Latest news with #Xenomorph
Jordan News
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Jordan News
‘Alien: Earth': 9 References, Easter Eggs, and Small Details We Found In the First Two Episodes - Jordan News
'Alien: Earth': 9 References , Easter Eggs, and Small Details We Found In the First Two Episodes Alien: Earth has finally landed, delivering a bold new chapter in Ridley Scott's Xenomorph saga, which began in 1979 with his groundbreaking sci-fi thriller Alien. Set two years before the events of the original film, the eight-episode series marks the first time in franchise history that the acid-blooded abominations have invaded Earth. اضافة اعلان Expanding the ever-growing Alien universe with fresh layers of depth and nuance, the first two episodes — 'Neverland' and 'Mr. October'— are packed with references, Easter eggs, and subtle callbacks to previous films, along with clever nods to other corners of pop culture. Here are a few we thought you should know about. The opening titles start in a familiar ping. The very first sound you hear in the titles is a small ping, which may ring familiar to any Alien fan. After the main titles aboard the Nostromo in the 1979 classic film, as the camera pans over the sleeping bodies of the crew, the computer jolts awake to the same ping just before the computer screen reads 'NOSTROMO 180924609.' The waking sequence in Episode 1 was a tribute to Alien. The shots of the crew waking up on the USCSS Maginot showcase the set's detailed design and its faithful homage to the universe Ridley Scott built. From the central computer to the pods opening to reveal awakening passengers — even down to the fades and wipes — the sequence mirrors the original aesthetic, with one crew member waking in a similar manner to John Hurt's Kane. Wait. Was that… Sid? That was not a hallucination. That was Sid from Ice Age momentarily appearing in Alien: Earth. In the show, Hermit (Alex Lawther) recalls watching Ice Age: Continental Drift with his sister Marcy, whose consciousness now resides in the synthetic Wendy (Sydney Chandler), thus making the Ice Age franchise canon to Alien. Hermit later quotes the movie: 'Have a heart or face my fury!' The use of Ice Age can also be seen as Disney flexing its muscle when it comes to the IP it owns. Never forget that the Alien Queen is officially a Disney princess now. The Maginot's own sad little Jonesy The doomed Maginot comes equipped with everything, including a ginger tabby of its own, a little reminiscent of Jonesy, Lt. Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) pet cat from the first two Alien films, if not for the mutilation. Best known for well-timed jump scares and looking adorable while Ripley's crew members were torn limb from limb, Jonesy survived, but sadly, this kitty did not fare as well. 'Is it time to go to sleep?' Little Marcy is presented with her new body before she goes under to have her consciousness transferred to a synthetic form — a moment that serves as a bit of a callback to Aliens, when Newt was about to enter cryosleep and asked Ripley, 'Are we gonna sleep all the way home?' All of the squad names reference Peter Pan characters. Disney's Peter Pan plays a large part in the first episode of the series, 'Neverland,' as children are given synthetic bodies that allow them to never grow up and live forever. Thusly, J.M. Barrie's fairy tale serves as inspiration when it comes to their 'machine names.' Wendy leads the squad, her name a nod to Wendy Darling, the eldest of the Darling children and the one in charge. Erana James plays Curly, Adarsh Gourav is Slightly, Lily Newmark is Nibs, Jonathan Ajayi is Smee the Pirate, and Kit Young is Tootles. 'We don't like that word.' Bishop (Lance Henriksen) in Aliens was a little touchy when it came to being called a synthetic. He preferred an artificial human. As it turns out, it seems to be a pattern for all artificial humans, as Slightly (Adarsh Gourav) also dislikes the term. He also refers to his name as his 'machine name.' 