Noah Hawley outlines the big themes of his Alien TV show – Winter Is Coming

While 2022 is about as stacked as it gets when it comes to upcoming sci-fi and fantasy shows, one that we arent going to see is Noah Hawleys small screen Alienseries. The news broke last year that theFargoshowrunner was going to be developing a new story in theAlienuniverse. Its been confirmed that the show will be set on Earth a first for the mainlineAlienseries, where the question of what would happen if these killing machines ever made it back to our homeworld was always looming in the background. We also know it wont include Sigourney Weavers character Ellen Ripley. Shes one of the great characters of all time, and I think the story has been told pretty perfectly, and I dont want to mess with it, the director said.

Beyond that, details have been sparse. But in an interview with Esquire to promote his new novelAnthem, Hawley dropped some updates and outlinedsome of the shows big themes.

Its going great. Its going slowly, unfortunately, given the scale of it, Hawley said of the Alienshow. Ive made a certain business out of reinvention.Alienis a fascinating story because its not just a monster movie; its about how were trapped between the primordial past and the artificial intelligence of our future, where both [are] trying to kill us. Its set on Earth of the future. At this moment, I describe that as Edison versus Westinghouse versus Tesla. Someones going to monopolize electricity. We just dont know which one it is.

Ill just speak for myself here, and say that it is really reassuring to hear the person helming this newAlienproject talk about some of those crucial themes. The idea of humans being caught between the vicious xenomorphs and advanced AI or to take it a step further, the corporate greed that fuels that AI was always central to the original quadrilogy of films. So its a great sign that Hawley is keeping that in mind.

In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads? Hawley continued. Which of those technologies is going to win? Its ultimately a classic science fiction question: does humanity deserve to survive? As Sigourney Weaver said in that second movie, I dont know which species is worse. At least they dont f**k each other over for a percentage. Even if the show was 60% of the best horror action on the planet, theres still 40% where we have to ask, What are we talking about it, beneath it all? Thematically, it has to be interesting. Its humbling to get to play with the iconography of this world.

Cyborg enhancements and transhuman downloads? From the sounds of things, this could be a really fascinating take on theAlienuniverse, tying in other sci-fi elements that have never been featured in the series before.

For now though, we wait. The Alienseries is expected to roll out on Hulu in 2023 at the earliest.

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Noah Hawley outlines the big themes of his Alien TV show - Winter Is Coming