10 Ways Alien: Earth Season 1 Changed The Franchise’s Canon Forever

The first season of Alien: Earth was a significant achievement for the Alien franchise. Considering the original film came out in 1979, it’s almost unbelievable that it took so long for someone to create an Alien television series. Despite numerous movies and even a crossover with the Predator franchise, no one had successfully adapted the Alien universe for television. Therefore, it makes sense that showrunner Noah Hawley needed to make some adjustments to finally bring it to life.

The backstory presented in Alien: Earth was significantly more detailed and quite different from what we’d seen in the films. Here are 10 key changes Alien: Earth made to the established story that are impossible to ignore. These aren’t just ideas for the second season of Alien: Earth; they’ll need to be acknowledged or expanded upon in future Alien movies as well.

10) Xeno-Birth

The origins of the creatures in Alien have always presented a puzzling question – which came first, the xenomorph or its method of reproduction? While the complex lifecycle – involving a Queen, eggs, facehuggers, hosts, and finally the xenomorph itself – effectively creates a terrifying experience, it’s become increasingly complicated. The film Alien: Earth finally provides a definitive answer to when xenomorph life actually begins.

In the third episode of Alien: Earth, the Prodigy company obtains a xenomorph egg and carefully opens it. Inside, they examine the facehugger and remove the developing xenomorph. When they place the embryo in water containing living human lung tissue, it rapidly awakens and begins to develop. It aggressively attacks the tissue, burrowing inside to create a cocoon and grow into a fully formed xenomorph drone.

The big mystery was how xenomorphs were born: were they developing from DNA transferred into a host, similar to human reproduction, or were live larvae being implanted to grow inside the victim? Thanks to the comic series Alien: Earth, the answer is now clear – and pretty unforgettable.

9) Synth Origins

As a huge fan of the Alien films, I’ve always appreciated how consistently the universe established Weyland-Yutani as the company making androids – they call them “synthetics.” Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Alien: Covenant really built on that, introducing Michael Fassbender’s David as this early, super-intelligent synthetic who, well, went a little off the rails. The idea was he was a first-generation model, and they tightened up the programming after him. But now, with Alien: Earth, it feels like they’ve completely ignored all of that established backstory, and it’s honestly pretty frustrating as a longtime follower of the franchise.

Boy Cavalier, the owner of Prodigy Corporation (also known as Samuel Blenkin), is a groundbreaking innovator in android and AI – making the technology seen in the Alien films seem primitive. He’s created synths so realistic that he used one to impersonate his legal guardian for years, even after the android killed his father. After learning about his work, it’s hard to imagine the Alien movies’ Weyland-Yutani synths as cutting-edge.

8) Hybrid Technology

The plot of Alien: Earth centers around Boy Cavalier’s latest invention: syths – hybrid android bodies capable of holding a human mind. While the idea of transferring consciousness into a synthetic body was briefly explored in Alien: Earth, it’s a significant change to the established story that deserves further development.

Think about a new Alien movie where the main character is a hybrid – someone combining human and alien traits – and they’re stuck in a time loop, repeatedly fighting off hordes of xenomorphs to complete a mission, much like in Edge of Tomorrow. Alternatively, imagine bringing back a beloved character like Ripley, who was presumed dead, by giving them a new hybrid body. This would be a simple way to either bring in a new actor to play the role or explain any changes in the appearance of the original actor if they returned.

7) Advanced Technology

The Alien series has faced challenges since it expanded beyond the original film. Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie was limited by the special effects and design ideas of the late 1970s. Newer Alien films, like Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and Alien: Romulus, have attempted to subtly blend futuristic technology with the classic, retro look of the original.

The visual style of Alien: Earth feels dated, like old, workhorse vehicles. Meanwhile, companies within the Alien universe, such as Weyland-Yutani and especially Prodigy, showcase advanced, futuristic technology. This contrast suggests the franchise now has the freedom to modernize its technological look as it continues.

6) More Mega-Corporations

The Alien series has long hinted at a future where massive corporations control Earth, but usually focuses on just one: Weyland-Yutani. Alien: Earth broke this pattern by centering the story around a different company, Prodigy, and its leader, Boy Cavalier. In Episode 4, we finally learned the names of all the powerful corporations involved.