'The Mob Rules' by Black Sabbath and 'Stinkfist' by Tool at the end of the episodes The lyrics for the classic Sabbath tune warn of the end of civilization: 'Close the city and tell the people, That something's coming to call, Death and darkness are rushing forward, To take a bite from the wall, oh!' It plays just before Wendy leads the squad into the wreckage, foreshadowing the horrors yet to come. In an interview with Decider, showrunner Noah Hawley said using classic rock is a callback to James Cameron's sequel: 'I think that literally in the movie Aliens, Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) yells, 'Let's rock!'' However, he also wanted to evoke the energy of 'a big arena show.' 'Stinkfist' by Tool plays at the end of Episode 2. The song is about pushing human experiences to the extreme in an effort to feel something. Noah Hawley revealed that he used rock and metal needle drops to give each episode a rock show vibe. For Episode 2, the choice was meant to highlight the plight of the hybrids, particularly children, reborn in synthetic bodies. Pulse Rifles & Smartguns The military here utilizes the same Pulse Rifles as seen in Aliens, and for those eagle-eyed viewers, the M56 Smartgun that Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) modifies is also present.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'Incredible' Disney+ series based on iconic sci-fi horror movie gets outstanding Rotten Tomatoes score
A prequel series to a beloved horror franchise has just begun on Disney+ A prequel to the legendary Alien franchise has finally launched today. Alien: Earth, set in 2120, takes place two years prior to the events of the iconic 1979 film Alien, which starred Sigourney Weaver and sparked a nine-film series. The original film boasts an impressive 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and so far the new series has garnered the exact same score. The chilling sci-fi horror series features Sydney Chandler as Wendy and Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh. Alien: Earth was brought to life by Noah Hawley, the creative force behind the FX series Fargo and Legion, with Ridley Scott, director of the original Alien, serving as executive producer. The first two episodes premiered today (Wednesday, 13th August) on Disney+, with new episodes releasing each week. The plot follows Wendy and a team of tactical soldiers known as The Lost Boys who stumble upon a shocking discovery after the spacecraft, the Maginot, crash-lands on Earth, bringing them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat. The series experienced significant delays due to Disney's takeover of Fox and the strikes in 2023. It took seven long years for the series to transition from idea to screen. Production designer Andy Nicholson confessed to the LA Times, "It was a huge responsibility and I didn't want to mess up," adding, "There's a history for the fans. You can't mess up the Easter eggs. There are specific things you can't get wrong because you'll just lose people." The series is peppered with references and nods to the story of Peter Pan, although the Disney connection wasn't intentional, and it also boasts retrofuturistic set pieces, handcrafted costumes, and a meticulously chosen score. Fans of the original film franchise will be thrilled to hear that the iconic Xenomorph, which doesn't make an appearance in the first film until about an hour in, will take centre stage in the prequel series. "We show more of the Xenomorph than everybody else has shown," reveals director Dana Gonzales. "Later on, you realize why we do that; it doesn't just become a character that's coming out of a dark hole. There's this point where it's going to be much more present. Finding that language of how to get there, it starts with the first episode of giving fans what they hope to be tuning in for." The latest addition to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, was released in 2024 and bridges the gap between the events of the first two films.
