Following his fantastic and criminally underrated X-Men-adjacent Legion television series and his ongoing, award-winning work on Fargo, Hawley will seek to produce another hit sci-fi drama with FX with his Alien prequel television series.
Yet, the Alien franchise has already had a prequel film, two in fact, with Ridley Scott returning to direct Prometheus in 2012 and Alien: Covenant in 2017.
According to a new interview with Hawley, his television series will ignore both of these films. But, before we get into Hawley's statements, there are a few key dates in the Alien timeline to remember.
Scott directed the original 1979 Alien picture, set in the year 2122.
Many years later, Scott helmed the Prometheus prequel, which takes place in 2089, 33 years before the events of the first film.
Prometheus went on to have a sequel, Covenant, which occurred in 2104, 18 years before Ripley and the Nostromo ran afoul of the deadly extraterrestrials.
It's somewhat worth mentioning here that the Alien vs. Predator movies, set in 2004, are considered non-canon, having been retconned by Prometheus.
Hawley's television show is set "three decades" before the events of the first film, so it should take place very close to the events of Prometheus, but the television creator has confirmed that he will ignore the prequel films because the concept of the Engineers (as depicted in the prequels) does not interest him.
Said Hawley, "Ridley and I have talked about this and many elements of the show, but I think for me, this perfect lifeform, 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. And the idea that it was a bio-weapon created half an hour ago is inherently less useful to me. In terms of the mythology and what’s scary about this monster."
Hawley's comments are in reference to the events of Prometheus where it's revealed that humanity's forerunners, the Engineers, created the Xenomorphs as a biological weapon.
Hawley also added that he prefers the aesthetics of the first two original films, as opposed to the prequels.
"I prefer the retrofuturism of the first two films, and so that’s the choice that I’ve made to embrace that. There are no holograms; the convenience of beautiful Apple store technology is not available to me."
The full cast for the show includes Sydney Chandler (Don't Worry Darling), Alex Lawther (Black Mirror, Andor), Samuel Blenkin (The Sandman, Black Mirror), Kit Young (Shadow and Bone), Essie Davis (Matrix Revolutions, Assassin's Creed), and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger). Timohty Olyphant has also joined the cast as a synth while David Rysdahl's role is being kept under wraps.
Previously, Hawley told Vanity Fair that the series is set on Earth and will deal with issues of class warfare. "The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a spaceship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of “What happens if you can’t contain it?” are more immediate. "
In addition to the prequel show, a new Alien film by filmmaker Fede Alvarez, titled Alien: Romulus, is also in the works at Disney/20th Century Studios, with a theatrical release date of August 16, 2024. The cast includes Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, Archie Renaux, David Jonsson, Aileen Wu, and Spike Fearn.
While the television series will be set before the events of the first film, Alvarez's movie will be set between the events of the original Ridley Scott-directed 1979 film and its James Cameron-helmed, 1986 sequel.
Per Hawley, his Alien prequel television series will premiere in "the first half of 2025."