The Alien franchise continues on the small screen with the “FX on Hulu” TV series Alien: Earth, from Fargo creator Noah Hawley. The show premiered last August and quickly secured a renewal for a second season. Now, executive producer, director, and cinematographer Dana Gonzalez has confirmed that the Alien: Earth season 2 world-building is underway, and it’s taking place at Pinewood Studios in England – the same place where the original Alien was filmed!
Reminder
One of the first things we heard about the Alien TV series – and one of the most surprising things about it – is that it would be set on Earth (thus the title), a couple of decades before the events of the first movie. FX chairman John Landgraf said the show would take place “right near the end of this century,” which would put it “a few years before Prometheus,” which Hawley has previously said he has chosen not to acknowledge. But the setting is actually 2120, which is just a couple of years before Alien. In fact, if it goes on for multiple seasons, it might even overlap with the events of Alien.
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 TV series will “explore the formation of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the race to create android life.”
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. During the time the story takes place, five corporations – Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold – wield the power of nations, and proprietary advancements in technology provide the promise of a new tomorrow.
Sydney Chandler’s Alien: Earth 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 Sylvia, David Rysdahl (Fargo season 5) as Dame Sylvia’s husband Arthur, Alex Lawther (The End of the F*cking World) as a soldier called Hermit, who was Wendy’s brother when she was in her original human form; 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, Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones) as Boy Kavalier’s first lieutenant Atom Eins, Babou Ceesay (Guerrilla) as cyborg security officer Morrow, Diêm Camille (Washington Black) as soldier Siberian, Moe Bar-El (The Peripheral) as soldier Rashidi, Jonathan Ajayi (Wonder Woman 1984) as the Hybrid called Smee, Erana James (The Wilds) as Curly, Lily Newmark (Sex Education) as Nibs, and Timothy Olyphant (Justified) Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for Wendy. Sandra Yi Sencindiver of Foundation will be playing Yutani, “a senior member of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation,” in multiple episodes, and her role could be expanded as the series continues. To learn more about several of these characters, click over to the Vanity Fair link. The Lost Boys are a group of Hybrids, “artificially made bodies containing a consciousness uploaded from the body of an actual human being,” that were created and named after Peter Pan characters by Boy Kavalier. Wendy is one of them.
Richa Moorjani (Never Have I Ever), Karen Aldridge (Severance), Enzo Cilenti (Game of Thrones), Max Rinehart (Unforgotten), Amir Boutrous (The Crown), newcomer Victoria Masoma, Tom Moya (Midsomer Murders), Andy Yu (Mid-Love Crisis), Michael Smiley (Bad Sisters), Jamie Bisping (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), and Tanapol Chuksrida (The Green Deal) had guest roles.
Season 2
Gonzalez confirmed that work on Alien: Earth season 2 is underway with a post on Instagram, where he showed his name on a plaque at Pinewood Studios. He wrote, “Super excited to start the journey of Alien: Earth season 2. World building in the Alien universe birthplace.“
Were you a fan of the first season of Alien: Earth, and are you glad to see that season 2 is moving forward? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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