The FX Alien TV Show: Cast, Story & Everything We Know

Summary The FX Alien TV show, set to be released in 2025, marks the franchise's first foray into television and offers a new direction for the Xenomorphs.

Despite delays due to the pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA strike, production on the show is progressing slowly but smoothly, according to showrunner Noah Hawley.

The Alien TV show will explore the Earth's future, focusing on the competition faced by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in their pursuit of immortality, providing a fresh perspective on the franchise's established themes.

The FX Alien TV show news has been slow since its announcement, but the move to the small screen remains one of the most interesting new directions for the Xenomorphs. The long-running horror/sci-fi franchise Alien has thus far been exclusive to the big screen, with the Xenomorphs having starred in eight motion pictures to date. Beginning in 1979 with Ridley Scott's Alien and continuing through to Scott's prequel Alien: Covenant in 2017, the series has a long and rich history — and its next big leap will be to the small screen with Noah Hawley's Alien TV show on FX.

Shortly after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019, Disney announced plans to create a new installment in the Alien movie franchise. While a new movie did eventually take shape, the studio also made it known that it intended to bring the Alien mythology to TV for the first time. The announcement came in 2020, along with news that Fargo's Noah Hawley will act as showrunner. While the series has yet to release a trailer there are plenty of interesting teases and details that offer hints as to what audiences can expect from the FX Alien TV show.

Related Alien: Romulus vs. FX's Alien TV Show: Which Is More Exciting Both Alien: Romulus and FX's upcoming TV show are exciting new installments in the Alien franchise. One, however, is more promising than the other.

Alien TV Show: Latest News

A Major Character Is Announced

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With production continuing to move forward, the latest news sees a new cast member join the Alien TV show's ensemble. Foundation star Sandra Yi Sencindiver has been tapped to play a senior staff member of Weyland-Yutani, the shadowy corporation that is behind many failed attempts to weaponize the Xenomorph alien throughout the timeline of the Alien franchise. Little else is known about the character, and she joins a cast that includes the likes of Timothy Olyphant.

Alien TV Show: Production Status

The FX Alien TV Series Is Still In Development

No Alien TV show release date has been announced yet, though Noah Hawley's comments revealed he and FX are aiming for a 2025 window. Multiple pandemic-fueled delays, as well as the need to fit Fargo season 5 into Hawley's schedule, have meant a shifting shooting window, but Hawley has confirmed that work on his Alien series is "going great," albeit slowly.

The Alien TV show began filming in early 2024.

FX Alien TV Show Cast

Timothy Olyphant Plays A Replicant

The Alien TV show cast its first actor with Sydney Chandler joining the series in May 2023. Chandler will be playing Wendy, a woman with the body of an adult but the mind of a child. Timothy Olyphant is also slated to appear in the show as a synth named Kirsh who is Wendy's mentor and might have a connection to the synth, David, from Prometheus. Also, Foundation star Sandra Yi Sencindiver has been cast as an unnamed higher-up at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

The known cast of the Alien TV show includes:

Actor Alien Role Sydney Chandler Wendy Timothy Olyphant Kirsh Alex Lawther CJ Samuel Blenkin Boy Kavalier Essie Davis Dame Silvia Adarsh Gourav Slightly Kit Young Tootles David Rysdahl Unknown Babou Ceesay Unknown Jonathan Ajayi Unknown Erana James Unknown Lily Newmark Unknown Adrian Edmondson Unknown Sandra Yi Sencindiver Unknown

Alien TV Show Story Details

Weyland-Yutani Is Up To Their Old Tricks

there are other, probably equally nefarious, means and methods being tested to unlock the technological secret to eternal life.

Relatively little is currently known about the Alien TV show story, with one confirmed detail being that it will be set on Earth in the distant future. Setting the story on future Earth appears to be Hawley's way of refocusing what the franchise has been about thus far. Throughout all the Alien movies the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has been a consistent antagonist almost as bad as Xenomorphs. Relentlessly pursuing immortality primarily through the creation of artificial intelligence (and at the expense of real human life), the company totally dominates deep space in the Alien franchise.

Hawley's Earth-set Alien show will reportedly explore some of Weyland-Yutani's competitors, suggesting that there are other, probably equally nefarious, means and methods being tested to unlock the technological secret to eternal life. Coupled with Hawley's confirmation that his Alien series on FX will feature executives engaging with Xenomorphs more than workers, the show is shaping up to be an interesting and refreshing expansion of what the films have covered so far.