Alien: Earth takes the Alien franchise into a new frontier in TV episodic format. In case you didn’t notice, though, the new show opens on a surprising tribute to the original Alien. Taking place in the year 2120, Alien: Earth sees the crew of a Weyland-Yutani cargo ship, the USCSS Maginot, which gets decimated by a bloodthirsty xenomorph, causing the ship to crash-land on Earth, unleashing the xenomorph upon the local populace. While there have been numerous previous attempts to bring the xenomorphs to Earth – from some of the original concepts for Alien 3 to the Earth-based story of 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – Alien: Earth accomplishes that mission while building out the Alien mythos in some very unexpected ways.
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With the first two episodes of the first two episodes of Alien: Earth also make some loving nods to the iconography of the first two Alien movies. One in particular unfolds right from the very opening moments of Alien: Earth, with the series beginning its story in a very familiar fashion to the original Alien.
Alien: Earth’s Opening Pays Tribute to the Opening of Alien (1979)
Alien: Earth‘s first episode opens with the crew of the USCSS Maginot awakening from an extended sleep in cryostasis, with the groggy crew exiting their cryochambers and eating breakfast. This scene is a near-perfect parallel to the opening of Ridley Scott’s Alien, in which the crew of the Nostromo similarly awakens from hypersleep as they near their return to Earth.
Moreover, the tribute to Alien is even more unmistakable from the musical cues, and by the way in which the show’s title is introduced. Like Alien‘s slow title reveal, Alien: Earth‘s title comes in the form of each letter gradually phasing into view until the title is completely spelled out. Adding the fact that Alien: Earth‘s 2120 timeframe takes place just two years before the 2122 setting of Alien, it is quite clear that the intent from the beginning was to build a connection to Scott’s film from the very first minutes of the series.
Alien: Earth Recreates the Atmospheric Sci-Fi Feel of Alien (& Aliens)
What really stands out about the introductory episodes of Alien: Earth is the subtle seasoning of nostalgia, borrowed from both Alien and Aliens. In its first episode, Alien: Earth adopts the slow-burn horror movie style of Alien to remarkable effect, culminating in a rogue xenomorph slaughtering the crew of the Weyland-Yutani freighter, causing it to crash on Earth. Interestingly, Alien: Earth shifts gears in its second episode in a manner markedly similar to the tone shift of Alien to Aliens.
The second episode of Alien: Earth plays more like the action-horror hybrid of Aliens, with the xenomorph unleashed in a sprawling apartment complex and an elite team of soldiers trying to contain it. Neither of Alien: Earth’s first two episodes oversteps the line of nostalgic tribute into distracting territory, either, simply hewing to a similar rough template of Alien and Aliens while lovingly but subtly paying homage to both, like tipping its hat to the opening of Alien. In doing so, Alien: Earth also continues another trend the Alien franchise has seen of late.
Alien: Earth Is Continuing the Alien Franchise’s New Winning Streak
For every timeless classic the Alien franchise has produced like the original Alien and Aliens, it has also had its share of divisive entries like Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, and the Alien vs. Predator movies, with the franchise never quite managing to hit with the same impact as its first two installments. That is, until the release of Fede Álvarez’s acclaimed Alien: Romulus in 2024, which not only acts as a kind of narrative intersection for the Alien franchise (including some of the teases established in Ridley Scott’s Promotheus and Alien: Covenant), but one which emerged as one of the most widely beloved Alien movies since the original two.
With the strong early response to Alien: Earth, the Alien franchise is snowballing into quite a resurgence, not unlike that of the equally re-energized Predator franchise. Ultimately, Alien: Earth marks a new beginning of sorts for the Alien franchise as its first episodic entry, so it is fitting that the first moments of the show’s first episode should harken back to where it all began with the show’s Easter egg reference to Ridley Scott’s Alien.
The first two episodes of Alien: Earth are available to stream on Hulu, with new episodes releasing on Tuesdays.
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