Alien: Earth is the newest FX and Disney+ Alien installment, and it’s the first series in the franchise. Noah Hawley took on the challenge, once again, of adapting the source material of an iconic movie into a series. Alien: Earth has so far been great, with a lot of thrilling concepts and ideas that contribute to and extend the Alien lore perfectly.
Alien: Earth is also filled with interesting characters, introducing the concept of Hybrids—people whose consciousness is uploaded into Synth bodies. The show follows the inception of Hybrids and the discovery of the Xenomorphs (alongside many other alien species), taking place two years before the 1979 movie. The characters in Alien: Earth are fascinating, and mix their humanity with the technology of the times.
10
Zoya Zaveri
Played by Richa Moorjani
As we can see in the first and fifth episodes, Zoya Zaveri (Richa Moorjani), is the executive officer of the Maginot, the ship on which Morrow (Babou Ceesay) was the only survivor after the Xenomorph attack. She appears a little more prominently in Episode 5, “In Space, No One…”, in which we see she did her best to save the ship from the alien overtaking it. It didn’t work, but a lot was already against Zaveri and her plan to keep everybody safe. She seems to have been a competent and skilled officer on the Maginot, and though we may not see her more, we can see she did her best to keep the ship’s crew safe before disaster hit.
Richa Moorjani portrays Zaveri, and she’s had a steady rise in her television career so far. Though Zaveri isn’t a big role, Moorjani is a memorable actor, and will likely appear a little more in the next few episodes of Alien: Earth, probably in a flashback. Before Alien: Earth, fans could see Moorjani in Never Have I Ever and Fargo Season 5.
9
Atom Eins
Played by Adrian Edmondson
Atom Eins (Adrian Edmondson) can be seen hovering behind and around Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), the Prodigy Corp. CEO. Eins is Kavalier’s trusted consigliere and employee of Prodigy, often supporting Kavalier in his ideas or boosting them with personal knowledge and experience. It would be nice to know more about Atom Eins, as he seems to be a fascinating and somewhat solitary figure. There’s a high chance he’s a Synth, considering his cold behavior, but people can be like that, too.
Atom Eins especially displays his coldness when delivering the news to Hermit (Alex Lawther) that his life is now basically owed to Prodigy, and if he leaves, the price will become too steep. The cold and direct delivery of such a devastating situation only makes Eins seem like he’s a “company first” kind of person, suggesting he has a personal stake in it, or may be programmed like that. Adrian Edmondson plays Atom Eins, and UK fans will know him better than anyone, since Edmondson is English and has had a lucrative career there since the 1980s. He might be familiar to people from 3 Body Problem and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
8
Boy Kavalier
Played by Samuel Blenkin
Eccentric trillionaire masterminds who become wealthy very early in life all have a similar strain on television; without falling into familiar tropes, Hawley wrote Boy Kavalier, the young Prodigy CEO, as eccentric indeed, but giving him another dimension with sociopathic tendencies and childlike curiosity. His obsession with Peter Pan is reflected a lot in how he runs Prodigy, making him as dangerous as he is clever and alluring.
The inventor of Hybrids, Boy Kavalier, is one of those tech CEOs that will be remembered for just as much good and bad. Samuel Blenkin portrays Boy Kavalier and a lot of his acting choices are pretty bold, making Kavalier a lot more believable and intriguing. We can even tell that inspiration for his character was driven from real life here and there, though it’s hard to pinpoint an exact person. Blenkin does a great job at being the antagonistic mastermind; he’s only had episodic appearances on TV so far, with Alien: Earth being the second series in which he’s part of the main cast.
7
Arthur Sylvia
Played by David Rysdahl
Arthur Sylvia (David Rysdahl) is at first just a minor character, but as he becomes more involved with the Hybrid studies, he turns into somebody more vital. He’s the leading scientist on the Hybrid implementation project, and takes care of the Hybrids by monitoring their conditions, health, and mental states. Arthur is also, as revealed in Episode 4, “Observation,” Dame Sylvia’s (Essie Davis) husband. David Rysdahl plays Arthur, and he was one of the leads in Fargo season 5.
Boy Kavalier pushes Arthur and sidelines him when it comes to decisions regarding the hybrids. However, Arthur and Dame Sylvia alike embody conscience and compassion, being scientific geniuses, but also understanding the human consequences of creating hybrids. His presence often reminds us that not everyone in a tech conglomerate is hungry for money, success, and reputation, though scientists who join for the sake of science only usually leave such corporations after a short time. There’s a chance Arthur will leave when Boy Kavalier pushes him enough, but we need him for now to provide some more humanity to the series.
