Could Play A Different Android
Alien audiences know Michael Fassbender as David or Walter, but it might not be too advantageous to directly bring back either character. Given that it's a prequel, seeing David in anything more than a cameo wouldn't be all too compelling, as movie fans already know the gist of his character pre-Prometheus from the Alien: Covenant flashback. As for Walter, there doesn't seem to be much more to explore with that version of the character, as he's essentially a plot device for the 2017 movie. But the beauty of android characters is Fassbender could return without being either.
Does Alien: Romulus Connect to the Alien TV Show?
Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone story, but could it be connected to the Alien: Earth TV show?
In the world of Alien, Fassbender's physical appearance is just a model for a variety of androids. He could arrive at any time playing an unimportant, unnamed android who's none-the-wiser to the malevolent destruction that would eventually be caused by his brother, David. It may not be particularly interesting to see Fassbender return as a third android character, but having him appear briefly on the show could be a fun way to tether the prequel movies to the prequel show, establishing some cohesion and giving a nod to the lore from those films.
In Alien: Romulus, Sir Ian Holm appears posthumously as the android Rook after appearing in the original Alien movie as the android Ash. While his appearance is one of the many Alien references in the film, he's also appearing as an entirely different character. Rook may have many similarities to Ash in appearance and demeanor, but they're different androids.
Alien: Romulus Has Already Moved Away From Prometheus & Covenant
Alien: Romulus Takes The Franchise In A Different Direction Than David's Story
The new movie was praised for its connections to the various installments of the Alien franchise, including Ridley Scott's prequels. But while it incorporated the black goo from Prometheus, the film ultimately steers the franchise's ship back toward the premise of the original Alien film. Rather than exploring the mythology of this universe, and the existential concepts of androids, mankind, and creation myths, Alien: Romulus leans into character-driven monster horror. Thus, it doesn't seem like the movie saga will continue to explore Ridley Scott's lore, at least in the same capacity as before.
Bringing back David at this point is unlikely, and it would be hard for Alien: Earth to examine ideas about the Engineers
While it's unclear whether Alien: Earth will be taking a uniform direction with Alien: Romulus and its sequels, it seems certain that the storyline of Prometheus and Covenant is concluded for the time being. Bringing back David at this point is unlikely, and it would be hard for Alien: Earth to examine ideas about the Engineers or the existential questions from the prequel movies, given that those events haven't happened yet on the timeline. Still, Michael Fassbender returning as a different character isn't impossible.
Alien: Earth Could Completely Retcon Prometheus’ Xenomorph Origin Story
Alien: Earth Would Show Humanity's First With A Xenomorph
One of the strange things about Alien: Earth is that the show intends to feature a Xenomorph, raising many questions about the franchise's timeline. Prometheus and Covenant examine an origin story for the Xenomorph through the Engineers' black goo, demonstrating how the aliens would be created through human vessels with the cycle of facehuggers, chestbursters, and fully grown Xenomorphs. If these creatures were to appear on Alien: Earth, it would redefine humanity's first with them, making drastic changes to the lore of the films.
Alien’s Massive Franchise Retcon Risks Making Ripley’s Entire Story Pointless
By bringing the xenomorph to Earth, FX's TV show Alien: Earth threatens to make Ripley's story in the Alien saga completely pointless.
Even Alien: Romulus relies on the idea that Weyland-Yutani wanted to search the original Nostromo ship to gather information about the Xenomorph. This could be because they'd already seen one before in Alien: Earth and didn't have an opportunity to study it, but that explanation gets a bit dicey. Having a Xenomorph appear in the TV prequel seems to indicate some changes will be made to the lore of the films, and it will be interesting to see where Alien: Earth takes the series.
Sources: Deadline
Alien: Earth
- Release Date
- August 12, 2025
- Network
- FX
Set in 2120, Alien: Earth follows a young woman and a team of soldiers as they uncover a dangerous secret after a spacecraft crashes on Earth. Created by Noah Hawley, the FX series portrays a future controlled by five influential corporations, where advanced technology holds both promise and peril.
- Cast
- Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, Kit Young, Timothy Olyphant, David Rysdahl, Babou Ceesay, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Adrian Edmondson, Samuel Blenkin, Jonathan Ajayi, Diêm Camille, Sandra Yi Sencindiver
- Seasons
- 1
