Apparently I overestimated/was just plain mistaken about the level of creative involvement and control that Ridley Scott has over the Alien IP, so Mea Culpa on that.
Spoilers Alien Earth (2025 Hulu show)
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It puts it at odds with Prometheus and Covenant (and ironically, probably not with the AVPs). Movies 1-4 may take place later, but they were created long before Prom/Cov, and so far I don’t believe they’ve been contradicted (or rejected by Hawley) in any way. (And if the series doesn’t ultimately contradict Prom/Cov in any significant way, then Hawley having written them off won’t even matter.)
I meant in terms of intellectual property. I previously thought Ridley Scott had creative control over the series thanks to a YouTuber I follow. But since he's been a producer on the series since Prometheus, it seems he still has a say in director selection.
The intellectual property is owned by Disney. Scott's credit on Alien Earth is as an executive producer, which in TV terms usually indicates someone who is not making actual creative decisions about the production.
That looks like something insisted upon by the books as opposed to Romulus.
And even if executive producers play a more important role, whose voice is getting heard? Here's IMDB's list of producers on Alien: Earth:
I don't think the books get to insist on anything.
| associate producer | Jessica Bail |
| co-executive producer | Michael A. Garcia |
| co-executive producer | Migizi Pensoneau |
| co-executive producer | Robert De Laurentiis |
| co-producer | Christine Lavaf |
| co-producer | Cory Faulkner |
| co-producer | Marjorie Chodorov |
| executive producer | Clayton Krueger |
| executive producer | Dana Gonzales |
| executive producer | David W. Zucker |
| executive producer | Joseph E. Iberti |
| executive producer | Ridley Scott |
| executive producer | Walter Hill |
| executive producer (showrunner) | Noah Hawley |
| line producer | Apinat 'Obb' Siricharoenjit |
| producer | Chris Lowenstein |
| producer | Kristy Reed |
| producer | Maria Melnik |
| producer | Regis Kimble |
| producer (produced by) | Darin McLeod |
| supervising producer | Bobak Esfarjani |
| supervising producer | Erin Smith |
| supervising producer | Lisa Long |
I don't think the books get to insist on anything.
What's up with all these Alien stories going backwards in time anyway? Alien Earth takes place before Alien, Romulus takes place before Aliens, Prometheus and Covenant are the prequeliest of prequels.
I get that there's no over-arching story arc of good vs evil or something that needs to progress forward, it just seems a little odd. The notion of Aliens chasing people on Earth seems like it could have slotted perfectly into a post-Resurrection timeframe.
Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm really enjoying Alien Earth so far. Now I'm a little bummed as I just realized there are only 3 episodes left.
I get that there's no over-arching story arc of good vs evil or something that needs to progress forward, it just seems a little odd. The notion of Aliens chasing people on Earth seems like it could have slotted perfectly into a post-Resurrection timeframe.
Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm really enjoying Alien Earth so far. Now I'm a little bummed as I just realized there are only 3 episodes left.
yes.
I think EPs are actually the producer who tend to take the most creative roles in a series, the showrunners and major writers, and recurring directors are almost always also credited as executive producers.
Yeah, it has seemed weird to me too. I can kind of see wanting to go back and explore the origins of the Xenomorph and the Engineer ship in Prometheus and Covenant, but there was really nothing about basic story of Romulus or Earth that requires them to be prequels.
Maybe I got it back-asswards?
My apologies to all if so.
Though a credit doesn't preclude them also having another role on the production.
SNW has like a thousand EP credits, they surely gotta be the ones who aren't day-to-day on the show. (Especially people like Rod Roddenberry.) Similar to 'legacy' credits for people who retain a credit due to a previous production, like EP Will Smith on Cobra Kai.
Maybe I got it back-asswards?
My apologies to all if so.
Though a credit doesn't preclude them also having another role on the production.
SNW has like a thousand EP credits, they surely gotta be the ones who aren't day-to-day on the show. (Especially people like Rod Roddenberry.) Similar to 'legacy' credits for people who retain a credit due to a previous production, like EP Will Smith on Cobra Kai.
I don't think you're necessarily wrong. Maybe not all the time but I've seen plenty of occasions where an exec producer credit is simply to fulfil a contractual obligation and often isn't someone who's had a major input into the film or show.
Going by Wikipedia an exec producer can range from someone who helps provide the funding for a project and/or someone with extensive hand on control of the project, to a mere vanity title.
I think the crux of it is that whilst exec producer isn't always a vanity title, if someone is given a vanity title that title tends to to be exec producer, if that makes sense.
I think the crux of it is that whilst exec producer isn't always a vanity title, if someone is given a vanity title that title tends to to be exec producer, if that makes sense.
They are both telling the same kind of story. Prometheus just looks more well made.
That might not be a contradiction. It could be that the Aliens in Alien Earth are the real deal and the ones in Romulus are more connected to the black good saga going back to Prometheus. Especially since it seems that they reverse engineered the Alien in Romulus.
I think the reverse engineering in Romulus is the best explanation, it's not perfect but it does make some sense. In tinkering with the genetic material they got from the xenomorph they effectively created an earlier iteration of the creature.
Seeing how the facehuggers work, the idea of a xeno embryo makes more sense than them pumping black goo into you anyway.
I was wrong. After reviewing the Romulus script, it seems that the film incorporated material from a 2018 book ( the same concept was used in a 1990s comic book ). Still, all we hear in the film is the name of the substance, for whatever that's worth.
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Implantation of goo aside, the stumbling block for me is that in Alien Earth Weyland-Yutani is already a thing by the 2060s at the latest.
Not necessarily, we saw that Earth was in some kind of contact with the Maginot during its mission, and given Morrow's loyalty seems to be to Yutani is it possible that when Maginot set off it was a Yutani ship but at some point during the flights they got a message advising they were now a Weyland-Yutani ship and now all Weyland-Yutani employees?
Another question for people, with regard to Teng I think I initially wondered if he were a synthetic but I'm assuming now that he was just a very fucked up human who'd become obsessed about another crew member?
Right, but that would have to have happened before the message Morrow receives about the death of his daughter, which is on W-Y letterhead and is apparently ~ 8 years into the mission. ( The math doesn't add up because it also appears to say he'll be returning in 53 years. That's why I wrote 'the 2060s' instead of a specific year. )
I'm still thinking he could be a synthetic -- going by the first film, a stealth synthetic wouldn't be out of the question. But notably we didn't get to see what color he bleeds. I guess his 'obsession' reminded me of what David was doing in Prometheus, in addition to his other mannerisms.
Ah, cool I hadn't picked up on the date of the letter, only the content. So am I right that conventional wisdom is that W-Y merged around 2099?
He could be a synthetic, or maybe the length of the trip and relative isolation tipped him over the edge (or he was always a weird stalker type!)
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