The New Alien: Earth Trailer Shows Us A Bigger World

Certainly much more greenery than we’re used to seeing in an Alien flick.

Alien: Earth is just around the corner. Brought to us by Legion and Fargo honcho Noah Hawley‘s entry into the Alien universe promises to finally do what the franchise has teased for ages now: let them toothy xenomorphs loose on our own small blue marble. With that particular alien invasion now imminent, the publicity machine is beginning to speed up, and so here’s a new trailer that gives us a better look at the particular Earth getting invaded.

Alien: Earth Trailer

What’s the plot?

Set a couple years before the original 1979 film, Alien: Earth sees a spaceship carrying a variety of alien lifeforms – including one particularly dangerous biomechanical specimen – crash on Earth. A team is sent to investigate, which includes Wendy, a child who’s had her mind popped into an artificial body to save her from a terminal illness. Horror presumably ensues.

Of interest to longtime Alien fans is that the series promises to dig into the larger setting of the films. Life on Earth has mostly been implied so far, with the Alien flicks taking place on various other far-flung planets and inevitably doomed spacecraft. Here, we’re getting a look at day-to-day life in a future dominated by five competing megacorporations – including the real villains of the series, Weyland-Yutani.

Who’s in it?

• Sydney Chandler as Wendy, a child whose mind is implanted into an adult synthetic body.
• Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, Wendy’s synthetic mentor.
• Alex Lawther as CJ “Hermit”, a human soldier.
• Samuel Blenkin as human CEO Boy Kavalier.
• Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, a human.
• Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, a synthetic.
• Kit Young as Tootles, a synthetic.
• David Rysdahl as Arthur.
• Babou Ceesay as Morrow.
• Jonathan Ajayi as Smee, a synthetic.
• Erana James as Curly, a synthetic.
• Lily Newmark as Nibs, a synthetic.
• Diêm Camille as Siberian, a human soldier.
• Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins.
• Erana James as Curly.
• Lily Newmark as Nibs.
• Diêm Camille as Siberian.
• Adrian Edmondson as Atom Eins.

Casting on eye over those character names, a lot of them are drawn from characters in Peter Pan.

When’s it out?

Alien: Earth debuts on Disney+ on August 13 with a double episode premiere, and the next six eps dropping weekly.

What’s the vibe?

Couldn’t be more excited. If I have a reservation it’s that what we’ve seen so far cleaves a little too slavishly to established Alien lore, and I gotta hope that Hawley has room to take us on at least a few weird directions. These things are always better when the creator at hand has a bit of free rein.