Alien: Earth

Last updated

Alien: Earth
Alien Earth (2025) poster.jpg
Release poster
Genre
Created by Noah Hawley
Based on
ShowrunnerNoah Hawley
Starring
Music by Jeff Russo
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
ProducerDarin McLeod
Cinematography
Editors
  • Regis Kimble
  • Robin August
  • Curtis Thurber
Running time54–63 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseAugust 12, 2025 (2025-08-12) –
present

Alien: Earth is an American science fiction horror television series created by Noah Hawley. It is the first television series in the Alien franchise and is set two years before the events of the 1979 film Alien . The series stars Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adarsh Gourav, and Timothy Olyphant in main roles.

Contents

Development for the series was reported to have begun in early 2019, with Ridley Scott attached to executive produce for FX on Hulu. It had started pre-production by April 2023, with Chandler cast in the lead role the following month, and further casting taking place from July to November that year. After principal photography was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production began in July 2023 but was halted in August due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming resumed in April 2024 and ended in July that year.

Alien: Earth premiered on FX and FX on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ internationally on August 12, 2025.

Premise

The opening of the first episode introduces the premise of the series as involving three separate destinies for the immortality of mankind. These are: [1]

Cybernetically enhanced humans: Cyborgs
Artificially intelligent beings: Synthetics (Synths)
Synthetic beings downloaded with human consciousness: Hybrids

When the space vessel Maginot crash-lands on Earth, a young hybrid woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's biggest threat. [2]

Cast and characters

Main

Sydney Chandler by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Alex Lawther by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Samuel Blenkin by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Timothy Olyphant by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, and Timothy Olyphant play Wendy, Joe Hermit, Boy Kavalier, and Kirsh respectively.