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
How To Watch The 'Alien' Movies In Release & Chronological Order
With Alien: Earth, a new FX series from creator Noah Hawley, comes the perfect excuse to watch all of the movies from the series that brought us Ellen Ripley, the Xenomorph, David the android, and a whole lot of deep space thrills and chills from some pretty impressive directors. To make it easier for you than any of the poor souls in these movies have it at any given time, here's what you need to know to watch the Alien movies in order. Before we get started: there was also a time in the naughty aughties when the, err, alien species from Alien made an co-starring appearance in two crossover movies: 2004's Alien vs. Predator and 2007's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. As far as I'm concerned, those movies are extra credit. If you're super invested in the extraterrestrial part of Alien, feel free to slot those babies in between 1997's Alien: Resurrection and 2012's Prometheus. Try to fight the urge to then, ofc, watch all of the Predator movies, including the 2022 Amber Midthunder vehicle Prey, and 2025's Predator: Badlands. Why so many movies!?!! Without further ado, here are the Alien (no Predator allowed) movies in release order: The first movie, directed by Ridley Scott, follows a crew of scientists who work for a company called Weyland-Yutani and answer what they think is a distress call from a planet on the way home to Earth. They inadvertently bring a deadly alien called a "xenomorph" back with them and have to fight the creature, company policy, and their own inability to listen to women (Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver) in order to survive. Despite the title and the setting, the O.G. Alien is actually more of a horror movie than a science fiction movie. It's essentially structured like a classic slasher flick, but instead of a haunted house or a cabin in the woods the people a mysterious killer is picking off, one by one until only the final girl is left, are on a spaceship. WATCH NOW Many fans of the franchise, or of movies in general, prefer director James Cameron's sequel. It turns Ripley from a final girl into a full action heroine–but men still don't listen to her! Five decades after the first movie, Weyland-Yutani wakes Ripley up from cryostasis to ask for her help with the moon where she and her crew first encountered a xenomorph, because the company now want to terraform it and lost contact with the colonizers. When they land, they find only one survivor: a girl named Newt. Thankfully, this Ripley at least is backed by the military, instead of scientists and an evil corporate robot more concerned with following orders than human lives. Her compadres are as willing to kill the aliens as she is, which must help with the trauma. Some even survive! WATCH NOW The third movie in the franchise also happens to be directed by a third major director: David Fincher, known best for Se7en, Fight Club, Gone Girl, and The Social Network. This is actually his first feature film. Alien 3 takes place immediately after Aliens as Ripley and [redacted] other survivors escape the moon. Will she finally catch a break, or at least a chance to process everything she has experienced? Absolutely not. She crash lands, with a stray xenomorph still on board her ship, onto a prison planet that does not even allow the guards to have weapons. They're angry, isolated, and totally defenseless. Talk about upping the stakes! WATCH NOW Winona Ryder is in this one! This film is set 200 years after Alien 3, when Ripley is long dead. The title Resurrection, however, should give you a clue as to what happens next. Military scientists in the future clone Weaver's character and a xenomorph for study. Thanks to an experiment gone wrong, a group of mercenaries, and an unexpected glitch in the cloning process, a battle ensues as Ripley gets closer to Earth than ever before. Weaver was a co-producer on the movie and Joss Whedon wrote the screenplay. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet followed this up with Amélie in 2001. Isn't that, to use some classic late 00s slang, so random? WATCH NOW After the brief AVP duology/diversion, the Alien movies did what so many franchises tend to do: back it up. Prometheus is a prequel directed by Ridley Scott in a return to the IP. It takes place in 2089 and follows a crew commissioned by the founder and CEO of the Weyland Corporation played by Guy Pearce, and lead by an archaeologist played by Noomi Rapace, an early android named David played by Michael Fassbender, the captain played by Idris Elba, a corporate stiff played by Charlize Theron, and a cool scientist played by Logan Marshall-Green. What they find when they get where they're going is a major lore drop, Alien wise. WATCH NOW The 2017 movie is infamous for Fassbender making out with himself. (It seems silly to say given everything that has happened since, but we needed something to smile about in 2017.) It follows a colonist ship in 2104 that answers a transmission from a mysterious, uncharted planet where David and the survivors of Prometheus landed between films. A lot of the action takes place on land in a jungle–a little like Alien meets Jurassic Park. (Just