It's July, which means Alien: Earth officially releases next month – and it's safe to say, we couldn't be more excited to see what the franchise's first small-screen take has in store for us.
We're gearing up for a whole bunch of frights as a new cast of characters comes face to face with the galaxy's greatest evil, but with Fargo creator Noah Hawley behind the scenes as showrunner, we're also expecting something a little... different when it comes to the long-running sci-fi series.
Like all the best alien movies, the trailers so far are keeping their cards close to their chest; though a recent one did tease terrifying extraterrestrial threats beyond the titular Xenomorphs. Elsewhere, Hawley has opened up on the curious way it'll tie into Ridley Scott's 1979 flick, which offers up another clue as to what'll go down. We dig into that and more below, as we pulled together all that we know about Alien: Earth. From complete cast lists to juicy fan theories, we've got you covered...
Alien: Earth release date
Alien: Earth will be released on August 12 in the US and August 13 in the UK. The show is coming to Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK, with two episodes dropping at once, then the rest following weekly.
Filming on Alien: Earth wrapped in summer 2024, with creator Noah Hawley confirming that the team was busy in post-production shortly afterwards. While editing and adding visual effects on anything sci-fi-related takes time, it makes sense for Alien: Earth to capitalize on the renewed hype for the franchise that the 2024 movie Alien: Romulus created.
Alien: Earth trailer
The first teaser trailer for Alien: Earth was a 15-second clip featuring a blood-dripping Xenomorph, and ending with a jump scare. We see Planet Earth before its shape slowly turns into a Xenomorph and screeches at the viewer. Because we know that Noah Hawley doesn't play around when it comes to violence (thanks to Fargo) and that he plans to follow the aesthetic from Alien and Aliens, we know this is going to be quite the scary ride.
Movie-goers who went to see Alien: Romulus were first treated to the Alien: Earth trailer beforehand. Since then, FX has released a couple of different promos. One of them, released in November 2024, confirmed that the show takes place in 2120, only a few years before the events of the original Alien movie. Another Alien: Earth teaser, released in late January 2025, put us in the Xenomorph's point of view. The footage follows a Xenomorph racing through a human spacecraft, with emergency lights flickering red, and an automated voice repeating "Containment Breach".
One more was part of an FX showreel that teased all the TV shows coming in 2025, from The Bear season 4 to new outings like Adults and Dying For Sex. The Alien: Earth footage kicks in around the 0:40 mark, where a familiar sound effect in the background has left fans thinking that the series might actually be an Alien vs Predator project. "When the monsters come, all you can do is scream," a character can be heard whispering, supporting the idea that there are multiple threats. Watch it above.
Another teaser was released in March 2025 and reveals several new characters – and a ginger cat. Could this be Jonesy, Ellen Ripley's feline companion on board the Nostromo in Alien? The clip is filmed like a video diary and a label in the corner of the screen says it's "recovery footage" from a Weyland-Yutani ship called the USCSS Maginot.
The creatures sit in glass boxes that boast the Weyland-Yutani Corporation logo. But as the aliens squirm and hit at their enclosures, a fully grown Xenomorph leaps towards the screen. That's not all, as FX also dropped another teaser alongside 'Crate' titled 'Gestation Complete' which seems to show a Xenomorph digesting something, perhaps an unlucky crew member?
Our best look yet, though, was the official trailer above. "This ship has collected five different lifeforms from the darkest corners of the universe," Babou Ceesay's Morrow whispers ominously in the clip, which you can watch above. Later, we see a couple of characters logging details of a jellyfish-like specimen on a computer, to which its description reads: "Ocular irises and a tentacle system that can grow or retract at will. The tentacles carry extraordinary strength and are built to climb into and dislodge the eyes of other living organisms.
"Once replaced in the eye socket, [it] takes over the ocular pathways to the brain, overriding the neurotransmissions throughout the body," it continues. Truly nightmarish stuff.