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten by  [13] Original release date  [14] U.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Neverland" Noah Hawley Noah HawleyAugust 12, 2025 (2025-08-12)0.589 [15]
In 2120, five companies control Earth and the colonized Solar System, including the recently founded Prodigy Corporation. The USCSS Maginot , a Weyland-Yutani C-class deep space research vessel, approaches Earth after a 65-year expedition to obtain extra-terrestrial specimens, among them facehuggers. On Earth, at Prodigy's Neverland research island, a terminally ill child named Marcy becomes the first hybrid, having her consciousness transferred to an adult synthetic, and renames herself Wendy. Adjusting to her new body with the assistance of synthetic mentor Kirsh, Wendy oversees several other children who undergo the procedure. A malfunction compromises the Maginot's navigation, placing it on a collision course with Earth. Some specimens get loose, and a grown Xenomorph kills most of the crew. It crashes into a tower in the Prodigy city of New Siam, where Wendy's human brother Hermit works as a medic and corporate soldier. CEO Boy Kavalier asserts the Maginot's contents now belong to Prodigy, and deploys Kirsh, Wendy, and the other hybrids to assist with search and rescue to test their enhanced capabilities. Security officer Morrow, who survived the crash in a reinforced panic room, moves to protect the cargo and detains two Prodigy soldiers, who are killed by a leech-like specimen. Wendy remarks to Kirsh that she wants to save her brother from death.
2"Mr. October" Dana Gonzales Noah HawleyAugust 12, 2025 (2025-08-12)0.380 [15]
Boy Kavalier tells his employee, Dame Sylvia, that he formed the Hybrid project to allow humanity to compete with artificial intelligence, and has granted Wendy additional abilities as he wishes to create a person smarter than him. He declines Weyland-Yutani's request to secure the Maginot's proprietary contents, warning any incursion on his territory will be considered a hostile act. Hermit is chased by a Xenomorph and separated from his colleagues. It tracks him to the higher floors of the tower, killing Bergerfeld and massacring an apartment of wealthy residents who refused to evacuate. He is saved by Morrow, who tasers him and the Xenomorph, but it regains consciousness and escapes after killing numerous other soldiers, sparing Morrow. Arriving in New Siam, Hybrids Tootles, Smee, Nibs, and Curly encounter two other dangerous extraterrestrial specimens. Wendy locates her brother with Slightly, a fellow Hybrid, but Hermit does not recognize her. Slightly reveals her true identity to a shocked Hermit who believed Wendy/Marcy to have died. The three encounter several Xenomorph eggs and are ordered by Kirsh to contain them until a HazMat team arrives. Hermit is dragged away by the Xenomorph, and Wendy chases after.
3"Metamorphosis"Dana GonzalesNoah Hawley and Bob DeLaurentis August 19, 2025 (2025-08-19)0.441 [16]
Nibs questions Curly about why the hybrids are all named after Peter Pan characters and why Marcy gets to be Wendy. Kavalier orders the specimens be brought to Neverland Island for study, despite objections from Kirsh and Dame Sylvia. Morrow finds Smee and Slightly guarding the Xenomorph eggs and interrogates them, suspicious of their childlike behavior. He downloads the specimen data from the Maginot and plants a device on Slightly before escaping. Meanwhile, Wendy and Hermit fight the Xenomorph with a meat hook, and Wendy kills it, although both sustain serious injuries. Returning to the island, Hermit undergoes surgery and the Sylvias tend to Wendy. Kavalier inspects the specimens until Kirsh removes him for his own protection. Atom Eins questions Smee and Slightly about their encounter with Morrow. Having escaped into New Siam, Morrow calls Yutani, and insists on retrieving the specimens despite being ordered to return home. Curly confronts Kavalier about his favoritism towards Wendy, believing herself to be the best hybrid. Morrow contacts Slightly via the embedded device, convincing him to be his friend. Kirsh, Tootles, and Curly dissect a facehugger and introduce its larvae to Hermit's lung, removed during surgery. Wendy awakens, seemingly intercepting signals from the Xenomorph eggs which cause her pain. She ultimately collapses in the laboratory containing the eggs.
4"Observation"Ugla HauksdóttirNoah Hawley and Bobak EsfarjaniAugust 26, 2025 (2025-08-26)0.393 [17]
Wendy wakes up with her hearing disabled. Arthur adjusts her hearing so that she is able to hear the Xenomorph eggs without it being painful. Wendy is able to speak the language of the Xenomorphs in a frequency audible to humans. Kirsh and Tootles test Trypanohyncha Ocellus (an octopus-like creature) on a sheep, and it implants itself in the sheep's brain. Kirsh remarks that the creature is highly intelligent. Morrow continues to communicate with Slightly and pressures him into revealing his real name as a sign of trust. Morrow convinces Slightly to steal one of the Xenomorph eggs. Nibs claims she is pregnant, and when Dame Sylvia tries to make her talk about the rescue mission, Nibs becomes violent and is unknowingly put under house arrest. Hermit, having become jaded after seeing how Wendy is treated more as an experimental prototype than a person, attempts to quit and leave his position, only for Atom Eins to tell him that if he does, he will be sent a large bill for his new lung and never see Wendy again. When Slightly contacts Morrow to tell him it isn't possible to steal an egg, Morrow reveals that he used Slightly's real name to track down his family and implies that he will harm them if Slightly does not comply. He then instructs Slightly to find a human and take them to the eggs so they can be infected by a facehugger. It is revealed that Kirsh is listening to their conversations. Later at night, Wendy observes the Xenomorph-infected lung, and a Xenomorph suddenly bursts out. She is able to placate it, presumably due to her ability to speak their language.
5"In Space, No One..." [18] Noah HawleyNoah HawleySeptember 2, 2025 (2025-09-02)TBD
6"The Fly" [19] Ugla HauksdóttirNoah Hawley and Lisa LongSeptember 9, 2025 (2025-09-09)TBD
7"Emergence" [20] Dana GonzalesNoah Hawley and Maria MelnikSeptember 16, 2025 (2025-09-16)TBD
8"The Real Monsters" [21] Dana GonzalesNoah Hawley & Migizi Pensoneau September 23, 2025 (2025-09-23)TBD

Production

Development

In February 2019, Bloody Disgusting reported that two Alien television series were in development, one animated – Alien: Isolation  –and one live-action, from Ridley Scott for the network FX on Hulu. [22] In December 2020, as part of Disney's Investor Day presentation, the latter television series project was officially announced to be in development for the network, with Noah Hawley as showrunner and Scott as executive producer, being set on Earth in the near future. [23] [24]

On February 17, 2022, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the series is a prequel taking place before the events of Alien (1979). [25] Hawley himself confirmed that the series will be tied more into the style and mythology of the original 1979 film rather than the prequel films Prometheus (2012), and Alien: Covenant (2017). [26] In April 2023, chairman of FX Productions John Landgraf stated that the series was in active pre-production. [27] According to FX Entertainment president Gina Balian, the scale of the production of Alien: Earth was much bigger than that of the 2024 FX series Shōgun, whose budget has been reported as $250 million. [28]

Casting

In May 2023, Sydney Chandler was cast in the lead role, [29] followed by Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, and Adarsh Gourav in July. [6] Timothy Olyphant and David Rysdahl would be among those added to the cast in November 2023. [30] [4] [7] [31]

Filming

Principal photography was scheduled to begin in March 2022, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [32] Production on the series began on July 19, 2023, in Thailand. [6] Filming (without the American cast including Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, and David Rysdahl) was allowed to occur during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike due to the series' British cast working under an Equity contract. [32] [6] In late August, the production was halted due to the strike with most of the first episode completed. [9] Filming resumed in April 2024, [12] and wrapped in mid-July. [33] Dana Gonzales, Bella Gonzales and Colin Watkinson serve as cinematographers. [34] [35]

