Upset That Alien: Earth Completely Reinvents the Xenomorph's Mythology? Get Over It

Warning: this nonfiction contains spoilers for Alien: Earth done Episode 3, “Metamorphosis.”

With immoderate fandom, determination are ever circumstantial ideas astir however and wherefore things tin and should work. That tin beryllium existent connected an idiosyncratic basis, oregon a planetary ground arsenic the fanbase argues astir “canon” – what is, and what isn’t. And obscurity is that much prevalent than with fans of the Alien franchise, which has had to woody with expansive mythology and lore implicit the decades since the archetypal Ridley Scott movie debuted successful 1979, past has doubled backmost to reinvent its ain mythology again and again. So with that successful mind, if you’re upset astir the FX and Hulu bid besides reinventing the Xenomorph mythology? Get implicit it.

The Alien Franchise's Confusing Timeline

To instrumentality a measurement backmost (and not instantly antagonize the imaginable fanbase for this article), portion of the contented apt started with immoderate disorder implicit the timeline of the series. In the archetypal 1979 movie, the Nostromo encounters the Xenomorph successful 2122, and the accusation is that Weyland-Yutani – the institution that is backing the expedition – has ne'er encountered the alien lifeform before. That’s not precisely true, though, arsenic we discovered successful Prometheus (which is acceptable successful 2093) and Alien: Covenant (which is acceptable successful 2104). And frankly, there’s thing successful Alien that explicitly says the overarching evil corp does oregon does not cognize astir the Xenomorph, oregon sent erstwhile expeditions to bring it back. We cognize that the unit of the Nostromo has ne'er encountered thing similar it before, but that’s each we’ve got.

Further confusing things, a Deadline nonfiction from 2024 incorrectly stated that Alien: Earth would instrumentality spot astatine the crook of this century, earlier the events of Prometheus. But wait, there’s more: during a acceptable visit, showrunner Noah Hawley told property that the amusement takes spot during James Cameron’s 1986 movie Aliens, which is acceptable successful 2179.

It does not. The eight-episode premiere play of the bid does instrumentality spot successful 2120, 2 years earlier Alien, truthful immoderate was going connected there… who knows? But this wide disorder astir what happened earlier oregon aft Alien: Earth has decidedly amped up hostility for fans anxious to cognize however it each makes sense.

The main issue? It does not marque consciousness if you effort to enactment it each up successful a row. Specifically, the Maginot, the cardinal vessel successful Alien: Earth, has been connected a 65-year ngo to bring back, among different things, Xenomorph eggs to Weyland-Yutani. If you bash the mathematics there, they picked them up sometime betwixt 2055 and 2120, portion David (Michael Fassbender) creates the Xenomorphs successful 2104 successful Covenant. Is it imaginable they picked up alien eggs close aft that? Sure, wherefore not, and successful fact, nary accusation successful the amusement contradicts this theory. But it’s a spot of a brain-wrinkler to deliberation astir David inventing the Xenomorphs, the Maginot picking up a clump of eggs, and past the Nostromo uncovering a clump much eggs, each successful the span of 16 years. Add successful immoderate is going connected with the continuity of Weyland-Yutani, a corp that spans the bid and itself seems to devour its ain timeline whenever possible, and you’ll find your brains melting retired of your ears quicker than if you were deed with a dose of xenomorph blood.

Further compounding things is Hawley’s presumption connected the enterprise. “There’s amazingly small mythology crossed 7 movies,” Hawley said successful an interrogation with Variety. “It was large to not person to jerry-rig a mythology into what’s existing, but to conscionable commencement again.”

That dependable you conscionable heard was dozens of instrumentality wikis angrily getting flipped implicit by Alien fans, by the way.

Why Continuity Doesn't Really Matter

But here’s the main constituent of this, present that we’ve been successful the weeds for respective paragraphs: does it substance astatine each if Hawley sticks with existing continuity… If it’s good? Why interest astir having a portion of creation beryllium a bid of checkboxes, oregon breadcrumbs starring betwixt events, alternatively of a crockery of absorbing ideas that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium made to enactment by immoderate different filmmaker aboriginal on? And furthermore, isn’t that what the Alien bid has ever been about: evolution, some successful presumption of the Xenomorph itself, arsenic good arsenic artistically done the lens of antithetic directors and creators?

