Alien’s New TV Show Can Finally Deliver On Joss Whedon’s Rule-Breaking Movie Plans

The newest installment in the Alien franchise, FX’s Alien: Earth series, will finally
deliver on Joss Whedon’s almost three-decade-old rule-breaking plans for Alien:
Resurrection. Following the successful 2024 release of dark standalone prequel
Alien: Romulus, Alien: Earth will act as yet another prequel to Ridley Scott’s original
1979 sci-fi spectacle, taking place in 2120, only two years before the voyage of the
USCSS Nostromo in Alien. Developed by Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley,
Alien: Earth will finally make one of the franchise’s most haunting concepts a reality.

Alien: Earth‘s official synopsis reveals a dark and sinister story for the series – the
first live-action TV show in the Alien franchise. The crash of the USCSS Maginot on
Earth, and the release of its dangerous Xenomorph cargo, will pose a huge problem
for the five powerful corporations ruling Earth, Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch,
Dynamic, and Threshold. Wendy (Sydney Chandler), one of the first Hybrids –
humanoid robots brought to life with human consciousness, and a “ragtag group of
soldiers” will take on the new alien threat, with a setting seldom seen in the Alien
franchise’s history.

Setting the newest Alien franchise instalment on Earth rather than on some far-away
planet, moon, vessel, or space station, will make the Xenomorph threat even more
terrifying and real. With a political undercurrent and commentary on artificial
intelligence, Alien: Earth will be an important milestone in the franchise, so it’s great
that the series is putting a spin on this old idea that will dial up the horror. Bringing
the alien to Earth can also pay homage to Alien: Resurrection‘s alternate endings.

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What Was Joss Whedon’s Alternate Plan For Alien: Resurrection’s Ending?

1997’s Alien: Resurrection brought Sigourney Weaver back despite Ellen Ripley’s
death in Alien 3. In the years since Resurrection‘s release, screenwriter Joss
Whedon has vehemently voiced his unhappiness with the movie. “They said the
lines… mostly,” Whedon noted during a 2005 interview with Bullz Eye, “but they said
them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored
it wrong. They did everything wrong that they possibly could do.” Whedon also
commented on the fact that “they changed the ending,” referring to his alternate
plans to bring the Newborn alien to Earth.

In the theatrical ending of Alien: Resurrection, the clone of Ellen Ripley defeated the
alien-human hybrid, the Newborn, while the Auriga crashes to Earth, leaving Ripley 8
and the synthetic Call (Winona Ryder) to look down on Earth and ponder their next
steps. Whedon wanted something different for his Alien installment, however, as he
suggested several alternate endings that brought the battle between Ripley 8, Call,
and the Newborn to Earth. These were all rejected in lieu of director Jean-Pierre
Jeunet’s space-based fight sequence, but Alien: Earth will finally make Whedon’s
Earth-based alien dreams come to fruition.

Test footage released in 2015 by effects company Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.
confirmed Whedon’s original plan for Resurrection wouldn’t have seen the Newborn
sucked through a pinhole in the Auriga’s window, but for commanding officer Perez
(Dan Hedaya) to meet this fate instead. Had the Newborn not died in this manner, Whedon planned several endings, the most prominent featuring a fight between
Ripley 8, Call, and the Newborn in a forest, with the alien’s acidic blood causing a
forest fire. Other proposed settings included a junkyard, a desert, and even a
maternity ward, but none of these were meant to be.

You Might Have Forgotten The Alien Franchise Has Already Brought Xenomorphs To Earth

Alien: Earth will surely pay homage to Joss Whedon’s original ending plans for Alien:
Resurrection, with the series’ title suggesting the entire battle against the Xenomorph
will take place on terra firma. It might be easily forgotten, however, that 2004’s Alien
vs. Predator crossover movie revealed Xenomorphs had, in fact, been loose on
Earth for over a century. These aliens were created through human sacrifice at the
hands of the worshipped Predators at sites like the Antarctica pyramid, and this story
continued in the crossover’s reviled sequel.

2007’s Alien vs. Predator: Requiem set a Xenomorph-Predator hybrid, the Predalien,
loose on Gunnison, Colorado. A veteran Predator and the townspeople fight to take
down the Predalien in a divisive and lackluster story, but the new Alien: Earth series
has the perfect opportunity to redeem the Alien franchise’s Earth-based adventures.
There’s a risk Alien: Earth‘s grounded setting will bog-down the narrative, but with a
political backbone and a talented new cast, the series will be one of the most
important installments in the Alien franchise yet.

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Alien: Earth kicks off with a two-episode premiere on August 12, 2025, and new
episodes will release every Tuesday on FX, Hulu, and Disney+ for international
audiences.

How excited are you about Alien: Earth finally bringing the Xenomorphs to Earth? Let
us know in the comments!