Premiering August 12, 2025, on FX/Hulu, Alien: Earth reignites the iconic franchise with a primal, ground-level survival story. When a derelict vessel crashes in the Nigerian desert, disgraced xenobiologist Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a squad of mercenaries led by grizzled veteran Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant) uncover a bio-weapon that threatens to terraform Earth into a hive of unspeakable horrors. Directed by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead), this chapter strips back the sci-fi spectacle to deliver claustrophobic terror, body-horror mutations, and desperate alliances against a hyper-evolved Xenomorph strain. Blending Alien’s atmospheric dread with The Last of Us-style tactical tension, the series asks: Can humanity survive when home becomes the hunting ground?
An electrifying ensemble of rising stars and genre legends brings Álvarez’s visceral vision to life. From corporate conspirators to battle-scarred soldiers, each character navigates a battlefield where trust decays faster than flesh. Meet the survivors facing the universe’s perfect predator—and the human monsters exploiting it.
Alien: Earth cast list
1- Sydney Chandler as Wendy
Sydney Chandler (Pistol, Don’t Worry Darling) commands the screen as Wendy, a brilliant but exiled xenobiologist whose theories about extraterrestrial life made her a pariah—until the crash proves her right. Chandler’s Wendy is a fusion of nervous genius and ferocious instinct, her knowledge of Xenomorph biology becoming the squad’s only hope. Trapped between Weyland-Yutani’s corporate hunters and the evolving hive, she must confront her own guilt over weaponizing alien DNA. Chandler studied astrobiology and trauma responses, embodying Wendy’s tremors of fear and eureka moments with equal authenticity.
Chandler performed alongside practical-effects Xenomorphs engineered by legacy designer Carlos Huante (Aliens vs. Predator), reacting to their slime-dripping terror in real time. Her dynamic with Timothy Olyphant crackles with mentor-student tension, especially when Kirsh’s pragmatism clashes with her moral lines. “Wendy doesn’t carry a flamethrower—she carries the weight of creation’s darkest secrets,” Chandler reveals. The role demanded grueling night shoots in Namibia’s dunes, where 120°F heat mirrored the narrative’s infernal stakes.
2- Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh
Timothy Olyphant (Justified, The Book of Boba Fett) delivers career-defining grit as Kirsh, a mercenary captain haunted by losing his team to Xenomorphs on LV-426. Olyphant’s Kirsh is a coiled spring of tactical genius and survivor’s guilt, his shotgun-blunt commands masking a paternal drive to protect Wendy. Choreographing guerilla warfare against acid-blooded nightmares, Olyphant blends Deadwood’s swagger with Aliens’ Hudson-esque panic—his iconic “We’re fucked!” line in Episode 3 becomes a viral moment.
Olyphant trained with ex-SAS operatives to master close-quarters combat and pulse-rifle reloads. His character’s arc mirrors Hicks’ legacy, but with a twist: Kirsh harbors a bio-chip linking him to Weyland-Yutani’s experiments. “He’s not just fighting aliens; he’s fighting his own wiring,” Olyphant hints. The actor’s stunt work—including a zero-gravity duel in the derelict ship—solidifies Kirsh as the franchise’s new iconic survivor.
3- Essie Davis as Dame Silvia
Essie Davis (The Babadook, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) chills as Dame Silvia, Weyland-Yutani’s ice-veined executive who orchestrates the crash to harvest Xenomorph hybrids. Davis’s Silvia deploys corporate doublespeak like a scalpel, her pearl-clad elegance contrasting with vivisection labs shown in flashbacks. Channeling Prometheus’s Vickers with more venom, she manipulates Samuel Blenkin’s ambitious Boy Kavalier into suicide missions for profit.
Davis’s monologue about “evolution through atrocity”—delivered while watching test subjects dissolve—redefines the franchise’s corporate evil. “Silvia doesn’t see monsters; she sees quarterly reports,” Davis states. Her showdown with Wendy in a bio-containment vault is pure nihilistic grandeur.