Music

The score for the series was composed by Jeff Russo. The soundtrack was released on Hollywood Records on August 12, 2025. [36] The episodes end on famous heavy metal music songs because Hawley decided to highlight the cliffhanger endings by "mak[ing] an arena show, something that feels bigger than a small theater", featuring tracks by Black Sabbath, Tool, Metallica and Queens of the Stone Age. [37]

Release

Alien: Earth premiered on FX and FX on Hulu with the first two episodes on August 12, 2025. Subsequent episodes of the eight-episode season will be released weekly. [5] Prior to the series' release, the first episode was shown early to attendees of the series' panel at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 25. [38]

Reception

Viewership

The Walt Disney Company announced that the first episode of Alien: Earth garnered 9.2 million views worldwide within its first six days of streaming. This total was calculated by dividing the total hours watched by the episode's runtime, reflecting viewership on FX, Hulu, and Disney+. [39] [40] Analytics company Samba TV, which gathers viewership data from certain smart TVs and content providers, reported that Alien: Earth was watched by 1.8 million U.S. households during its live-plus-five-day period. Boomer households (ages 65–74) over-indexed in viewership by 8% compared to other demographic groups. [41]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 131 critics' reviews are positive, with a critics consensus of: "Stylistically bold and scary as hell, Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth transplants the Xenomorph mythos into the television medium with its cinematic grandeur intact while staking out a unique identity of its own." [42] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 85 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [43]

James Dyer of Empire gave the first season five out of five stars, praising its exploration of "the nature of consciousness, mortality, [and] humanity", concluding that "Hawley's series is a rare prequel that serves to enrich its source material, breathing new life into a once-tired franchise". [44] For RogerEbert.com , Brian Tallerico wrote, "Tony Gilroy's work on Andor feels like a logical comparison, and that's the quality tier on which this show resides as well. ... [Hawley] delivers an 8-episode first season that somehow marries the philosophical depth that fans of Prometheus admired with the intense action and bone-chilling imagery of James Cameron's Aliens ." [45] Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter described it as a "heady, sprawling, occasionally unwieldy but eventually thrilling epic about personhood, hubris, and of course, the primal pleasure of watching people get absolutely rocked by space monsters", noting its production design and "new beasts with their own deliciously horrible ways of killing". [46]

Not all reviews were positive. Dominic Baez of The Seattle Times criticized the show's pace and uneven story, writing, "Its examination of identity ... is less insightful than it wants to be, buckling under the weight of its own unanswered questions. And far too often it feels like two separate plots stitched together, a Frankenstein's monster of existentialism and aliens ripping people apart." [47] Nicholas Quah of Vulture called the feeling of the show "tedious" and wrote that it "struggles to resolve the tension between replicating the core Alien appeal and building a broader narrative suited for long-form television," at the same time questioning if Hawley is fit for the genre versus his previous neo-noir stylings. [48]

