More than three decades ago, when 20th Century Fox released the first teaser trailer for Alien 3, it set up a really exciting premise (a completely different premise than what the movie itself ended up being). The trailer began with a xeno egg floating in the Earth’s atmosphere, getting ready to crack open and unleash a facehugger, as a voiceover narrator told audiences, “On Earth, everyone can hear you scream.”
This cryptic teaser suggested that the threequel would involve the bloodthirsty xenomorphs coming to humanity’s homeworld to wreak havoc on our turf, which would’ve been a really fun way to expand the franchise beyond the initial double whammy of Alien and Aliens. But alas, the movie itself told a totally different story set on a prison planet, and it dragged the franchise down into a funk that would last until Fede Álvarez wrote and directed Alien: Romulus.
Off the back of Romulus’ success, Disney and FX and executive producer Ridley Scott all teamed up to bring the Alien franchise to the small screen, and the resulting series finally kept that promise from the Alien 3 teaser. Alien: Earth brought the aliens to Earth, just like it says on the tin, and after season 1’s cliffhanger ending, season 2 could be even better.
Alien: Earth Season 2 Has A Major New Name In Its Cast
Tyrion armed with a crossbow in Game of Thrones
FX has been very secretive about Alien: Earth’s upcoming second season. Apart from the fact that it’s been greenlit, and production is starting in May, we don’t know anything about season 2. But there is one tantalizing update: Peter Dinklage is joining the cast.
There are no details about his character, or how he’ll fit into the story. But just the fact that Tyrion Lannister himself will be sharing the screen with Sydney Chandler and Timothy Olyphant in the next season is an extremely exciting prospect. Dinklage is one of the best actors out there. He never phones it in, and he always elevates the material.
Alien: Earth Season 2 Can Dig Deeper Into Its Main Story
Sydney Chandler’s Wendy and Jonathan Ajayi’s Smee standing next to each other in the prison cell in Alien: Earth season 1
While Alien: Earth’s first season was a strong debut outing, it was a slow burn. It got off to a thrilling start with a chillingly atmospheric, deeply cinematic cold open, but once it actually went to Earth and started setting up all the characters and locations there, it started to dilly-dally. With less emphasis on the extraterrestrial killing machines than the corporate machinations of the dystopian future, Alien: Earth often felt more like a Blade Runner show than an Alien show.
But the cliffhanger ending of the season 1 finale has set up a much faster-paced, much more exciting story for season 2. The season ended with the Lost Boys taking over the island, locking up their captors, and preparing to face Yutani’s forces. Season 2 will be all-out war from the jump. Now that the premise, characters, and tone have all been established, and people know what this show is, it can cut loose more in season 2.
Alien: Earth Season 2 Can Include More Franchise Lore & Connections
A Xenomorph with blood on its maw in Alien: Earth season 1, episode 7
The first season of Alien: Earth had plenty of Easter eggs and nods to the franchise’s history, but season 2 can get a little more ambitious with its connections to the franchise lore. Rather than just including a few hints that only eagle-eyed fans can pick up on, it could start incorporating full-on characters and storylines. As the timeline moves forward, we might get closer to the events of the movies, and the series might eventually weave its narrative arcs into the established canon of the films.
Predator: Badlands reinforced the idea that Alien and Predator exist in the same universe, so maybe Noah Hawley could integrate the Yautja into a future season. Now that Alien: Earth has introduced a ragtag band of half-human half-androids with a psychic connection to their xenomorph lapdogs, it would be awesome to see them in a standoff with the galaxy’s greatest hunter.