When Does 'Alien: Earth' Take Place? It Sets the Stage for the 'Alien' Universe

The Alien franchise has existed for more than 45 years, but it has never been all that concerned with rigid timelines the way that something like Star Wars often is. While some of the movies in this franchise connect to one another, most of them are just about killer aliens who ravage through a group of unsuspecting humans.

Now, with Alien: Earth, the Alien franchise is coming to TV for the first time. Given the high stakes around the show, many want to know when it takes place and how it relates to the rest of the Alien stories we know and love. Here's what we know.

Alien: Earth is set in 2120, which is just two years before the events of Ridley Scott's original Alien movie. Crucially, though, the series is set on Earth, which is a place that Alien has never gone before. This means that Alien: Earth predates all of the Alien movies except for Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, which are set in 2089 and 2104, respectively, and are about the creation of the xenomorph.

Alien: Romulus, meanwhile, is set in 2142 and is therefore nestled between Alien and its sequel, Aliens, meaning that it takes place more than 20 years after the events of Alien: Earth.

For now, then, there are only three properties in this universe that take place before the events of the original movie, and Prometheus and Alien: Covenant ultimately raised nearly as many questions as they answered.

Because of when it's set, Alien: Earth is, by definition, a prequel to the original Alien. What's less clear, though, is whether it will tie in to that original movie in any explicit way or whether the connections will be merely coincidental.

We do know that the USS Nostromo, the ship where the original Alien is set, leaves Earth in 2120, although we also know that they don't leave Earth with any xenomorphs on board.

For now, then, we don't really know whether Alien: Earth has any intentions to tie into the rest of this universe, or whether it's just interested in playing with many of the ideas that this universe has long been focused on, which include the relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence and what people will do to survive.

The show also notably adds other scary creatures to its panoplay of scaries in addition to the xenomorph, an expansion to a universe that has been mostly focused on a single monster. Now that the series has premiered, we'll have to see just how tightly it hews to existing material.

Hopefully, Alien: Earth has interests that extend far beyond simply setting up the events of the original Alien. Alien: Earth should be a story in and of itself, and if its first few episodes are any indication, that appears to be what it wants to be.