Ever since it was first announced, Alien: Earth looked like a supremely interesting new take on one of the most storied and influential sci-fi franchises of modern times. Since its first teaser trailer, though, I got way more excited – its set design, visuals and tone seem to be exactly what you’d want from an Alien series.
Now it’s got another fascinating trailer, one that gives us quick looks at more characters and a sense of how the series might unfold in its first few episodes. It underlines that this might be one of the most exciting streaming debuts in ages, and certainly one of the most-anticipated sci-fi series ever.
The previous trailer made it clear that the show’s going to delve further into the politics and ethics of the franchise’s long-standing Synthetics – humanoid robots that have featured in many of the movies and stories to generally creepy effect. In fact, our main character might just be one herself, as is made clear.
However, the real bulk of the plot is concerned more with the aliens that give the series its title – they’ll be coming to Earth for the first time, when a hulking transport spaceship crash-lands. It was carrying a range of samples, each one showcasing a different murderous and stunningly dangerous xenotype.
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Of course, there’s one type of alien that really catches the imagination, and it’s the Xenomorph that’s been terrorising people in movies for decades. The trailer ends with a quick look at one of those aliens in a dank and luscious cavern, underlining the fact that it’s not going to stay contained for long.
How the show takes that forward will be super interesting to observe – perhaps it’ll end up more like Predator, where that alien becomes a terrifying hunter in a remote landscape. Meanwhile, the human and Synthetic characters will doubtless be reckoning with their own psychodramas. It’ll all be fascinating when the show starts on 12 August in the US (on Hulu), and on 13 August on Disney+ in the UK.