a little, though. Let's not be crazy! Xenomorphs make raptors look like puppies.) WATCH NOW This spin-off, directed by Fede Álvarez, is set between Alien and Aliens while Ellen is taking a cryo nap. It got back to basics with a new haunted house story featuring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu as potential victims. Their characters, space colonists (again) running away from their home and contracts to make a new life for themselves on a new planet free from Weyland-Yutani, sneak onto a space station called Romulus to steal cryostasis equipment. Unfortunately for them, a cocoon containing a xenomorph (as well as a lot of unhatched eggs) recovered from theAlien spaceship happens to be in storage on the Romulus. WATCH NOW Want to follow the ongoing story of a f*cked up world from beginning to end? The new FX series Alien: Earth is set one year before the events of Alien. As we mentioned above, movies like Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus are prequels to the original movies in the franchise. So, in planning your Alien marathon, it might be smart to watch these in "story" order a.k.a. "timeline" order or chronological order instead of the order they came out. Again, for extra credit, you can also include Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in the saga. If you do, start with them because they take place, like, waaaaaay before Prometheus even in 2004. They're basically period pieces
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How does Alien: Earth connect to the original film? Franchise timeline explained
The Disney+ show takes place in the iconic sci-fi franchise first created by Ridley Scott in 1979, and it has interesting connections to the original. Sign up to Disney+ Through Alien: Earth, fans of the iconic film franchise are going to be given an exciting new chapter, one that is familiar and yet still different to Ridley Scott's original 1979 movie. Directed by Noah Hawley, the Disney+ show's narrative transports the Xenomorph to Earth for the very first time when a science research vessel crash lands in New Siam, a whole host of alien specimens inside — but most importantly a rampaging Xenomorph too. The city is run by tech billionaire Kid Cavalier (Samuel Blenkin) who has been busy with a secret project where he transfers the consciousness of children who are sick or dying into synthetic bodies. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) is one such child-turned-synth, and when she learns that her medic brother CJ (Alex Lawther) is helping the survivors she begs Cavalier to let her and her fellow young synths to go to the wreckage. He agrees, but only if they bring the specimens back to his lab — and as the Alien movies have taught us thus far, nothing could possibly go wrong with that. The question is, while this is a new story in the franchise, where does it fit into the overall canon laid out by Scott's original film and its subsequent sequels, as well as the prequels and the most recent film, Romulus? Here's what you need to know. How does Alien: Earth fit into the Alien film franchise timeline? Alien: Earth is set in 2120, which means that it takes place just two years before the events of the very first Alien movie which is set in 2122. The original movie takes place on the USCSS Nostromo where Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) fights to survive when a Xenomorph awakens and wreaks havoc. The spaceship is a Weylan-Yutani vessel, just like the USCSS Maginot in Alien: Earth. Alien: Earth pays homage to the original film with its depiction of the USCSS Maginot, whose crew is also beset by a rampaging Xenomorph. Except for them, this happens just as they are hurtling toward Earth, which is how the creature ends up on our planet and all of humanity is put at risk without realising. The narrative in Alien: Earth is a standalone story, separate from the film franchise at large, but it still holds the essence of what Scott created all those years ago. In an interview with Variety, FX Entertainment president Gina Balian explained: "Everything doesn't have to fit together the way you expect from Marvel. Fans don't expect that in this universe. It doesn't have the same pressure.' It's important to note that the Nostromo departed Earth in 2120 with the mission of making a one-month trip to Neptune to connect to a cargo hauler that took it into deep space, which means that the events of Alien: Earth are very closely linked to the starting point of the original Alien. Whether Alien: Earth will make direct reference to the original Alien film is yet to be seen, but creator Noah Hawley told SFX Magazine that he hopes there will be a direct connection in future. He told the publication: "I don't yet know, in terms of the series from beginning to end, how much time is going to pass or where we're going to end up. But I do know that at a certain point, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is going to divert the Nostromo to that planet." Fans will have to wait and see exactly when and where Alien: Earth makes direct reference to the original film, but for now, it is an exciting new chapter in the universe. The first two episodes of Alien: Earth are out now on Disney+, new episodes will air every Wednesday.
