While paying homage to Ridley Scott’s legacy, Alien: Earth boldly carves its own path and presents the fans of the genre with both nostalgia and existential questions. We sat down with the series’ creator and showrunner, Noah Hawley, and producer David W. Zucker to discuss the new Alien universe, which will premiere on August 13 on Disney+.
The timeline of the series, spanning from Prometheus to Alien vs. Predator, has become incredibly complicated for the fans of Alien since childhood. Especially Alien: Covenant, which I saw at the 2017 İKSV gala, left me confused: it was set 40 years before the original film, 5 years after Prometheus, and featured sequences from yet another future. Still, with a cast that included Michael Fassbender, James Franco, Noomi Rapace, and Guy Pearce, the film won me over. So, I started Alien: Earth not with high expectations, but with curiosity, for old times’ sake. As someone who’s watched every entry in the series, I must admit: the idea of those terrifying creatures coming to Earth is very appealing. And the production team has crafted a terrific story that keeps you glued to the screen.
Writer-director Noah Hawley, who transformed Fargo into one of the best TV shows of the last decade, was already successful at surpassing high expectations. Now, after absorbing the spirit of the Coen Brothers and creating an Emmy-winning masterpiece, the spotlight is on whether he can step out from under Ridley Scott’s shadow with Alien: Earth. He’s quite confident about that: “I want you to end every episode saying, ‘No way!’” he says with a smile.
The idea to bring the Alien universe to TV began taking shape after the success of Legion in 2018, when FX asked, “Could an Alien series work?” Thankfully, it did begin. The new series brings the 46-year-old Alien franchise to television for the first time, expanding the lore with a prequel set two years before the 1979 original film. Alien: Earth follows different lifeforms that escape from a spaceship making an emergency landing on Earth, and a military group trying to stop them. One of the main characters is Wendy (played by Sydney Chandler), a human-synthetic hybrid.
So where does Ridley Scott stand in all this? Noah spoke with Scott at the beginning but made it clear he wanted to tell his own story. Since Scott was busy with other projects, he let the series be. According to David Zucker, Scott occasionally gave supportive advice, but the main goal was for Noah to present his own original narrative.
Redefining Fear
Adding new monsters alongside familiar horrors like the Xenomorph wasn’t easy for Hawley. “The goal was for the audience to feel like they were watching Alien for the first time,” he says. When you think about it, what can a person really do against a 3-meter-tall creature? But thanks to Hawley’s astonishing genius, each episode is a treat. In fact, the script was so ambitious that the writing team initially thought the first draft was “unfilmable.” Zucker, who deeply trusted his partner on the project, says: “Looking back, I can’t just say Noah succeeded, he did more than that.”
At the Heart of the Series: Wendy
On the surface, Alien: Earth tells the story of how the Xenomorphs arrived on Earth. But in Noah Hawley’s hands, it becomes something deeper: humanity’s pursuit of immortality, corporate warfare, sibling bonds, and the big question: “Is humanity worth saving?” Centering such profound questions, rarely explored in this genre, gives the series real depth.
Presenting existential questions in every episode, at the center of Alien: Earth is not Sigourney Weaver, but a child living in an android body: Wendy. Half-human, half-AI, Wendy carries the show’s emotional weight. “Alien has always been a female narrative to me,” Hawley explains. “Before I started writing, I thought: who is more human than a child? They can’t fake fear, they’re terrible liars. Forcing them to grow up makes for deeply striking storytelling.”
Wendy’s existential crisis is one of the show’s most powerful scenes. When she says, “I’m not human… so what am I?” you also end up questioning yourself. When asked what it was like working so closely with that theme, Hawley replies: “It was amazing. It convinced me this story deserved a long form. Wendy’s core dilemma is this: should she return to a human body or transform into something else? The answer depends on her surroundings. If the people around her are good and kind, she’ll choose to stay human. But if they’re cruel… she’ll say, ‘Maybe I should become something else.’ That’s how the show’s ups and downs begin. I hope the audience will root for her to remain human. Because we want being human to still be valuable.”
“We’re questioning what it means to be human.”
With striking visuals, a tight pace, and a mystery full of potential, I truly enjoyed Alien: Earth. Expanding a universe while keeping it grounded is always tricky. How did you manage that balance in Alien: Earth?
Noah Hawley: I think you always want to spark the viewer’s imagination, right? I started as a fiction writer, and I know that when I read a book, I create half the story myself. Because I build that world in my mind. But watching something is usually a more passive experience, so I want viewers to be fully engaged in the process.
What you call a mystery, the power of those existential questions… The real fear does not lie in what is shown on the screen. People fear what’s behind the door, what’s hiding in the basement, right? That’s where imagination kicks in and does the real work. I wanted to elevate that fear to a more intellectual level: I highlighted the moral horrors born from how people treat one another. When you combine that with our genetic disgust toward the creatures, it adds a whole new layer. I think this series goes beyond the one hour you spend in front of the screen; it is a story that lingers in your mind.
David W. Zucker: I think what stands out, and what you noticed, is that Noah is actually exploring different extensions or interpretations of humanity. When you start watching a cyborg, a synthetic being, a hybrid, they’re not just sci-fi characters. They’re different animalistic manifestations of who we are and how we behave.
And some of the humans in the show are way scarier than the creatures! So each time you rewatch the series, you connect with a different character, or pull away from them. You might not like how the synthetic acts, but they offer incredibly deep observations. I constantly find myself shifting emotional allegiance with the characters.
Alien: Earth isn’t just about survival; it’s also about the meaning of being human. Was pushing the series into deeper psychological territory a decision made from the start?
Noah Hawley: Absolutely. That’s my basic approach as a storyteller. If you can entertain your audience, they’ll let you go deeper. I see fiction as a way to better understand the world and people. What always drew me to the Alien films was this idea that survival might depend on how morally we behave or how well we work together.
Remember that famous line from James Cameron’s film: “I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage,” the truth that humans can betray one another for profit. The first two films had this class-conscious perspective. The working-class people left at the mercy of giant corporations… And that’s still a reality we’re fighting against today.
“Alien was the product of millions of years of evolution. But Prometheus changed everything.”
The Alien universe is multi-layered and complex. This series takes place a few years before the first Alien film. How much did you immerse yourself in the Alien lore? Was there a specific detail you always wanted to include?
Noah Hawley: I didn’t dive into the comics or novels too deeply. I took a more amateur approach. I watched all the films and developed a consistent understanding of the timeline. But what challenged me most were the choices Ridley Scott made in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant regarding the Xenomorph’s origins. For 40 years, I believed those creatures were the product of millions of years of evolution. But Prometheus said they were actually engineered biological weapons. That felt very artificial to me.
David W. Zucker: Also, Prometheus had a very high-tech visual aesthetic. On the other hand, we made some conscious choices. I chose retro-futurism. For me, it is not Alien without ASCII text flowing on CRT monitors. And the creatures… They’re evolved, perfect organisms.
We stayed true to the foundations built by Ridley Scott and James Cameron. Because every new creator wants to add something, and the structure collapses under its own weight. After a certain point, you can’t incorporate everything. You have to make a choice.
