FX/Hulu’s Alien: Earth Introduces New Characters and Threats

FX and Hulu’s Alien: Earth has long been teased and trailed, and now it seems we’re finally on the cusp of learning everything about the prequel series. The streaming services just released a final trailer for the show (accompanied by a fuller synopsis), and it is, as advertised, both eerie and contemplative. The two-minute montage takes on a strange, almost existential feel at times, before quickly snapping into sci-fi horror mode: faceless alien vessels floating in space; corpses floating in dimly lit hallways; bloodied humans running in panic; and, in the background, a familiar hulking shape, drifting in the shadows. A xenomorph.

FX and Hulu

Noah Hawley, the exacting showrunner behind the upcoming series, has already indicated that the tenor and mythology of Alien: Earth would have closer ties to Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979) than to other prequels like Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). Now, with the August 12, 2025, premiere approaching, we’ve got a new trailer that confirms Hawley’s commitment to a familiar universe and some wild new takes on Alien mythology.

The series takes place in 2120, two years before the events of the first Alien film, and explores a near-future dystopia in which major corporate players are competing to acquire control over the single biggest jackpot of all: life, and, perhaps, life eternal.

Alien: Earth Timeline and the Era of the Hybrids

Earth in 2120 is a world under the thumb of corporate behemoths rather than the governments of the past. Five major mega-corporations (Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold) rule the planet in the so-called Corporate Era, a period of Earth history in which cyborgs (human-machine hybrids) work alongside synthetics (humanoid robots with super AI) as the power dynamic in human society is upended by the young, smart Founder and CEO of the Prodigy Corporation, who makes a scientific breakthrough of his own: the hybrids.

Synthetic humanoid robots with human consciousness. The first is “Wendy,” a curious prototype played by Sydney Chandler. In the synopsis, Wendy is described as “synthetic with the body of an adult and the consciousness of a child,” and she’ll be at the center of the series as she is thrust into a battle for humanity’s future.

A moment of peace is shattered when a Weyland-Yutani spaceship crashes on Prodigy City. In the ensuing chaos, Wendy and other hybrids interact with unknown, alien organisms—deadlier creatures than anything the human race has ever known. In true Alien fashion, more terrifying incidents follow.

Chandler will be joined by Timothy Olyphant (Kirsh, a synthetic who acts as a mentor and trainer to Wendy), Alex Lawther (soldier CJ), Samuel Blenkin (Boy Kavalier, a calculating CEO), Essie Davis (Dame Silvia), Adarsh Gourav (Slightly), Kit Young (Tootles), David Rysdahl (Arthur), Babou Ceesay (Morrow), Jonathan Ajayi (Smee), Erana James (Curly), Lily Newmark (Nibs), Diem Camille (Siberian), and Adrian Edmondson (Atom Eins).

A Surprising Trailer Sneak Peek during NFL Playoffs

FX and Hulu haven’t done anything by halves when it comes to slowly dishing out breadcrumbs of Alien: Earth since it was first announced. In January, the networks surprised viewers with a sudden short teaser during the broadcast of the NFL’s AFC Championship game. The entire shot was from a xenomorph’s point of view, as the beasties galloped down the hallway of a spaceship in freefall, on a trajectory directly toward planet Earth.

That first teaser was dizzying in its presentation, providing no context for the scenes of destruction but getting sci-fi fans talking in the comments. Last month’s first trailer was much more forthcoming, opening with Wendy’s creation in 2120 on Neverland Research Island. When an alien spaceship crashes on the nearby island, Wendy offers herself up to venture in and grab the mysterious package the aliens left behind. But instead of finding science, she finds carnage. Within the crashed ship, there are five alien life forms, unfamiliar, dead, and dangerous species that, in very Alien tradition, are brought back into lab containment.

It’s a chilling scene in which hubris collides with an apex predator. The final trailer builds on that by laying out the central tension of Alien: Earth less as an action spectacle and more as a slow descent into dread. With Hawley at the helm, the new Alien series promises to be more than just an exciting monster story. Hawley’s last show, the highly anticipated and fantastically weird Under the Weather, is an expansive, introspective exploration of a pandemic world and the inevitable consequences of corporate greed in an interconnected society. By expanding the universe and interweaving a cast of flawed characters, Alien: Earth promises to follow in the Alien’s roots, becoming its own great story.