While the archetypal 4 films successful the franchise ostensibly followed the communicative of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), judge it oregon not, each introduction has been little astir her ongoing communicative than the circumstantial ocular and communicative quirks of the filmmakers down the camera. Some person worked, similar erstwhile Cameron upped Scott’s haunted location parable into an action/war movie. Others, little so, similar the troubled, acheronian situation satellite movie made by David Fincher successful Alien 3, oregon the large clip leap plaything of Alien: Resurrection. But adjacent those second 2 entries were trying thing antithetic than the archetypal 2 movies, adjacent if that experimentation didn’t work. To Hawley’s point, they were little acrophobic astir fleshing retired the mythology oregon extending the franchise than saying thing pointed utilizing the Xenomorph arsenic a metaphor and outer stressor connected our main characters.

Alien: Earth has besides been taking those swings, not focused connected existing lore but connected what looks good, weird, oregon is absorbing to follow, story-wise. Take the Xenomorph moving connected each fours, thing that – per pre-existing lore – shouldn’t happen, arsenic the Xenomorphs instrumentality connected the characteristics of their hosts. Except the happening is, a Xenomorph scurrying astir similar a feral carnal is overmuch scarier than it stalking the halls similar a slasher. Is it close with what has been acceptable down before? Not necessarily. Does it let for a much visually breathtaking show? Yes.

Episode 3 amps things up considerably by showing america 1 happening that we’ve perfectly ne'er seen before: a Xenomorph tadpole. We’ve known for decades that the Xenomorph life-cycle is ovum to face-hugger to chest-burster to full-grown Xenomorph. Thanks to a dissection of a face-hugger by synth Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), we observe that they’re holding a xenomorph embryo that fundamentally functions similar a tadpole. And furthermore, we get to spot it slither wrong the removed lung of Joe (Alex Lawther). This is the benignant of happening that Alien: Earth thrives on, arsenic it doesn’t straight contradict thing we’ve seen previously. But the presumption has been that the xenomorph gestates successful a digestive tract. Can it bash truthful successful a lung? Can the tadpole truly swim? Why tin it swim?

Again: who cares? It looks cool, it’s interesting, and much importantly, the full amusement – heck, the full franchise – is astir growth. It’s often travel from the absorption of motherhood, and determination are shades of that from Essie Davis’s Dame Silvia. But the thrust of Alien: Earth is astir children, and increasing into adulthood, which is what we get to spot here, from the opening stages of the Xenomorph to, presumably, it’s last form.

But possibly the biggest, astir funny summation is Wendy (Sydney Chandler) a hybrid synth with the encephalon patterns of a kid seemingly being capable to perceive the Xenomorph. We’ve seen this successful erstwhile episodes erstwhile Wendy got adjacent to the creature, with a unusual buzzing/clicking dependable successful her ear. Episode 3 drives it location arsenic she hears the Xenomorph screaming successful its “birth” arsenic Kirsh removes it from the face-hugger, yet collapsing connected the floor. We’ve ne'er seen synths respond this mode before… But adjacent here, it’s a earthy hold from the unusual fascination they’ve shown with the creatures successful erstwhile entries, from David to Ash (Ian Holm) successful the archetypal movie.

Should synths beryllium capable to perceive Xenomorphs? Should these hybrid synths beryllium astatine all, alongside cyborgs, if we’ve ne'er seen them earlier successful the series? How is immoderate exertion much precocious than it appeared aboriginal successful the franchise? And what astir the information that humanity doesn’t conscionable cognize astir the Xenomorph, determination are besides aggregate different alien taxon connected world successful the caller TV series?

The information is it doesn’t substance arsenic agelong arsenic Hawley and institution are continuing to travel the halfway ethos of the Alien series, which is to travel one's creator muse. That’s been existent erstwhile Scott created thing caller and caller successful 1979, and adjacent erstwhile helium attempted to reinvent it with Prometheus successful 2012. And isn’t letting thing marque a connection truthful overmuch stronger than simply filling successful the dots similar different prequels? This amusement isn’t astir starring up to the uncover of the Nostromo, oregon introducing Carter Burke’s (Paul Reiser) dad. It’s telling it’s ain communicative successful it’s ain way, and if not everything makes nonstop consciousness with what has happened before, arsenic agelong arsenic internally it tells its ain story, it works. It’s up to the instrumentality wikis to fig retired the rest, arsenic soon arsenic they prime them up from getting flipped over.