Alien: Earth has lastly landed, delivering a daring new chapter in Ridley Scott‘s Xenomorph saga, which started in 1979 along with his groundbreaking sci-fi thriller Alien. Set two years earlier than the occasions of the unique movie, the eight-episode collection marks the primary time in franchise historical past that the acid-blooded abominations have invaded Earth.
Increasing the ever-growing Alien universe with recent layers of depth and nuance, the primary two episodes — “Neverland” and “Mr. October”— are full of references, Easter eggs, and refined callbacks to earlier movies, together with intelligent nods to different corners of popular culture.
Listed here are a number of we thought it is best to find out about.
The opening titles begin in a well-recognized ping.
The very first sound you hear within the titles is a small ping, which can ring acquainted to any Alien fan. After the principle titles aboard the Nostromo within the 1979 traditional movie, because the digital camera pans over the sleeping our bodies of the crew, the pc jolts awake to the identical ping simply earlier than the pc display screen reads “NOSTROMO 180924609.”
The waking sequence in Episode 1 was a tribute to Alien.
The photographs of the crew waking up on the USCSS Maginot showcase the set’s detailed design and its devoted homage to the universe Ridley Scott constructed. From the central pc to the pods opening to disclose awakening passengers — even all the way down to the fades and wipes — the sequence mirrors the unique aesthetic, with one crew member waking in an analogous method to John Damage‘s Kane.
Wait. Was that… Sid?
That was not a hallucination. That was Sid from Ice Age momentarily showing in Alien: Earth. Within the present, Hermit (Alex Lawther) remembers watching Ice Age: Continental Drift along with his sister Marcy, whose consciousness now resides within the artificial Wendy (Sydney Chandler), thus making the Ice Age franchise canon to Alien. Hermit later quotes the film: “Have a coronary heart or face my fury!”
That is is actual fame from Alien: Earth pic.twitter.com/A1ADFp4BZf
— bulb (@eggbulb3) August 13, 2025
Using Ice Age will also be seen as Disney flexing its muscle in terms of the IP it owns. Always remember that the Alien Queen is formally a Disney princess now.
The Maginot’s personal unhappy little Jonesy
The doomed Maginot comes outfitted with every little thing, together with a ginger tabby of its personal, just a little paying homage to Jonesy, Lt. Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) pet cat from the primary two Alien movies, if not for the mutilation. Finest identified for well-timed leap scares and searching cute whereas Ripley’s crew members had been torn limb from limb, Jonesy survived, however sadly, this kitty didn’t fare as effectively.
“Is it time to fall asleep?”
Little Marcy is introduced together with her new physique earlier than she goes underneath to have her consciousness transferred to an artificial type — a second that serves as a little bit of a callback to Aliens, when Newt was about to enter cryosleep and requested Ripley, “Are we gonna sleep all the best way house?”
All the squad names reference Peter Pan characters.
Disney’s Peter Pan performs a big half within the first episode of the collection, “Neverland,” as youngsters are given artificial our bodies that enable them to by no means develop up and stay endlessly. Thusly, J.M. Barrie’s fairy story serves as inspiration in terms of their “machine names.” Wendy leads the squad, her title a nod to Wendy Darling, the eldest of the Darling youngsters and the one in cost. Erana James performs Curly, Adarsh Gourav is Barely, Lily Newmark is Nibs, Jonathan Ajayi is Smee the Pirate, and Equipment Younger is Tootles.
“We don’t like that phrase.”
Bishop (Lance Henriksen) in Aliens was just a little sensitive when it got here to being known as an artificial. He most popular a synthetic human. Because it seems, it appears to be a sample for all synthetic people, as Barely (Adarsh Gourav) additionally dislikes the time period. He additionally refers to his title as his “machine title.”
“The Mob Guidelines” by Black Sabbath and “Stinkfist” by Software on the finish of the episodes
The lyrics for the traditional Sabbath tune warn of the top of civilization:
“Shut the town and inform the individuals,
That one thing’s coming to name,
Dying and darkness are speeding ahead,
To take a chunk from the wall, oh!”
It performs simply earlier than Wendy leads the squad into the wreckage, foreshadowing the horrors but to return. In an interview with Decider, showrunner Noah Hawley mentioned utilizing traditional rock is a callback to James Cameron‘s sequel: “I feel that actually within the film Aliens, Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) yells, ‘Let’s rock!’” Nevertheless, he additionally needed to evoke the power of “an enormous area present.”
“Stinkfist” by Software performs on the finish of Episode 2. The music is about pushing human experiences to the acute in an effort to really feel one thing. Noah Hawley revealed that he used rock and metallic needle drops to provide every episode a rock present vibe. For Episode 2, the selection was meant to focus on the plight of the hybrids, significantly youngsters, reborn in artificial our bodies.
Pulse Rifles & Smartguns
The navy right here makes use of the identical Pulse Rifles as seen in Aliens, and for these eagle-eyed viewers, the M56 Smartgun that Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) modifies can be current.
Alien: Earth, Tuesdays, 8/7c, FX and Hulu