Alien's TV Series Already Missed The Point Of The Franchise
Set 70 years in the near future, the
Alien series will focus on the burgeoning Weyland-Yutani Corporation that forms the backbone of later
Alien narratives. This unscrupulous, profiteering mega-corporation will be shown to dabble in deep space transport, planetary colonization, and terraforming. The
Alien TV show will emphasize the company's corporate training programs, dispatches in space, and ulterior motives. This of course includes Weyland-Yutani's experimentation with Xenomorphs, which will undoubtedly lead to carnage.
What Noah Hawley Has Said About FX's Alien
These narrative plans have been backed up by the
Alien series' creator Noah Hawley, who confirmed (
via Esquire) that the vast majority of the show will take place on a version of Earth. Hawley's
Alien show, therefore, will focus on the inequalities and social divides ingrained in the futuristic Earth's culture, with Hawley stating: "
you will see what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved. If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us?" According to Hawley, this social commentary is derived from the original 1979
Alien's characters and their wider world, with the showrunner describing
Alien as "
this blue-collar space-trucker world in which Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are basically Waiting for Godot. They’re like Samuel Beckett characters, ordered to go to a place by a faceless nameless corporation."
Alongside his clear focus on the social commentary of both contemporary and futuristic cultures, Hawley’s
Alien series is stated to mark a huge departure from what franchise fans have become accustomed to. In a separate
Vanity Fair interview, Hawley expands on this approach, saying: “
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.” This new focus certainly marks a stark deviation from Ridley Scott's claustrophobic formula, with Hawley's
Alien sounding like it will focus on big picture narratives instead of the insular, terrifying settings of
Alien,
Aliens, and
Alien: Resurrection.
Why The Alien TV Series Has Already Missed The Point Of The Franchise
While original
Alien director
Ridley Scott's comments about the Alien series may be prematurely harsh, Noah Hawley's grand plans suggest that FX's show has already missed the point of the franchise, shedding what made
Alien 1979 so compelling in favor of a more grandiose storyline. Undoubtedly, Ridley Scott's
Alien remains the best franchise entry due to its insular setting and multi-faceted, intimate character portrayals. These human touches and close-quarters introspection conspire to make
Alien a stunning exploration of claustrophobia and psychological trauma in a pressure cooker setting - practically impossible to replicate on Earth.
As such, Hawley's
Alien is already thinking too big in both its scope and attempts to create new
Alien lore via Weyland-Yutani, making it feel like generic sci-fi TV fare from the get-go. While Hawley's ambition must be applauded, as must his willingness to shed the temptation of using original
Alien characters, other aspects of his series plan fundamentally work against the nature of the franchise itself. Like
Ridley Scott's future vision for the Alien franchise — exploring artificial intelligence — Hawley's
Alien series plans just don't seem to grasp why the first movie is a classic. In particular, Hawley's comments on the
Alien stories being "
trapped" are the most concerning, with the inability to escape ratcheting up the
Alien movies' tension and stakes in a way an open-world setting such as Earth simply cannot. Despite Hawley's assertion that the stakes will be higher in FX's
Alien, the planet's fate feels like a hollow storyline that's already been played out in countless science-fiction entries before the new
Alien TV series.
Even the
Alien prequels in
Prometheus and
Alien: Covenant understood the franchise's reliance on insular settings, stranding their respective crews on harsh worlds with little to no chance of escape. Despite their flaws, both prequel movies successfully convey the dread aspect of the
Alien franchise as hope slowly ebbs away from the human characters battling the Xenomorphs. The
video game Alien: Isolation is another example of this formula achieving success, as the game is essentially an interactive experience featuring the original movie's core elements. Indeed,
Alien's TV series has already missed the mark tonally for its own franchise, making Hawley's show feel more like a faceless sci-fi story with the
Alien name tacked onto it rather than a direct prequel to Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 movie.
Why Is The Alien Franchise So Difficult To Adapt?
Despite a reputation as a tough IP to work with, the
Alien franchise should be one of the easiest to adapt. The mistake being made by the
Alien TV series, like every new installment since
Aliens, is trying to put a new spin on an idea that really doesn't need one. The 1719 setting of
2022 movie Prey, even while breaking the rules of
Alien's sister franchise
Predator, proved it's possible to make huge alterations to an
Alien or
Predator movie while remaining true to what made the originals such classics. All the
Alien franchise has to do is make a similar movie or show to
Alien/Aliens, but with the horror and isolation magnified by contemporary special effects and a few decades of advances in cinematography.
While the deeper and broader sci-fi themes explored in recent installments are ambitious, they're not needed. There are many other franchises that tackle these socio-political themes far better than any
Alien movie could. Any
Alien should be
primarily about Xenomorphs - the titular alien of
Aliens. They're the unique selling point. In fact, the best
Alien project since
Alien and
Aliens has been the first-person shooter game
Alien: Isolation for this exact reason. If the
Alien franchise intends to continue any future adaptation needs to embrace its space horror roots.
unrelated articles
Alien timeline: Prometheus to Alien Resurrection
How do I watch the Alien movies in order?
- Prometheus
- Alien: Covenant
- Alien
- Aliens
- Alien 3
- Alien: Resurrection