5 major franchise canon changes in FX's Alien: Earth, explored

Noah Hawley's FX series, Alien: Earth, revitalized the Alien franchise and offered a new direction for the franchise's future. The show predates the events of the original Alien film by Ridley Scott, which showed Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in space in 2122. So, it offers a backstory to the complications in the lives of her and her crewmates. That helps us better understand how and why the crew faced challenges, travelling through Nostromo.

While doing so, Alien: Earth changes certain aspects of the franchise canon, or at least, reveals further details that were hitherto unexplained or underexplored in the franchise's projects. It doesn't simply affect the visual cues or strategies to calm or outwit the Xenomorphs; it also impacts our understanding of the world that enabled the destruction.

After all, the franchise hasn't been simply about a fight between good and evil, where we can pick apart easy heroes or villains. In line with this, Hawley's series doesn't simply show humans fighting for humanity, but for their solipsistic beliefs.

Let's look at some of the major canon changes, as revealed by ScreenRant in their recent report.

5 major franchise canon changes in FX's Alien: Earth

5. There is more to Weyland-Yutani's history than what meets the eye.

Alien: Earth shows Weyland-Yutani determined to get hold of the Xenomorphs for their research. So, they were aware of how destructive these aliens can be. Still, they allowed Nostromo to meet a tragic fate as they faced LV-426. It reveals the lengths to which this corporation would go to ensure getting what they want, even at the cost of others. So, the show offers a bit more history to its cruelties.

In a follow-up season, Hawley can take an even deeper look into their past. He spoke about something similar in his conversation with Vanity Fair:

“I don’t yet know, in terms of the series from beginning to end, how much time is going to pass or where we’re going to end up, but I do know that at a certain point, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is going to divert the Nostromo to that planet. — We have the opportunity to maybe see what was happening on the other side of that phone call.”

4. There are other corporations on Earth besides Weyland-Yutani.

Alien: Earth introduced mega-corporations like Dynamic, Prodigy, Threshold, and Lynch. It changes a prior understanding of the Alien canon that only Weyland-Yutani may have been the organization of this kind. That takes us further into understanding its dystopian world-building, led by corporate motives instead of collective gain.

3. Human immortality drives every single corporation.

The FX series shows the corporations fighting to find a way to achieve human immortality. While it may not be a new detail in the canon, ScreenRant reveals that the show emphasizes this detail by showing prodigy, among other corporations, experimenting with their resources to prolong human life in one way or another.

2. Xenomorphs were not created by David.

Alien: Earth seemingly states that David (Michael Fassbender's character in Prometheus) didn't create the xenomorphs, even if the movie hints in that direction. Instead, the show reveals classic Xenomorph specimens being brought to Earth prior to David knowing their existence, as implied in the pre-established franchise canon.

1. Alien: Earth shares more details about Xenomorphs.

Until Alien: Earth, not much had been revealed about Xenomorphs, their nature, or their characteristics. The show offers a detailed understanding of many things that can either be helpful to pacify them or establish a stronger bond with any kind of these creatures, whether it's a facehugger or an adult Xenomorph.