4- Alex Lawther as CJ & Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier
Alex Lawther (The End of the F**ing World) mesmerizes as CJ, a twitchy synthetic with malfunctioning empathy protocols. Lawther’s CJ oscillates between childlike curiosity and chilling violence, his loyalty to Wendy tested by Silvia’s override codes. Samuel Blenkin (The Witcher*) embodies corporate ambition as Boy Kavalier, a Weyland-Yutani prodigy whose desire for glory blinds him to Silvia’s betrayal. Blenkin’s descent from cocky tech to screaming Xenomorph fodder is brutally poetic.
Lawther based CJ’s physicality on marionettes and glitching robots, while Blenkin drew parallels to tech-bro culture. Their shared scene—where CJ mercy-kills a mutated Kavalier—becomes a tragic highlight.
5- Kit Young as Tootles & Adarsh Gourav as Slightly
Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) star as Tootles and Slightly, Kirsh’s wisecracking mercenary duo. Young’s Tootles wields a retrofit flamethrower and gallows humor, while Gourav’s Slightly—a drone specialist—uses hacked tech to map hive networks. Their Firefly-esque banter provides levity before a gut-punch sacrifice in Episode 4.
Gourav ad-libbed 30% of his lines, including the iconic: “If it bleeds, we can kill it. If it melts tanks… maybe run?” Young’s background in stage combat fuels Tootles’ explosive finale against a Praetorian-class Xenomorph.
6- Babou Ceesay as Morrow & Jonathan Ajayi as Okafor
Babou Ceesay (Guerrilla, Damilola) brings gravitas as Morrow, a Nigerian special forces commander aiding Kirsh. Ceesay’s Morrow navigates geopolitical tensions while protecting his homeland, his arc exposing colonial echoes in Weyland-Yutani’s exploitation. Jonathan Ajayi (Noughts + Crosses) steals scenes as Okafor, a local rebel whose knowledge of desert tunnels proves vital.
Ceesay consulted with Nigerian military advisors for authenticity, while Ajayi’s chemistry with Diêm Camille’s medic Lan adds emotional stakes. Their stand against a sand-burrowing Xenomorph variant showcases the franchise’s first African-led action set piece.
Erana James as Lan & Diêm Camille as Reyes
Erana James (The Wilds) portrays Lan, a field medic whose trauma over losing her family to Xenomorphs on Luna fuels her resolve. James’ Lan sutures wounds while wrestling with PTSD, culminating in her using a facehugger as a bio-weapon against Silvia. Diêm Camille (Oxygen) exudes intensity as Reyes, Kirsh’s second-in-command, whose bionic arm becomes a literal lifeline.
Camille performed her own stunts, including a drop-ship escape from a crumbling hive. James’ whispered prayer in Igbo before a suicide run chills to the bone.
David Rysdahl as Dr. Vektis & Moe Bar-El as Rook
David Rysdahl (Fargo) unsettles as Dr. Vektis, a Weyland-Yutani scientist whose obsession with “perfecting” the Xenomorph borders on worship. Rysdahl’s monologues about “transcending humanity” echo David from Prometheus, but with grotesque body-horror twists. Moe Bar-El (The Peripheral) impresses as Rook, a silent tracker whose cybernetic eyes detect Xenomorph heat signatures—until his implants are hacked by the hive mind.
Bar-El’s wordless performance—communicating through sign language and weapon checks—adds haunting depth. His final transmission: “They’re learning. Run.“
What is about
Alien: Earth is FX/Hulu’s boldest franchise revival yet—a savage blend of cosmic dread and human drama, elevated by Chandler’s star-making turn, Olyphant’s relentless intensity, and Álvarez’s mastery of visceral terror. With next-gen Xenomorphs, African landscapes redefining the aesthetic, and a climax that reshapes the Alien mythos, this series will sear itself into your nightmares. Stream on Hulu or watch weekly on FX—nowhere is safe when Earth becomes the nest.