Weyland-Yutani – the most famous megacorporation in the Alien franchise, and the company responsible for the xenomorph incidents in almost every film.
Prodigy – The company that is the main focus of Alien: Earth, and specializes in synthetic android technology. The series begins with Prodigy successfuly creating “hybrids,” which allows human consciousness to exist within a synth body.
Dynamic – Name-dropped in Episode 1, but all other details are (currently) unknown.
Threshhold – Details unknown
Lynch – Details unknown

Now that we have that foundation established, there’s so much more lore to play with.

5) The Xenomorph Discovery

The original Alien film centers around the crew of the USCSS Nostromo investigating a distress signal and discovering the dangerous xenomorphs. The Weyland-Yutani corporation then orders the android Ash to retrieve a sample for research. However, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Alien: Covenant added a new layer to this story, suggesting that the android David was actually the creator of the facehuggers and eggs, using a strange black substance originally created by an ancient race as a biological weapon.

There’s always been a question about how David’s facehuggers ended up on the ship that crashed on LV-426, but the comic Alien: Earth now provides an answer. It establishes that Weyland-Yutani discovered facehugger eggs and xenomorphs much earlier, during a mission on the USCSS Maginot – decades before the original Alien film. This means the xenomorphs were already causing trouble on Earth long before Ripley’s encounter with them.

4) Weyland-Yutani’s Bio Weapons Division

Building on the revised timeline of when the xenomorphs were first found, the story Alien: Earth portrays Weyland-Yutani as a company focused on collecting these creatures as biological weapons, though their final intentions remain a mystery.

I’ve always loved how the Alien movies showed this massive company, Weyland-Yutani, involved in absolutely everything, even dangerous stuff like bio-weapons. But the original film kind of presented the xenomorphs as a terrible accident, a warning about the unpredictable dangers of alien life. Alien: Earth flips that on its head. It suggests Weyland-Yutani knew those dangers and was actively trying to create that nightmare. Suddenly, the Nostromo crew’s mission doesn’t seem like a simple transport job at all – it looks much more sinister and deliberately evil.

3) More Robots

The original Alien films primarily featured artificial life in the form of synthetic humans and powerful computers, like ‘Mother,’ and the series maintained this focus for a long time. However, Alien: Earth has broadened the universe’s understanding of AI, bringing it up to date with current ideas and anxieties. Now, alongside synths, we see hybrids – characters that explore complex sci-fi themes about the line between machines and living beings, the idea of a soul, and the potential future of humanity. We also meet ‘Morrow’ (Babou Ceesay), a hunter working for Weyland-Yutani, who is the first cyborg to appear in the franchise.

We’ve talked about how hybrids open up new directions for the Alien series. Another idea we’re excited about is a story featuring a cyborg fighting to survive against the xenomorphs – something we’d like to develop further in the future.

2) More Monsters

The Alien series is famous for its terrifying creature, the xenomorph, and the related parasitic lifeforms like facehuggers and chestbursters. Apparently, Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley decided to expand on that established concept and aim for something even more ambitious.

The series Alien: Earth introduced four terrifying new alien creatures, ranging from metal-eating insects to blood-sucking parasites. But the most memorable monster was definitely “The Eye” – a smart and sneaky creature with a single eye on a squid-like body. Alien: Earth proves that the Alien universe still has plenty of frightening ideas, and we’re excited to see what comes next.

1) Xeno-Pets

We saved the biggest and most controversial change to the Alien story for last. Alien: Earth completely flipped the franchise when Wendy (Sydney Chandler) learned how to communicate with a Xenomorph and formed a unique bond with a chestburster, turning the usually terrifying creature into something like a personal pet and protector.

I’ve always loved Alien – it’s a classic because those Xenomorphs are just the most terrifying, flawlessly designed creatures imaginable, truly the perfect killing machines. So, when I heard they were trying something new with the story, I was both excited and a little worried. It’s a bold move, and honestly, I’m still not sure if it’s working. I’m really hoping Alien: Earth Season 2 can build on what they’ve started, adding something fresh and intriguing while still keeping that core sense of dread that made the original so special. It needs to be scary, and I’m eager to see if they can pull it off.

You can now watch Alien: Earth on Hulu and Disney+. Join the conversation about Season 1 on the ComicBook Forum!

2025-11-30 01:13