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Noah Hawley Talks FX Alien Series With The Deadline Podcast

FX Alien series showrunner Noah Hawley made a recent appearance on The Deadline Podcast where he talked his other series Fargo, and more interestingly for our community, his upcoming Alien series. Confirming that his own directorial work on the series has been completed and that there’s still another month of filming left and the show will be wrapping in July, Noah re-iterated a number of elements he has spoken about previously.

Hawley reaffirmed that despite his role as producer, Sir Ridley Scott remained hands-off during the development of the series and that the series would retain the retrofuturism of the original Alien films rather than the more polished look of the prequels.

Discussing the longevity of the series, which FX chairman John Landgraf previously commented on saying that the series “designed to be an ongoing series,” Hawley told Deadline that FX was telling him “maybe don’t do two things at once on this show…their hope is to put a season two as close to season one as possible.”

 Noah Hawley Talks FX Alien Series With The Deadline Podcast

At the moment, it’s generally Alien Romulus we’re hearing about as the gears of the marketing machine are turning ahead of the films release in August. But what, if any, connections exist between Romulus and Noah Hawley’s series? According to Hawley, none that would be intentional on his or Fede Alvarez’s part. Both projects are being managed by different parts of 20th Century Studios and both creatives have been left to work on their respective projects.

And once again, Hawley reaffirmed his decision to have the Aliens have a much longer history than the direction Sir Ridley Scott had been taking with the Alien prequels. Rather than the David created bioweapons that were made “ten minutes ago,” the Xenomorph’s featured in FX’s Alien series will be the result of millions of years of evolution.

If you want to listen to the podcast in its entirety, head on over to Deadline and give Noah a listen! Special thanks to Nightmare Asylum for the link and for summarizing the salient points!

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  1. PortugueseXeno
    Quote from: Acid_Reign161 on Jun 11, 2024, 10:23:35 AMI mean they came out and said that the TV show would disregard David being the creator in favour of the alien being ancient... so I'm not so sure the Weyland Yutani logo on the ship is a concept art error... it could well be that Prometheus and Covenant simply don't exist/didn't happen full stop, and in the tv show's timeline, WeYu have been a merged corporation a lot longer.

    What I do find interesting is the fact they want to disregard Ridley's prequels to focus on androids... when Ridley's prequels heavily focused on androids. 🤣

    We all know this is going to end with a quarantined Prodigy City being wiped off the map like Raccoon City to explain why nobody knows about the alien. 😂 Instead of nuking the city, the protagonists are going to detonate the engines of the crashed ship. (Calling it).

    Yeah, Prodigy City will have to be erased from existence in order to not open up some plot holes, but i do like your idea.

    It's way better than simply nuking it and could potentially lead to some interesting sequences.

    A team has to go on a "suicide mission??" into the depths of the city (and Hive infested sewers) in order to ignite the engines in a last resort.

    Also, i don't think Hawley has problems with Androids/AI, but it's more along the lines of him not wanting the xenomorphs to be man/AI made, so it's much easier for him to tell his story (whatever it is), if he simply doesn't connect it to the prequels.
  2. Nightmare Asylum
    (For the record I don't want time travel I just know that baked into that message of mine there's enough going on to piss off like seven different members of the forum and all for different reasons ;))
  3. GrimmVision
    While I like the implications of time/inter-dimension travel as part of the Engineer/Space Jockey arsenal, I don't necessarily know that I ever wanna see it play out on screen. Or if it does, it should be utilized by the Engineers/Space Jockeys and only them. But even then, it needs to be executed excruciatingly well.
  4. Nightmare Asylum
    Quote from: GrimmVision on Jun 11, 2024, 10:33:54 AM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jun 11, 2024, 07:32:20 AMLegion is another franchise that has an inbuilt excuse for diverging continuities thanks to the comic and now live action multiverses. It just works for the topic and feels natural. I wouldn't be able to say the same about Alien.

    Is there actually any validity to the theory of time travel, specifically related to the Engineer ships, in what is supposed to be the follow-up to Covenant? I know there was something in Fire and Stone and Life and Death, but were the films going to do that? Or is that a fan-conjured explanation?

