The Exciting World of FX's Alien TV Show

The Journey to the Small Screen

The FX Alien TV show news has been slow since its announcement, but the move to the small screen remains one of the most interesting new directions for the Xenomorphs. The long-running horror/sci-fi franchise Alien has thus far been exclusive to the big screen, with the Xenomorphs having starred in eight motion pictures to date. Beginning in 1979 with Ridley Scott's Alien and continuing through to Scott's prequel Alien: Covenant in 2017, the series has a long and rich history

Timothy Olyphant as Cobb in The Mandalorian over Prometheus movie background

Shortly after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019, Disney announced plans to create a new installment in the Alien movie franchise. While a new movie did eventually take shape, the studio also made it known that it intended to bring the Alien mythology to TV for the first time. The announcement came in 2020, along with news that Fargo's Noah Hawley will act as showrunner. While the series has yet to release a trailer, there are plenty of interesting teases and details that offer hints as to what audiences can expect from the FX Alien TV show.

Alien: Romulus star Cailee Spaeny in Pacific Rim Uprising and a Xenomorph from Alien: Covenant

Production and Casting Updates

The latest Alien TV show news arrived on November 8, 2023, when creator Noah Hawley revealed a release window. The Alien TV show is aiming for a 2025 release date, according to Hawley, who's the showrunner, writer, and director of the upcoming small-screen prequel. Also announced in November 2023, the first bit of major casting news was finally revealed as Timothy Olyphant is joining the ensemble of the Alien TV show. The Justified star is set to play an android synthetic character that could help explain a bit more of their origins and connection to Michael Fassbender's David. No Alien TV show release date has been announced yet, though Noah Hawley's comments revealed he and FX are aiming for a 2025 window. The Alien TV show cast its first actor with Sydney Chandler joining the series in May 2023. Chandler is a relative newcomer whose projects include the FX limited series Pistols and Don't Worry Darling. Chandler's casting continues the Alien franchise trend of casting female leads, though little is known about her character. Timothy Olyphant is also slated to appear in the show as a synth who potentially has a connection to Michael Fassbender's David. More details are expected soon on both characters.

Carrie Hen's Newt with a xenomorph behind her in Aliens

A Glimpse into the Story

Relatively little is currently known about the Alien TV show story, with one confirmed detail being that it will be set on Earth in the distant future. Setting the story on future Earth appears to be Hawley's way of refocusing what the franchise has been about thus far. Throughout all the Alien movies, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has been a consistent antagonist almost as bad as Xenomorphs. Relentlessly pursuing immortality primarily through the creation of artificial intelligence (and at the expense of real human life), the company totally dominates deep space in the Alien franchise. Hawley's Earth-set Alien show will reportedly explore some of Weyland-Yutani's competitors, suggesting that there are other, probably equally nefarious, means and methods being tested to unlock the technological secret to eternal life. Coupled with Hawley's confirmation that his Alien series on FX will feature executives engaging with Xenomorphs more than workers, the show is shaping up to be an interesting and refreshing expansion of what the films have covered so far.

Alien Covenant David creating xenomorphs