Alien TV Series Getting Season 2 Release Way Sooner Than Expected?
Noah Hawley has offered an update on his upcoming Alien series. Speaking to Deadline, the filmmaker revealed that Season 1 and 2 will receive (almost) back-to-back releases. “They’re saying maybe don’t do two things at once on this show [because] their hope is to put a Season 2 as close to Season 1 as possible,” he explained.
A Retro-Futuristic Production
Hawley explained that while he’s finished directing his Alien series, production on Season 1 and Season 2 will continue until July. However, the show will only hit screens in 2025 due to the extensive VFX required. Ridley Scott was involved during the conceptual stage but has been hands-off since. “In the four years it’s taken me to launch this show, he’s made how many movies?” Hawley continued.
Hawley went on to explain what fans can expect from the Alien series in Seasons 1 and 2. “What I said to Ridley is, ‘I’m adapting your movie,'” the filmmaker recalled. I had to make a decision, retro-futurism or Prometheus? And I chose retro-futurism. When I close my eyes, and you say Alien to me, I see that green ASCII text. I hear that sound. I see that keyboard with the weird Egyptian ruins on it. I see those hallways.”
Set Before The Events In Prometheus
The upcoming Alien series (Season 1 and 2) is a live-action sci-fi horror based on the Alien franchise. The story is set on Earth in 2089, about four years before the events of Prometheus and about 30 years before the original 1979 Alien film. The show explores the rise of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a company pioneering android intelligence.
The plot of the Alien series (Season 1 and 2) is said to focus on the race between corporations to create new android life and is expected to explore the blurred lines between artificial and human life. Along with writing, directing, and producing the show, Noah Hawley will also serve as showrunner. Ridley Scott, who directed the original film, is an executive producer on the series.
Leans Into Classic Alien Mythology
News first broke about the development of two Alien television series in February 2019. The first was an animated offering called Alien: Isolation and a live-action version from Ridley Scott for FX on Hulu. In December 2020, Disney officially announced the live-action series, with Noah Hawley as showrunner and Scott as executive producer.
In February 2022, it was revealed that the Alien series (which now consists of Season 1 and 2) will be a prequel to the 1979 Alien film. At the time, Hawley confirmed that the show would align more closely with the style and mythology of the original movie than with Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). Pre-production began in April 2023. Filming is currently underway in Thailand and the United Kingdom.
Sydney Chandler Taking The Lead
The cast of the Alien series (Season 1 and 2) includes Sydney Chandler as Wendy, a hybrid meta-human with the mind of a child but the body of an adult. Alex Lawther plays a soldier named CJ, while Samuel Blenkin takes on the role of the mysterious CEO, Boy Kavalier. Essie Davis appears as Dame Silvia, and Adarsh Gourav as Slightly.
Kit Young will appear as Tootles along with Timothy Olyphant, a synth named Kirsh, who acts as Wendy’s mentor and trainer. David Rysdahl and Moe Bar-El have also joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Sandra Yi Sencindiver, Babou Ceesay, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diêm Camille, and Adrian Edmondson round out the Alien series cast for Season 1 and 2.
The Original Alien Movie
The original Alien movie (on which Season 1 and 2 of the series are based) follows the commercial space tug Nostromo crew, who are awakened from cryosleep to investigate a distress signal on the moon LV-426. They discover a derelict alien spacecraft and an alien creature that kills them off one by one. The film focuses on Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who is the sole survivor and must fight to escape the alien.