    Quote from: Nightmare Asylum on Mar 30, 2024, 10:58:53 PM
    Quote from: E. Shaw on Mar 30, 2024, 10:57:00 PM"alternate reality."

    We'll get one of those, and through it David will travel back in time and get stranded on LV-426, that way the Derelict and its cargo can be ancient while still retaining David as the one in the chair. Win, win for everyone! ;)

    :-*
  5. GrimmVision
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jun 11, 2024, 07:32:20 AMLegion is another franchise that has an inbuilt excuse for diverging continuities thanks to the comic and now live action multiverses. It just works for the topic and feels natural. I wouldn't be able to say the same about Alien.

    Is there actually any validity to the theory of time travel, specifically related to the Engineer ships, in what is supposed to be the follow-up to Covenant? I know there was something in Fire and Stone and Life and Death, but were the films going to do that? Or is that a fan-conjured explanation?
  6. Acid_Reign161
    I mean they came out and said that the TV show would disregard David being the creator in favour of the alien being ancient... so I'm not so sure the Weyland Yutani logo on the ship is a concept art error... it could well be that Prometheus and Covenant simply don't exist/didn't happen full stop, and in the tv show's timeline, WeYu have been a merged corporation a lot longer.

    What I do find interesting is the fact they want to disregard Ridley's prequels to focus on androids... when Ridley's prequels heavily focused on androids. 🤣

    We all know this is going to end with a quarantined Prodigy City being wiped off the map like Raccoon City to explain why nobody knows about the alien. 😂 Instead of nuking the city, the protagonists are going to detonate the engines of the crashed ship. (Calling it).
  7. SiL
    If his approach wasn't so AI Peter Pan centric and felt like something that actually belonged in the Alien franchise, I'd say his dismissive attitude towards the the prequels was based.

    Instead it sounds like someone with an awful idea saying another guy's awful idea was bad and here's his crappy take to fix it.

    See also Neill Blomkamp.
  8. skhellter
    not a fan of the george lucas prequel comparisons that Noah dropped in that interview.

    Arrogance isn't something that you should carry when making stories in big franchises, regardless of how you feel about the movies themselves. 

    It all feels a bit JJ Abrams at the moment.
    (that arrogance didn't help Shane Black either.. i remember his comments on Alien Resurrection at the same time that he was making something undisputedly worse)

    Ridley being there for Fede when he was making his movie (and helping with production/promotion) while being very hands off with the tv show...
    kind of says a lot...

    i wouldn't be surprised if Ridley just didn't promote the show.
  9. Corporal Hicks
    Legion is another franchise that has an inbuilt excuse for diverging continuities thanks to the comic and now live action multiverses. It just works for the topic and feels natural. I wouldn't be able to say the same about Alien.
  10. Immortan Jonesy
    It might be not everyone's cup of tea, but Legion was an outstanding take of X-Men universe. Fargo is pretty good too. Now, I'm not trying to say his series is going to be flawless, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
  11. RIP77
    FX and Fox wanted Legion to be the same universe but they couldn't.
    Noah H wanted it to be the same universe and months after filming he said that it was no longer the same universe.
    Fox order. They seeing that I didn't fit into the universe


    Fox will decide again with i Alien series does not decide Noah H.

     
    There is a lot of change it will be independent like Legion.
    There are few or typical errors it will be the same universe.

    To be a series and not a movie, Fox accepted that Legion was independent.


    Romulus is connected to the prequels. In cinema everything is the same universe.
    We'll see about the Alien series... But let's remember the president of Fx told Noah to reinvent Alien...although he didn't say it literally on creature  but  in new style cinematografic/genre like Legion compared X-MEn movies.
    It's like giving fire to a pyromaniac (Noah H ).
  12. Corporal Hicks
    I'm not really sure how I feel about this, especially given how much I've come to dislike the topic of canon and continuity. One of the reasons I disliked the idea of Blomkamp's Alien 3.2 was how much I wasn't keen on the idea of alternate cinematic continuities. It didn't have the concept built in like something like Terminator does.

