Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley promises the TV series will have scary Xenomorph moments

The Alien franchise is set to continue on the small screen with an “FX on Hulu” TV series called Alien: Earth, from Fargo creator Noah Hawley. The show began filming in Thailand last year, then had to halt production after a month due to the actors strike. Filming resumed earlier this year and wrapped a couple of months ago – and while speaking to Deadline while on the Emmys red carpet, Hawley promised that the show will have Xenomorph moments that are so scary, it will make viewers lock their doors.

One of the first things we heard about the Alien TV series – and one of the most surprising things about it – is that it will be set on Earth (thus the title), a couple of decades before the events of the first movie. FX chairman John Landgraf has said the show will take place “right near the end of this century.” According to Deadline, the setting puts it “a few years before Prometheus,” which Hawley has previously said he has chosen not to acknowledge. Hawley decided to set the show on Earth because “The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a space ship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.“ Variety noted that the Alien TV series will “explore the formation of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the race to create android life.”

Speaking with Deadline, Hawley said, “There’s something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes. That is truly chilling to think of it moving here among us, and so I can’t tell you under what circumstances you’ll see that, but you’ll see it — and you’re going to lock your door that night. What was really fun for me was to really engage with the creature, bring some of my own thoughts to the design while not touching the silhouette, because that’s sacrosanct. But some of the elements as we know, whatever the host is, informs what the final creature is. I just wanted to play around a little bit to make it as scary as it should be.“

Alien: Earth has the following synopsis: When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.

Chandler’s Alien character is the meta-human Wendy, who has the body of an adult, but the brain and consciousness of a child. Her co-stars include Essie Davis (The Babadook) as Dame Silvia, Alex Lawther (The End of the F*cking World) as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) as a CEO named Boy Kavalier, Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as a character named Slightly, Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) as a character called Tootles, and Timothy Olyphant (Justified) Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for Wendy. Babou Ceesay (Guerrilla), Jonathan Ajayi (Wonder Woman 1984), Erana James (The Wilds), Lily Newmark (Sex Education), Diêm Camille (Washington Black), Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones), Moe Bar-El (The Peripheral), and David Rysdahl (Fargo season 5) are in the cast as well, but no details have been revealed about their characters. Sandra Yi Sencindiver of Foundation will be playing “a senior member of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation” in multiple episodes, and her role could be expanded as the series continues.

Are you looking forward to being creeped out by the Xenomorph moments in Alien: Earth? Let us know by leaving a comment below.