When is Alien: Earth set and is it a prequel? Timeline explained
The franchise's first TV series is officially here!
It's time to encounter an old foe in a brand-new way in Alien: Earth, as the franchise's first TV series finally arrives.
Sydney Chandler leads the series as Wendy, a 'hybrid' (a terminally ill child whose consciousness has been transferred to a synthetic adult body), with dangers around every corner.
The series has big implications for the Alien franchise, not only because of when it's set but also because writer Noah Hawley has decided to ignore key events from previous films.
So, as the highly-anticipated series arrives, here's everything you need to know about Alien: Earth and the timeline of the Alien franchise.
When is Alien: Earth set?
Alien: Earth is a prequel to Alien and is set in the year 2120 – two years before the events of the original film, which is set in 2122.
That means Alien: Earth fits into the timeline of the Alien franchise as below:
- Prometheus - 2093
- Alien: Convenant - 2104
- Alien: Earth - 2120
- Alien - 2122
- Alien: Romulus - 2142
- Aliens - 2179
- Alien 3 - 2179
- Alien: Resurrection - 2381
Hypothetically, then, if we get more seasons of Alien: Earth, the events could take place simultaneously to the first Alien movie.
Why does Alien: Earth ignore Prometheus?
If Alien: Earth is set after Prometheus, you might wonder why Hawley has ignored the key facts that Prometheus set up - that the Xenomorphs were created as a bioweapon by a race called the Engineers. The simple answer is that it's just better for the story.
Hawley explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “For me, and for a lot of people, this ‘perfect life form’ — as it was described in the first film — is the product of millions of years of evolution that created this creature that may have existed for a million years out there in space.
"The idea that, on some level, it was a bioweapon created half an hour ago, that’s just inherently less useful to me. And in terms of the mythology, what’s scary about this monster, is that when you look at those first two movies, you have this retro-futuristic technology.
"You have giant computer monitors, these weird keyboards … You have to make a choice. Am I doing that? Because in the prequels, Ridley made the technology thousands of years more advanced than the technology of Alien, which is supposed to take place in those movies’ future.
"There’s something about that that doesn’t really compute for me. I prefer the retro-futurism of the first two films. And so that’s the choice I’ve made — there’s no holograms. The convenience of that beautiful Apple store technology is not available to me.”
Alien: Earth will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday 13th August, with the first two episodes available to stream. A new episode will premiere each following Wednesday. You can sign up to Disney+ for £4.99 a month or £89.90 a year now.
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Authors
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.
