FX Show Based On Alien Franchise Won't Revolve Around Ripley

FX, the network behind hit shows like American Horror Story, will soon be home to a science fiction series based on the hit Alien movie franchise. Though it'll be at least a couple of years before we see the series premiere, Alien showrunner Noah Hawley has dropped some early details revealing what fans can expect.

Hawley recently spoke with the folks at Vanity Fair, revealing that FX's Alien TV show will not involve the universe's iconic character Ripley. During the interview, Hawley emphasized, "It's not a Ripley story," noting that he doesn't want to "mess with" her storyline.

Instead, Hawley indicates that the TV show will break from the typical movie plots to open the world up a bit. "What happens when you can't contain it?" he teased, noting that the topic of inequality will be a core aspect of the story he tells. This topic will be explored through the stories of people sent to deal with the aliens and the people who send them into danger.

Hawley elaborated on this idea, stating during the interview:

On some level it's also a story about inequality. You know, one of the things that I love about the first movie is how '70s a movie it is, and how it's really this blue collar space-trucker world in which Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are basically Waiting for Godot. They're like Samuel Beckett characters, ordered to go to a place by a faceless nameless corporation [...] So, it is the story of the people you send to do the dirty work.

At this point, it looks like the Alien FX series will start shooting in spring 2022, meaning we probably won't see it premiere until late next year at the earliest. The show was announced in December with sparse details, including that it will be set on Earth.