"Also have moral horror" - Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley teases the kind of horror the upcoming sci-fi prequel will portray 

In a recent tease about Alien: Earth, showrunner Noah Hawley revealed that the upcoming Alien prequel series will not only delve into sci-fi and body horror, as the franchise is known for, but will also feature “moral horror.”

This suggests the show will explore unsettling ethical dilemmas and human decisions that provoke discomfort on a psychological and philosophical level.

"You have the creature horror, right? Obviously, The Shadows in the Dark, and What's Behind the Door, etc., but you know, we also have moral horror," Hawley said.

Hawley's comment while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter teases that the narrative might focus on the dark actions of human beings driven by ambition, moral ambiguity, revenge, and exploitation.

Read on to know more about what the showrunner said and what it suggests for the upcoming series Alien: Earth.

Here is what Noah Hawley said about the Alien: Earth

As mentioned, the creator suggested that the upcoming Alien prequel series would have elements of moral horror along with sci-fi. This particular kind would move beyond gore or jump scares and instead leave viewers disturbed by what people are capable of doing, especially when facing the unknown.

Hawley gave the example of the Peter Pan character who is eventually exposed to the "Horrors of the adult world".

"We have the things that human beings do to each other, which is such a staple. Like, Paul Reiser for his behaviour in Aliens and in some, also Peter Pan, a story about growing up, is about being exposed to the horrors of the adult world and how you know this trillionaire who wins everything and everybody is exploiting them and is experimenting," he said.

"As these children learn the truth about what it means to be an adult human, maybe they wonder, maybe that's what they should be."

Therefore, we can say that Alien: Earth would be a departure from just fearing the Xenomorphs to fearing what humans become in the face of power, greed, or desperation.

What does this mean for Alien: Earth?

Alien: Earth is about to release on August 12, 2025, with two episodes dropping together, followed by the release of the rest of the episodes on a weekly basis every Tuesday. The official synopsis of the show, as per IMDb, reads,

"When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat."

Earth is under the sway of five mega‑corporations—Prodigy, Weyland‑Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold—that dominate technology, politics, and survival strategies. Therefore, keeping in mind Hawley's comment, it can be speculated that these corporations will pit humans against each other to bring out their darkest sides. The unsettling elements in the show would emerge not just from monsters but from ethical compromises, identity crises, and existential trauma.

Wendy, played by Sydney Chandler, is portrayed as a hybrid, an amalgamation of a humanoid root implanted with a dying human child's consciousness. She joins Prodigy Corporation’s bold experiment in synthetic-human advancement. Therefore, the show will explore Wendy’s struggle as a consciousness trapped in synthetic form, reflecting some deep truths about humanity, innocence, survival, and the costs of technological ambition.

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Catch the show only on Hulu in the US.

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