Earth Shares Plot, First Images, And Release Date

You just can’t keep a good Xenomorph down, can you? Last year brought the return of cinema’s scariest extraterrestrial franchise in Alien: Romulus – set between the events of Alien and Aliens. But that’s not the only close encounter with Giger’s beast that’s been in the works. This year brings streaming series Alien: Earth, long in development from creator Noah Hawley – and now we know exactly when the beast will hit terra firma.

As confirmed by Disney+, the series begins streaming on 13 August this year, bringing the first two of eight episodes. But that’s not the only update – we now have a bunch of fresh images from the show, and a great whack of plot too, clueing us in on what Hawley has in store. First up, some pics – the above image is of Wendy, who seems to be the series’ lead character. She’s played by Sydney Chandler (previously seen in Don’t Worry Darling and Sex Pistols drama Pistol), and is a ‘hybrid’ – an android with a human consciousness, created by Prodigy, a rival company to Weyland-Yutani. Here’s another look at her.

And here are some other images, including a look at Timothy Olyphant (with bleached hair) as ‘Kirsch’, Ade Edmondson as ‘Atom Eins’, and Diêm Camille as ‘Siberian’ (stood next to Andor’s Alex Lawther, as Hermit).

Here’s the official synopsis: “When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, “Wendy” (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.”

“In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, “Wendy” and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.”

There’s plenty to unpick there – while this is set on Earth, (it’s in the title, duh) it’s not our current world. The setting looks set to be the mysterious ‘Prodigy City’, the base for Wendy and friends, who are forced to reckon with the perfect organism crashing into their home, courtesy of Weyland-Yutani. Notably, the setting of 2120 places this two years before the events of Alien – so if this is canon in with the rest of the Alien-verse, it means there’s Earth contact with the Xenomorph before Ripley ever went toe-to-toe with one. It is, however, around 30 years post-Prometheus, so humanity has at least enocuntered the Engineers and that deadly black goo by this point. Ridley Scott, it should be noted, is an Executive Producer on Alien: Earth.

We’re fascinated to see what Hawley and co have cooked up – and how it evolves Alien’s ever-adapting DNA. We’ll find out this August. The Xeno egg is officially pulsing.