Most of the first teaser for the FX series Alien: Earth feels pretty familiar to anyone who has seen an Alien movie before. Set to the sounds of the warning klaxon used so effectively in the trailer for the 1978 original, we watch a facehugger scramble through a ship, with internal designs not dissimilar to the USCSS Nostromo. However, in the final seconds of the teaser, we see that the ship is crashing and we see where it will land: Earth.
The impact of that reveal is certainly lessened by the fact that the show is called Alien: Earth. However, that shouldn’t distract from the fact that the entire concept is pretty radical. After all, no movie has yet brought the Xenomorphs to Earth, despite numerous teases. Furthermore, the series comes from Noah Hawley, the showrunner of highly idiosyncratic shows Legion and Fargo, both of which took surprising artistic license with well-known properties.
Given these bold facts, some fans might be feeling a little concerned about Alien: Earth and the direction it could take. That said, they may find some comfort in the official synopsis of the series that accompanies the trailer. “When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s highly anticipated TV series Alien: Earth from creator Noah Hawley,” reads the description.
There’s a lot of well-worn stuff in that description. We’ve got a small group, a surprising accident, and a larger threat. That could apply to every mainline Alien movie and even Prometheus. However, there is one aspect that refers to just one Alien movie, arguably the most popular: tactical soldiers.
That phrase brings to mind the space marines in Aliens, the early masterpiece by James Cameron. In an elegant bit of storytelling that modern action directors are still trying to emulate, Cameron quickly introduces each of the marines and establishes their arrogance, giving them distinct personalities. The move allows us to care for the marines as their mission goes sideways, enhancing the suspense of the movie.
It’s not clear yet how Hawley plans to use the tactical soldiers in Alien: Earth. Early discussions about the show have emphasized non-military characters, such as Sydney Chandler’s Wendy, who appears to be a grown woman despite her child-like mind, and Timothy Olyphant as the synthetic Kirsh, one of many androids in the Alien franchise.
Furthermore, earlier reports established that Alien: Earth takes place approximately 30 years before the original Alien. That means we’re nearly a full century before Aliens. While Cameron drew on his feelings about the Vietnam War to create his space marines, and therefore allowed them to feel very similar to soldiers we know today, this timeline means that they’ll have to be somewhat different.
Which, of course, sounds like the approach Hawley’s taking for Alien: Earth. Give us just enough familiarity to feel comfortable and just enough difference to make us scared. At least on Earth, everyone can hear you scream.
Alien: Earth comes to the Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in the U.K. later this year.
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From https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/alien-earth-synopsis-james-cameron-aliens-callback/