    I know the Expanded Universe has done it multiple times, but I dunno, just seemed off doing it with cinematic/live action and feels out of place to me. I'd rather this just retcon the David/Alien thing.
  13. Neila
    It looks like right from the start that Hawley is doing his own thing here, which will most likely lead to Alien 1.
    A plausible explanation as to why no one knew about the aliens remains to be seen.
    It's probably the first time on a cinematic level that a chapter (in this case Scott's prequels) is completely ignored.
    It's not clear whether Scott would have included the follow-up films after Alien 1 in his originally planned prequel trilogy, but even after Covenant these may still exist.
    I heard that Alien Romulus doesn't ignore the prequels. (I haven't watched the teaser or the trailer and I'm still going strong :))
    I always prefer a somewhat understandable cinematic continuity.
    It's up to Disney / Fox to allow something here or not.
    But since it's ultimately mainly about profit and not about reconciling the fans, they will probably give Hawley a free hand. He will be happy to put his own stamp on something as iconic as the alien franchise.
    Since the revelation of Blomkamp's ideas, one should be very,very careful.

    Hawley's work can be good, but he can also ruin a lot.

  14. Nightmare Asylum
    Quote from: Mr. Joe on Jun 08, 2024, 12:01:46 PM"Though, in the concept art it is a WY ship that crashes into Prodigy City"
    Alien series action 2094,  WY Corporation years active 2099 - 2352   


    This is one of the things that confuses me, timeline wise. Not sure if it's just an oversight in the concept art that will be remedied in the series proper, or if the show really does intend to steamroll over the worldbuilding elements of the prequel films re: Weyland Industries/Weyland-Yutani in addition to retconning the David as creator angle.

    Only time will tell!
  15. Mr. Joe
    FX Alien series Alien prequel  :(   Season two  :o
    "Though, in the concept art it is a WY ship that crashes into Prodigy City"
    Alien series action 2094,  WY Corporation years active 2099 - 2352   
  16. SiL
    I really wish they'd just come out and say the TV show is its own thing and set everything to rest.

    Just say it's not part of the film series and go for f**king broke.
  17. The Cruentus
    Quote from: marrerom on Jun 07, 2024, 06:27:47 PMMan, I just can't fathom what Fox and Hawley are thinking when it comes to this. If Fox wants to expand the Alien franchise with a new movie and TV show, then why wouldn't they take care to make sure the creatives (Hawkey & Alverez) are working in concert with each other so that the products have synergy? I mean, what is the benefit of have 2 new Alien projects that contradict each other? It's bad for the long-term health of the franchise because the continuity contradictions will confuse newcomers and split existing fans.

    I can understand that Hawley wants to tell a story about "humanity being trapped between a parasitic past and a murderous AI future", but what is the point if his story doesn't even fit into the overall continuity of the films? Just so it can sit in the corner with the AvP films? 

    This is not rocket science. Fox should be taking the utmost care in coordinating with ALL of their showrunners, directors, and writers to ensure that any new Alien related media is sharing the same continuity, which would enhance the experience for the audience, similar to how the MCU handles its tv shows and films.



    Fox has never been the best at handling canon/continuity to be honest.
  18. GrimmVision
    I really want to hear Hawley talk about Alien and why he likes it and what turned him on to this project. I'd like to know his motives and his history with the franchise, especially if he is indeed deciding to break lore by putting his series out into the universe.
  19. Yuppers
    Fede must definitely have a thesis.
    Alien finds humans at the wills of procreation and degenerating from that an alien that destroys life.
    Aliens finds themselves in a self sustaining state and creates only to reproduce hense all the references to ants/bees and hives and such.
  20. David Weyland
    Unfortunately I think it boils down to this:

    -Hey Ridley, don't like your prequels so I'm redefining the origin story

    -Um ok, good luck with that.....Hey Fede, what you up to?

  21. Nightmare Asylum
    They could have synergy, we don't know yet that they don't – if they do, though, it would have been coordinated by folks above Noah and Fede at FX and 20th rather than the filmmakers themselves, however.