We're still holding out hope that one of the "five lifeforms" mentioned turns out to be a Predator, after fans convinced themselves (and subsequently, us) that they could hear the ultimate hunter's iconic snarl in an earlier teaser.
Alien: Earth plot
The upcoming TV series is set to be a prequel to the original 1979 Alien, taking place in 2120 – just two years before Ellen Ripley encountered her first xenomorph aboard the Nostromo. It's set in an era where "five corporations – Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold – wield the power of nations."
It'll center more specifically on Wendy (Sydney Chandler), a synthetic with the body of an adult woman and the mind of a child, who comes face to face with the eponymous creature, after she and a bunch of fellow hybrids are tasked with investigated a crash-landed spaceship in Prodigy City.
Thanks to a first-look deep dive from Vanity Fair, we now know that the vessel Wendy and her pals venture into is the USCSS Maginot, a Weyland-Yutani freighter. Ruh roh.
A new Special Look Trailer for ‘ALIEN: EARTH’ has been released.#AlienEarth hits Disney+ this Summer! pic.twitter.com/tWVeFJRwtTMarch 22, 2025
While it had previously reported that Alien: Earth would not bridge the gaps between the Alien timeline, instead focusing on the Weyland-Yutani Corporation's race to develop robotic life, Vanity Fair's write-up paints a slightly different picture.
"I don't yet know, in terms of the series from beginning to end, how much time is going to pass or where we're going to end up," Hawley told the publication, suggesting that possible future seasons could creep into crossover territory. "But I do know that at a certain point, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is going to divert the Nostromo to that planet. We have the opportunity to maybe see what was happening on the other side of that phone call."
One thing's for certain: we're going to get lots of xenomorph action. "There's something about seeing a xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes," Hawley teased to Deadline. "I can't tell you under what circumstances you'll see that, but you'll see it – and you're going to lock your door that night."
The director then stated that the creature will look different from what we have seen before but will still keep the same silhouette, calling that detail "sacrosanct." Hawley added, "But some of the elements as we know, whatever the host is, informs what the final creature is. I just wanted to play around a little bit to make it as scary as it should be."
"I've seen a few episodes and even though I know the show there was still moments when I was just breathing a little…you know…shallower, waiting for a moment to hit. I think people are going to love it, and it's also tense, it's not just jump scares," cast member Babou Ceesay recently told TVLine.
Alien: Earth cast
The cast for Alien: Earth is stacked with stars who have appeared in several of the best TV shows around, such as Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone, and Fargo. You may recognize names such as Timothy Olyphant (who starred in the likes of The Mandalorian and Scream 2) or Alex Lawther (as seen in Black Mirror and Andor).
While we don't know specific details on most characters, we've scoured the internet to find out their names. Check out the complete Alien: Earth cast list below:
- Sydney Chandler as Wendy
- Alex Lawther as CJ
- Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier
- Essie Davis as Dame Silvia
- Adarsh Gourav as Slightly
- Kit Young as Tootles
- Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh
- David Rysdahl as Arthur
- Babou Ceesay as Morrow
- Jonathan Ajayi as Smee
- Erana James as Curly
- Lily Newmark as Nibs
- Diêm Camille as Siberian
- Adrian Edmondson as Atom Enis
- Moe Bar-El as Rashidi
- Sandra Yi Sencindiver
Where can I watch Alien: Earth?
Once it releases, you'll be able to watch Alien: Earth on Hulu if you are in the US and on Star via Disney Plus if you're not. We're still waiting for confirmation for a streaming platform for UK readers, though.
However, given how other FX series, such as What We Do In The Shadows, have arrived on Disney Plus or the BBC, we assume that the upcoming Alien series will be heading to either of those two streaming hubs in the future.
Keep your eyes on this guide as we update you on the latest streaming news. While we wait, you can also check out our list of the best movies on Disney Plus to watch right now!
For more outer-world fun, check out our lists of the best alien movies of all time and all the best sci-fi movies on Netflix.
