Alien: The Series just added The Mandalorian star, Timothy Olyphant.
According to Deadline, the upcoming Alien spin-off from Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley will see the pair reteam for the sci-fi horror series.
Olyphant will star opposite Sydney Chandler who plays Wendy, a hybrid meta-human with the body of an adult and the brain/consciousness of a child.
Olyphant himself will play a character called Kirsh, a synth and mentor to Chandler’s Wendy. Unfortunately, there are no additional details about Olyphant’s role, but it sounds as though he’s going to play a big part in the ongoing series.
The pair are joined by Alex Lawther as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin as CEO Boy Kavalier, alongside Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, and Kit Young as Tootles.
Alien: The Series began production in July, four days after the start of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike. Filming continued for over a month without SAG-AFTRA members, using only British actors associated with the UK guild, Equity.
The upcoming FX show is set in the near future on Earth, and FX CEO John Landgraf previously offered up some details about what we can expect.
“It's the first story in the Alien franchise that takes place on Earth,” he said. “It takes place on our planet, near the end of this century we're currently in – 70-odd years from now. I hope they will feel like it's faithful to the franchise they love but also a brave and original reinvention of that franchise... Setting it on Earth is really interesting. We have to think forward about the future of the planet in terms of the environment, governance, technology and create and design a version of the planet in the future... Noah wants to do that in a distinctive and original way.”
Production is expected to resume in early 2024.
“I got some footage,” Hawley told Deadline. “Some of the first hour was shot before we had to shut down. It’s stuff to play with and edit. I’m excited to get back in there.”
Want to read more about Alien? Check out a tease of the upcoming Alien: Romulus version of the iconic xenomorph as well as where the upcoming Alien movie sits on the franchise’s timeline.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