    As for why the studio might potentially put out two projects that don't synergize, I'd imagine they probably (rightfully) deemed each creator's unique vision to be more valid than a forced interconnected continuity, especially when over the last couple years we've seen the Marvel "it's all connected and you need to watch every movie/show to understand the next one" bubble really beginning to burst and overwhelm the audience.
  22. marrerom
    Man, I just can't fathom what Fox and Hawley are thinking when it comes to this. If Fox wants to expand the Alien franchise with a new movie and TV show, then why wouldn't they take care to make sure the creatives (Hawkey & Alverez) are working in concert with each other so that the products have synergy? I mean, what is the benefit of have 2 new Alien projects that contradict each other? It's bad for the long-term health of the franchise because the continuity contradictions will confuse newcomers and split existing fans.

    I can understand that Hawley wants to tell a story about "humanity being trapped between a parasitic past and a murderous AI future", but what is the point if his story doesn't even fit into the overall continuity of the films? Just so it can sit in the corner with the AvP films? 

    This is not rocket science. Fox should be taking the utmost care in coordinating with ALL of their showrunners, directors, and writers to ensure that any new Alien related media is sharing the same continuity, which would enhance the experience for the audience, similar to how the MCU handles its tv shows and films.

  23. Mr. Joe
    Alien prequels after Covenant  :(   
    "Though in the concept art it is a WY ship that crashes into Prodigy City"
    FX Alien series action in 2094, Weyland-Yutani Corporation Years active: 2099 - 2352.
    1 Weyland Corporation ship.
    2 Yutani Corporation ship
    3 Extraterrestrial  ship
       
  24. Nightmare Asylum
    Quote from: GrimmVision on Jun 07, 2024, 04:56:08 PMI doubt the tv series would feature the Pathogen to any degree with Hawley's comments.

    I'm fine with this series explaining away David as the creator because that's still not a 100% confirmed aspect of the prequels given David is the unreliable narrator. I will, however, be bummed with the tv series breaking the established lore timeline of the prequels. If it ends up that Weyland-Yutani is established at any other time other than between 2093 and 2104 or if it outright negates the existence of Peter Weyland, then that, not David creating the Aliens, is what would officially nullify the prequel film events in this tv series.

    The prequels would still exist within the realm of the films.

    Yeah, until something along those lines happens, I'm still inclined to see this as part of the timeline (with some retcons in place to make it so), rather than the start of a new timeline.
  25. GrimmVision
    I doubt the tv series would feature the Pathogen to any degree with Hawley's comments.

    I'm fine with this series explaining away David as the creator because that's still not a 100% confirmed aspect of the prequels given David is the unreliable narrator. I will, however, be bummed with the tv series breaking the established lore timeline of the prequels. If it ends up that Weyland-Yutani is established at any other time other than between 2093 and 2104 or if it outright negates the existence of Peter Weyland, then that, not David creating the Aliens, is what would officially nullify the prequel film events in this tv series.

    The prequels would still exist within the realm of the films.
  26. solace97
    I think AVP can clearly exist and be done right they just totally botched the films they tried to make, but this was also during the era of Freddy vs Jason and resident evil so I can't blame them too much they were trying to follow a trend instead of respecting the franchises and combining their best elements. Still got some interesting concepts from them though.
  27. The Cruentus
    Quote from: Neila on Jun 07, 2024, 08:08:02 AMRealistically, the series certainly won't waste any time trying to figure out how to keep a few proponents of the prequels happy.
    Too many construction sites would open up here.

    but I personally would have liked a way in which everything could be taken into account somehow.

    If the series didn't accept David as the creator of the aliens then there would certainly have been several ways to still accept Covenant as canon and possibly portray David as a liar.
    He may have just "stolen" the blueprint for the xenos from the Egineers.
    (Wasn't there something similar in the novel for Covenant? I'm not sure)
    However, if the TV series also redefines the space jockeys, it will of course be difficult to let Covenant and Prometheus exist.
    Even then, there are still small possibilities that have already been developed very creatively here in the forum.