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I spoke to the stars of 'Alien: Earth' about bringing the Xenomorph to TV —and which episode they can't wait for fans to see
Full disclosure: I love 'Alien: Earth.' As a superfan of the 'Alien' franchise, it's pretty much the sci-fi show of my dreams, and I said as much in my glowing 'Alien: Earth' review. Naturally, when offered the chance to sit down with two of the show's biggest stars, Babou Ceesay and Samuel Blenkin, I leaped at the opportunity with enough enthusiasm to make a Xenomorph jump. I was particularly thrilled to speak to Ceesay and Blenkin, as their compelling characters were the standout roles in the six episodes I've seen to date. Ceesay plays Morrow, a Weyland-Yutani cyborg, obsessed with reclaiming the Xenomorph specimens taken by the rival Prodigy corporation. While Blenkin plays the Boy Kavalier, the CEO of Prodigy, a character who Blenkin describes as having an ego 'bigger than Planet Earth.' While the likes of Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant and Alex Lawther headline the show (and for the record, all three are also fantastic in their roles), throughout 'Alien: Earth,' my attention was always drawn to Morrow and Boy Kavalier, and their individual arcs totally hooked me. So when I sat down to talk to Babou Ceesay and Samuel Blenkin during a recent roundtable discussion, I was bursting with questions. Here's what we chatted about. Right off the bat, I wanted to dig into the characters of Morrow and Boy, and to understand what it was about these roles that stood out when Ceesay and Blenkin first read the scripts. 'I love my role and I love Sam's role. You know, there are two characters that are complex and ambiguous and contradictory. It's not often you get a chance to sink your teeth into material like this,' explained Ceesay. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. For me, it was the size of the ego that I got to portray; I don't normally get a chance to inhabit somebody whose ego is bigger than Planet Earth itself,' Blenkin told me. 'That was a very, very exciting prospect for me playing somebody with that much mad ego.' Blenkin also pointed out how much he enjoyed Ceesay's work as Morrow: 'There are contradictions at the heart of those characters. I just find Morrow's quest to be more than human, but unable to go beyond his human body, it's just classic Noah [Hawley]. If you get to push and pull against those two things, it's very satisfying to turn up to work every day.' As somebody who ranks 1979's 'Alien' as their favorite movie of all time, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I was more than a little bit jealous of the cast getting to step onto the show's practical sets that look straight out of the very first Xenomorph's big screen appearance. Talking about their reaction to seeing the incredible sets for the first time, Ceesay said, 'Walking onto the set of the Maginot, and of course, it's the Nostromo, you can't help it but get goose bumps running down your body, just chills, even as I'm saying it now, but everybody, including Noah, became a kid.' You're walking around, and you're touching things, as you're pressing buttons and doors are sliding open and you're walking into other rooms, and after a very short space of time, you forget you're in a studio. You feel like you're on a ship.' 'It wasn't just little sets that they needed for specific shots. They just made the whole thing, and the level of detail was insane,' added Blenkin. One of my slight concerns ahead of watching 'Alien: Earth' for myself was that it would be merely an 'Alien' movie stretched over a longer runtime. It is fair to say that fear was quickly alleviated within the first episode, so I wanted to ask Ceesay and Blenkin how they believe 'Earth' sets itself apart from the numerous feature films that have come before it. 'Noah has an amazing ability to write really compelling character arcs and storylines that can expand,' explained Blenkin. 'I think he's a really great writer in the sense of his ability to continually up the stakes or develop a situation. I think that's kind of just what great storytelling is made up of. You get one situation, and then it develops into this and what happens next?' 'It definitely doesn't feel like an eight-hour-long Alien movie,' said Ceesay. 'It feels like its own thing. And of course, that's scary. You don't know if that's going to land, but then when people start to tell you, 'Hey, we're enjoying this,' you go, okay, good. We're on the right track.' Finally, and with my allotted time rapidly running out, I was eager to ask Ceesay and Blenkin which episode they couldn't wait for fans to watch in the weeks ahead. And the answer was surprisingly unanimous. 'I'm interested to see how [fans] respond to episode five,' said Ceesay. 'Yeah, it's exceptionally good,' added Blenkin, also noting that 'episode eight is pretty mental.' This final word certainly got me very excited to see the conclusion of the series for myself. But with episodes rolling out weekly starting August 12 on FX and Hulu (or Disney Plus in the U.K.), we've got a little while yet until we see exactly how 'mental' things get in the closing chapter.