References

  1. ↑ Kleinman, Jake (August 13, 2025). "One line in Alien: Earth completely changes franchise canon". Polygon. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  2. ↑ Cordero, Rosy (September 3, 2024). "FX's Alien Earthbound Series From Noah Hawley Drops Logline & Teaser". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "FX's Alien: Earth Characters". FX Networks. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grobar, Matt (November 28, 2023). "Noah Hawley's Alien Adds David Rysdahl". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cordero, Rosy (May 13, 2025). "Alien: Earth Photos Reveal First-Look At Noah Hawley's FX Series As New Details Emerge". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 13, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Shackleton, Liz; Andreeva, Nellie (July 20, 2023). "Alien: Alex Lawther & Samuel Blenkin Among Quartet Cast As FX Series Starts Production With No SAG-AFTRA Actors Amid Strike". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Otterson, Joe (November 29, 2023). "Noah Hawley's Alien Series at FX Rounds Out Main Cast (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ Grobar, Matt (January 4, 2023). "Moe Bar-El Joins Alien TV Series As Recurring". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (August 29, 2023). "Alien: Kit Young Added To Cast; FX Series Halts Filming Amid SAG-AFTRA Strike". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  10. ↑ Murray, Noel (August 26, 2025). "Alien: Earth Recap: Growing Pains" . Vulture . Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 27, 2025. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Porter, Rick (March 4, 2025). "Fargo,Game of Thrones Alums Board Alien: Earth at FX". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  12. 1 2 Wiseman, Andreas (April 19, 2024). "FX's Alien Series Adds Foundation Actress Sandra Yi Sencindiver, Filming Continues In Thailand". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Alien: Earth". Writers Guild of America West . Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Shows A-Z – Alien: Earth on FX on Hulu". The Futon Critic . Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  15. 1 2 Pucci, Douglas (August 13, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: 'Alien: Earth' Debuts on FX and Hulu". Programming Insider. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  16. ↑ Pucci, Douglas (August 20, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: 'Songs and Stories' Premiere on NBC Tops its Hour Among Broadcast Network Shows". Programming Insider. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  17. ↑ Pucci, Douglas (August 27, 2025). "Tuesday Ratings: ABC News Special on Bruce Willis Attracts Decent-Sized Total Audience". Programming Insider. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  18. ↑ "(#105) "In Space, No One..."". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  19. ↑ "(#106) "The Fly"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  20. ↑ "(#107) "Emergence"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  21. ↑ "(#108) "The Real Monsters"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  22. ↑ Squires, John (February 13, 2019). "[Rumor] Two Alien Franchise TV Shows in the Works, One from Ridley Scott and Hulu?". Bloody Disgusting .
  23. ↑ Scott, Ryan (December 10, 2020). "Alien TV Show Is Coming to FX, Will Take Place on Earth". MovieWeb . Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  24. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (July 1, 2021). "New Alien TV Series Will Be Class Warfare With Xenomorphs". Vanity Fair . Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  25. ↑ Hibberd, James (February 17, 2022). "FX Gives New Details on Alien TV Series, Teases "Big Surprises"". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  26. ↑ Brew, Caroline (January 14, 2024). "Noah Hawley Explains Why Prometheus and Covenant Are Inherently Less Useful for Alien Prequel Series". Variety . Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  27. ↑ Wilding, Josh (April 6, 2023). "Alien: Noah Hawley's Upcoming TV Series Gets A Positive Update From FX Boss John Landgraf". Sci-Fi & Fantasy Gazette. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  28. ↑ D'Addario, Daniel (July 23, 2025). "Alien: Earth Is Wildly Ambitious, Expensive and Stars a Talented Actor Who Refuses to Play by Hollywood's Rules. Inside FX's Risky Bet for a New Blockbuster Series". Variety . Archived from the original on July 30, 2025. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  29. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (May 1, 2023). "FX's Alien TV Series Taps Sydney Chandler to Star". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  30. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (November 27, 2023). "Alien: Timothy Olyphant Joins Noah Hawley's FX Series". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  31. ↑ Cordero, Rosy (November 20, 2024). "Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth Teases Premiere As New Details & Teaser Are Revealed". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  32. 1 2 Cobb, Kayla (November 8, 2023). "Alien Series Aiming to Premiere in 'First Half' of 2025, According to Noah Hawley". The Wrap . Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  33. ↑ Dunn, Jack; Hailu, Selome (July 17, 2024). "FX's Alien Series Gets Official Title Alien: Earth". Variety . Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  34. ↑ "Bella Gonzales Resume" (PDF). Worldwide Production Agency. April 30, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  35. ↑ "Colin Watkinson Resume" (PDF). Worldwide Production Agency. April 30, 2025. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  36. ↑ Ciafardini, Marc (August 11, 2025). "Jeff Russo's Music to 'Alien: Earth'". Go, See, Talk!. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  37. ↑ O'Keefe, Meghan (August 12, 2025). "What Song is Playing at the End of 'Alien: Earth'? Noah Hawley Explains Those Black Sabbath, Tool, Metallica Needle Drops". Decider. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  38. ↑ Campione, Katie (July 25, 2025). "Noah Hawley & Alien: Earth Cast Tease Plenty Of Xenomorph Action Infused With Rich Character Studies In FX Series At Comic-Con Panel". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  39. ↑ Hailu, Selome (August 19, 2025). "'Alien: Earth' Premiere Hits 9.2 Million Views in Six Days". Variety . Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  40. ↑ Campione, Katie (August 19, 2025). "'Alien: Earth' Premiere Draws Promising 9.2M Views Globally In First 6 Days". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  41. ↑ Gruenwedel, Erik (August 19, 2025). "'Alien: Earth' Generates 9.2 Million Global Views Across Linear, Digital Platforms in Six Days". Media Play News . Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Alien: Earth: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  43. ↑ "Alien: Earth: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  44. ↑ Dyer, James (August 5, 2025). "Alien: Earth Review". Empire . Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  45. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (August 8, 2025). "FX's Alien: Earth Shatters Already High Expectations". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  46. ↑ Han, Angie (August 5, 2025). "'Alien: Earth' Review: FX's Sci-Fi Prequel Is an Intriguingly Ambitious, Eventually Thrilling Journey Into the Semi-Known". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  47. ↑ Baez, Dominic (August 5, 2025). "Alien: Earth review: FX horror series is a scattershot experience". The Seattle Times . Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  48. ↑ Quah, Nicholas (August 12, 2025). "Alien: Earth Is a Faulty Hybrid". Vulture. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
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