Earth does not break the alien timeline

Key things

• Alien: Earth will be the first Alien series to go back in time to Earth for a new origin story.
• The series will explore the evolution of the Xenomorphs and show them already as a threat, different from previous interpretations.
• Alien: Earth may address unanswered questions from previous films, potentially weaving together the franchise's complex history.

A new breed hatches from the eggs Foreign IP, and while fans are still shaking with terror Alien: Romulusthe franchise is about to go in a very different direction. Coming to FX Hulu in 2025, Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth is set to go somewhere Foreign The movies always seemed afraid to go: to humanity's home planet.

So is being first Foreign tv series, Alien: Earth will chart a different era of the franchise's history and take viewers further than ever before into the original story set on Earth. While this won't necessarily serve as an origin story for the Xenomorphs themselves, it will instead look at how humanity will end up in the deplorable state it was in during Ridley Scott's original. Foreign.

Where does Alien: Earth take place in the Alien timeline?

When Foreign came on the scene in 1979, everything was pretty simple and from there the franchise moved forward from 2122. There was already a time jump between the original and James Cameron. Alienswith Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) rescued in 2179. David Fincher is underrated Alien 3 Again, it was easy as Ripley crashed Fiorina's 161 right after Aliensbut with another massive leap, Alien: Resurrection completed the original series destroyed by Earth in 2381.

Seeing promise in the early days of Xenomorph evolution, Scott went back to the beginning and added Prometheus, a prequel set 29 years before the doomed voyage of the Nostromo in the first film. There were plans for up to four prequels leading up to the events of the year Foreign. Although an Alien: Covenant sequel was abandoned, elements of this can be seen thanks to the ripley v easter egg Romulus. However, Alien: Earth ignores all this and goes back even further than Prometheus.

Set in the year 2092, Alien: Earth lands shortly before Prometheus. That shouldn't matter because Prometheus took place mainly on the moon LV-223, while (as its name suggests) Alien: Earth takes place on Earth. There could be some crossover, e.g Prometheus opened by Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) finding a star map in Scotland. Still, Hawley promises his series will tell its own story. In an interview with Variety in January 2024, the director explained his take on it Alien: Earth back to the battered retrofuturism of the 79s Foreign rather than a strangely futuristic feel Prometheus:

“There's something about it that really doesn't sit well with me. I prefer the retrofuturism of the first two films, so I decided – no holograms. The convenience of this beautiful Apple store technology is not available to me.”

Despite that Alien vs Predator movies set on Earth are not considered canon due to recent events Foreign and Predator movies. Although Hawley's streak is expected to get into some convoluted stuff Foreign timeline, Alien: Earth treading new territory means it's freer than the movies.

Alien: Earth teases another origin for the Xenomorphs

Scott has been criticized for delving too deeply into the genesis of the Xenomorphs, with both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant revealing new types of aliens and suggesting that their creator was David (an android played by Michael Fassbender). The Engineers had a mural of Xenomorphs on the wall of their black goo bioweapon facility, suggesting that they are a much older race that David simply created an offshoot of.

Hawley leans into this movement room and confirmed that the Xenomorphs are already a threat Alien: Earth. This was confirmed by a short reel from November 2024. Again, in an interview with Variety, Hawley said that he and Scott discussed logistics:

“To me and to many people, this 'perfect life form' – as described in the first film – is the product of millions of years of evolution. […] The idea that at some level it was a bioweapon created half an hour ago is inherently less helpful to me.”

The first trailer showing a shot of Earth reflected in a Xenomorph's skull hinted that the series would follow the species arriving on the planet. Instead of focusing solely on the Xenomorphs, Hawley teased it Alien: Earth delves more into the antagonistic Weyland-Yutani Corporation's obsession with developing artificial intelligence. This could be related to the casting of Timothy Olyphant as a synthesizer named Kirsh.

Showing Xenomorphs On Earth

Official synopsis for Alien: Earth confirms some of the above and gives some seriously Aliens (1986) vibrations while not revealing much:

“When a mysterious spaceship crashes on Earth, a young woman and a group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face to face with the planet's greatest threat.”

Hawley doubled down on Earth's unique environment, telling Deadline:

“Something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes is really chilling.

He said that while he couldn't confirm under what circumstances this would happen, there was a implication that the aliens would escape their corporate cages once the Weyland-Yutani inevitably took them over. The fact that the films don't mention Earth being overrun by Xenomorphs means that it may only be a small or temporary infestation.

Special edition Alien: Resurrection showed Cal Ripley and Winona Ryder arriving at the ruins of Earth in 2381. In the same film, Ron Perlman's character refers to Earth as a 's*tour'. Meanwhile in Bargain, David says that the human race is a “dying species” that is leaving the earth in search of resurrection. While it sounds like Hawley will be doing away with some Xenomorph lore by teasing Scott's prequels and possibly revealing the state of planet Earth, the fact that he's been in contact with the franchise's overlord suggests it will all come together.

Despite its non-canonical status AvP movies, Hawley could even go back to the idea that the xenomorphs were spread across the galaxy as part of a predator-hunting ritual. after all RomulusFede Álvarez discussed the idea of ​​a new Alien vs Predator film. Either way, the frustrated ones BargainThe dangling plot threads might have some of their questions answered in this prequel. WITH Alien: Earth arrival in the post officeRomulus boom of love to Foreign IP, there couldn't be a better time to take viewers back to the beginning and put more meat on those Xenomorph bones – especially against the familiar backdrop of Earth.