    Of course the haters of the prequels will say: "Forget the bullshit and make something new out of it" but I would hope that a relatively plausible solution would be sought so that nothing is ignored. (Except the AvPs of course)
    The cinematic Alien universe has so far been relatively free of the ultimate solution of ignoring.
    Stand by what you have allowed and make the best of it.

    Let me remind you of Blombkamp's (shitty) idea. There are still comments in other general film forums today mourning Alien 5.
    But they don't know half as much as we do (thanks Mike).
    We don't really know what Hawley plans to do with this and a lot could go wrong.
    Of course I hope for the best.



    I would rather the prequels be completely retconned honestly, even if the series makes it so the Aliens are ancient and David is wrong. As long as the prequels are canon, so is that damn black goo macguffin and so is the fact that humans are mere creations. Its not just David that is the problem with prequels, its the black goo and the engineers too.

    When you watch the first Alien movie, its down to earth. Humans are just humans, not a product of another race. The Aliens are a mystery that was stored/being used by another race with no explicit signs of them being artificial or created (they could have just been found by the Jockies) and of course, no magic black  goo.

    My opinion anyway.  :P
  28. Neila
    Realistically, the series certainly won't waste any time trying to figure out how to keep a few proponents of the prequels happy.
    Too many construction sites would open up here.

    but I personally would have liked a way in which everything could be taken into account somehow.

    If the series didn't accept David as the creator of the aliens then there would certainly have been several ways to still accept Covenant as canon and possibly portray David as a liar.
    He may have just "stolen" the blueprint for the xenos from the Egineers.
    (Wasn't there something similar in the novel for Covenant? I'm not sure)
    However, if the TV series also redefines the space jockeys, it will of course be difficult to let Covenant and Prometheus exist.
    Even then, there are still small possibilities that have already been developed very creatively here in the forum.

    Of course the haters of the prequels will say: "Forget the bullshit and make something new out of it" but I would hope that a relatively plausible solution would be sought so that nothing is ignored. (Except the AvPs of course)
    The cinematic Alien universe has so far been relatively free of the ultimate solution of ignoring.
    Stand by what you have allowed and make the best of it.

    Let me remind you of Blombkamp's (shitty) idea. There are still comments in other general film forums today mourning Alien 5.
    But they don't know half as much as we do (thanks Mike).
    We don't really know what Hawley plans to do with this and a lot could go wrong.
    Of course I hope for the best.

  29. TheDerelict
    Quote from: Acid_Reign161 on Jun 06, 2024, 06:31:19 PMI'm down with that either way tbh;

    Continuity 1: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3

    Continuity 2: Prometheus, Alien Covenant, Alien, Alien Isolation, Alien Romulus, Aliens, Alien 3

    Continuity 3: TV show, Alien, Alien Isolation, Aliens, Alien 3

    Tack Resurrection onto any of them if you please.

    That'd work for me, it doesn't all have to fit together.

    I will have the continuity 2 please, with a side order of continuity 3.

    And does that come with egg morphing?
    It does, great, I will have one of those as well please mate.
  30. [cancerblack]
    Quote from: Nightmare Asylum on Jun 06, 2024, 07:19:03 PMI'm fine with a broken/separate/retconned/whatever continuity, myself, so long as the individual thing I'm watching is good. My enjoyment of one entry doesn't really have to be tied down to its relation (or lack thereof) to another.

    Mostly, I just hope this thing is good... and, if it does have to retcon/disengage from existing material that I find to be interesting (the prequels), then I hope it at least has something interesting of its own up its sleeve to compensate.

    Tone is a lot more important to me than continuity, and tone is frankly what I worry about with this project.
  31. Nightmare Asylum
    I'm fine with a broken/separate/retconned/whatever continuity, myself, so long as the individual thing I'm watching is good. My enjoyment of one entry doesn't really have to be tied down to its relation (or lack thereof) to another.

    Mostly, I just hope this thing is good... and, if it does have to retcon/disengage from existing material that I find to be interesting (the prequels), then I hope it at least has something interesting of its own up its sleeve to compensate.
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