The news that FX’s Alien TV show will focus on Weyland-Yutani means the project is likely to inevitably reignite a massive controversy about the franchise’s most contentious entries. FX’s Alien TV show will open up the world of the franchise, expanding its scope. Until now, the Alien movies mostly focused on isolated crews who encountered the Xenomorph, whether it was the space truckers of 1979’s original Alien or the doomed heroes of 2017’s Alien: Covenant. Although 2012’s divisive prequel Prometheus attempted to touch on bigger themes like the origins of humanity, its cast and locations remained minimal.

FX’s Alien TV show is likely to change this due to the nature of the medium. Where 2024’s Alien reboot Alien: Romulus will be a self-contained claustrophobic horror in the vein of the original movie, the purpose of an Alien TV show is to flesh out the fictional world of the series. Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley’s series has more time to explore the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in more depth, and actor Sandra Yi Sencindiver told Variety that the show would feature a lot of world-building that expands the franchise’s fictional universe. However, this could cause a problem.

FX's Alien Story Can Reinstate Alien Vs Predator

Alien Vs Predator’s Weyland-Yutani Backstory May Become Canon (Again)

The rumors that FX’s Alien series will reportedly focus on Weyland-Yutani and the invention of android life on Earth may not bode well for the show. After all, the only other Alien installments set on Earth are the infamously bad Alien Vs Predator movies. If the show revolves around the shady corporation and their knowledge of the Xenomorph, this implies that Alien Vs Predator and its sequel Alien Vs Predator: Requiem are both canon again. Unless Hawley’s show offers an alternative explanation for how the company discovers the existence of Xenomorphs, the franchise’s worst movies may become relevant again.

2004’s Alien Vs Predator was criticised for many issues, including its plodding pacing and deluge of unnecessary backstory.

Not a lot is known about Hawley’s upcoming FX Alien show, but this bodes badly for its story. 2004’s Alien Vs Predator was criticised for many issues, including its plodding pacing and deluge of unnecessary backstory. The scare-free effort over-explained the history of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in its opening act before finally revealing the Xenomorph after almost an hour of screen time. Almost all the main characters were left dead by the end, but the corporation did have definitive proof of the Xenomorph’s existence. 2007's Alien Vs Predator: Requiem then complicated this storyline further.

Since Alien Vs Predator ’s events predate those of FX’s show, it will be tough for the series to simply ignore them.

Alien Vs Predator Makes Sense If FX's Alien Is Set On Earth

Alien’s TV Show Could Build On Alien Vs Predator’s Story

Alien Vs Predator: Requiem dropped its predecessor’s connections to Weyland-Yutani, depicting Xenomorphs and Predators attacking a small American town in the mid-'00s. Although Hawley’s show might simply ignore the events of this sequel, it is hard to deny that Alien Vs Predator’s storyline would make sense for FX’s Alien show. Both the series and the movie are set on Earth and, since Alien Vs Predator’s events predate those of FX’s show, it will be tough for the series to simply ignore them. The movie also answers the question of how the corporation first encountered the Alien franchise’s Xenomorph.

Following Alien Vs Predator’s storyline could allow Hawley’s show to explain that the Weyland-Yutani corporation gained knowledge of the Xenomorphs from Charles Weyland’s doomed Antarctic mission. This would mean that the company could have been working on utilizing the Xenomorph as a bioweapon for some time before the series begins, meaning they may already have numerous Xenomorphs in storage. However, reinstating the events of Alien Vs Predator isn’t a straightforward option for the series. This raises more questions than it answers, and some are complicated canon problems that the franchise will likely struggle to unknot.

FX’s Alien show could use the backstory provided by Alien Vs Predator as an easy way to explain how Weyland-Yutani first acquired the Xenomorph.

Reinstating Alien Vs Predator Is A Problem For The Alien Series

The Alien Vs Predator Movies Complicated The Franchise’s Story

Prometheus effectively retconned the events of Alien Vs Predator when the prequel introduced Peter Weyland, a new founder and CEO of Weyland-Yutani. To make things more complicated, Alien: Covenant seemingly implied that David invented the original Xenomorph through his twisted experiments. In contrast, Alien Vs Predator’s canon says that the Xenomorphs existed long before the company and were hunted by Predators on Earth for millennia. This raises the even more complicated question of whether Predators exist within the world of FX’s Alien show.

FX’s Alien show could use the backstory provided by Alien Vs Predator as an easy way to explain how Weyland-Yutani first acquired the Xenomorph. However, this would open up a whole host of other subsequent questions that the series may struggles to answer. The chronology and canon of the franchise are more complicated than it seems at first glance, meaning there is a good chance the show should instead ignore this backstory. In doing so, FX’s Alien TV show may save itself from a lot of headaches down the line.