Wait, Why Are There So Many Peter Pan References in Alien: Earth?

There are many references to Peter Pan in the first two episodes of Alien: Earth, FX’s new Alien prequel series. Alien: Earth premiered on Disney+ on August 12th with two episodes, taking place two years before 1979’s Alien, and bringing the iconic xenomorph to Earth for the first time ever. So far, the series has been a faithful addition to the Alien franchise, but the series has also introduced a whole new mythology that connects to the original Peter Pan story and Disney’s own animated 1953 movie.

The title of Alien: Earth’s premiere, “Neverland,” refers to the place in Peter Pan where lost children end up and never grow up. This is an apt name for Alien: Earth’s premiere and Prodigy’s base of operations, as Alien: Earth’s Neverland is a place where Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and Prodigy download the consciousnesses of terminally ill human children into synthetic bodies, ensuring they, too, will never grow up. The first of these transformed kids is 11-year-old Marcy (Florence Bensberg), who becomes the Hybrid named Wendy.

Sydney Chandler leads Alien: Earth’s cast as Wendy, who was surely named after Peter Pan’s Wendy Darling, who becomes a mother-figure to the Lost Boys after Peter Pan brings her and her brothers to Neverland. Alien: Earth’s Wendy similarly becomes a mother figure to the children who become Hybrids after her, including Slightly (Adarsh Gourav), Curly (Erana James), Nibs (Lily Newmark), Smee (Jonathan Ajayi), and Tootles (Kit Young), all named after characters from Peter Pan. They all have an affinity with the story as Boy Kavalier puts 1953’s Peter Pan on for them to watch during their transformations.

Boy Kavalier himself could be seen to be an allegory for the character of Peter Pan. He is the youngest of all the heads of the world’s leading corporations, and a magic-like figure who brings Wendy and the Lost Boys to Neverland. Kavalier even reads J. M. Barrie’s 1911 novel, Peter and Wendy, as a bedtime story, reading a passage in which Mary Darling, Wendy’s mother, tidies up her children’s minds before they sleep, folding up and packing away all the “naughtiness and evil,” and leaving the pretty thoughts “beautifully aired [and] spread out… ready for you to put on.”

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This passage even referred to “black shadows” creeping around in the “dark and threatening” Neverland. Speaking to DECIDER after Alien: Earth’s premiere, series creator Noah Hawley mentioned that he “realized that maybe the xenomorph is the crocodile from Peter Pan,” which thankfully puts the titular alien creatures of Alien: Earth front and center. At its core, Peter Pan is actually a very dark story, and Alien: Earth has already started to reflect this. As the series progresses with six more episodes releasing weekly, Alien: Earth will surely explore Peter Pan’s themes even more.

What do you make of Alien: Earth’s connections to Peter Pan? Let us know in the comments!