6
Dame Sylvia
Played by Essie Davis
Arthur Silvia’s wife and a Prodigy employee, Dame Sylvia, is just like her husband—sympathetic, attentive, and compassionate, even if she is meant to focus on the science of the hybrid experiments more. Dame Sylvia is actually the psychiatrist for the Hybrids, making sure their transition from children to cyborgs is as painless as it can be (it can’t be, as we keep seeing in the show). She tries to speak to the Hybrids gently but has the ability to dig deep and reach the core of problems. In Episode 4, “Observation,” we notice she’s apprehensive about the Hybrids as one of them physically charges at her during a misunderstanding.
It’s possible that Dame Sylvia and her husband Arthur will become collateral damage at Prodigy, showing that their humanity isn’t welcome in a cold, corporate environment that thrives on experiments that don’t have an ethical basis. Essie Davis does a great job of making Dame Sylvia a gentle and stoic person, relying on her expertise as a doctor, and on her human intuition. Davis is an Australian actress, most known for her role as Miss Fisher in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and for her lead role in The Babadook.
5
Morrow
Played by Babou Ceesay
Morrow is fascinating for a lot of things, but when he’s in a scene, his hypnotically low and calm voice are the most important. He speaks in a way that makes the viewer focus on him, with confidence in his skills and abilities; his is a commanding presence, and that’s why Morrow has what it takes to be the Maginot’s chief security officer. Morrow is also a cyborg—a human with some Synth upgrades—which is why he has all those cool abilities, like uploading the Maginot’s data into his own brain.
In Episode 5, “In Space, No One…” we’re shown a little more about the outcome of Maginot’s journey and encounter with the Xenomorph. Since we only get cuts of it in the first episode, this time, we learn more about Morrow and why he chose to save himself over taking one for the team when the ship was under alien attack. To him, the mission is the most important, and he does whatever it takes to protect it and its outcome. He’s highly intelligent and resourceful, and for now, an antagonistic character—though leaning toward antihero-ish. Babou Ceesay plays Morrow, and he’s been a steady television presence since the 2000s, with roles in Into the Badlands, Guerrilla, and Wolfe.
4
Kirsh
Played by Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant does a great job as the emotionless Synth Kirsh in Alien: Earth. Though his name might be the biggest on the roster, we’re yet to see Olyphant take a turn at making Kirsh more relevant to the story; it’s inevitable, though, as Kirsh oversees the Hybrids’ existence completely and is Prodigy’s chief scientist. Besides, he’s also a highly intelligent synthetic capable of harboring his true intentions, which is the most special thing about him. Boy Kavalier probably met him somewhere before he became the chief scientist, rather than creating him.
Kirsh obviously has some hidden motives, as he listens in on the conversations the hybrids have, but whether Boy Kavalier knows this or not is a whole other deal. If we assume he doesn’t, Kirsh is bound to become Prodigy’s biggest nightmare; if he does, then Kirsh might turn on him one day and become more attached to the hybrids. Olyphant is familiar to FX fans, as he was a regular during his time on Justified and Fargo. It seems several of the Alien: Earth cast members were in Fargo in one capacity or the other, showcasing Hawley’s affinity for working with the same actors.
3
Joe Hermit
Played by Alex Lawther
Before Wendy (Sydney Chandler) was a Hybrid, she was a child called Marcy, and Marcy has an older brother, Hermit, with whom she watched Ice Age a lot as a child. Marcy tracks Hermit’s whereabouts and watches his life until they meet again. However, for Hermit, it’s a situation without a safety net, as he’s dragged into Prodigy through a complex surgery and the idea that this cyborg must be the new body of his kid sister, Marcy. Hermit is a field medic and soldier for the Prodigy Corporation, and he helps his colleagues and fellow soldiers, showing some indication of being a sympathetic and capable person.
Hermit is also protective and cautious, and being one of the only humans in this ordeal helps balance the corporate coldness surrounding him, both for the characters in the show and the viewers. Alex Lawther is the ideal choice to play him, portraying the jittery but just medic in a charming way that makes us all root for him. We hope there is a happy ending for Hermit here, though the series is just warming up with its main plots. Lawther may be familiar to people from Black Mirror‘s Season 3, Episode 3, “Shut Up and Dance.”
2
The Lost Boys (Slightly, Curly, Nibs, Smee, and Tootles)
Played by Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Jonathan Ajayi, and Kit Young
The Lost Boys are the group of hybrids that came after Wendy; she personally oversaw their transformation, or the “upload” of their child consciousness into the bodies of young adult cyborgs. The Lost Boys had real names when they were just human kids, but as Hybrids, they are known as Slightly, Curly, Nibs, Smee, and Tootles (Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Jonathan Ajayi, and Kit Young, respectively). They all appear in some capacity in the show, with Slightly having a bit of a larger role since Morrow planted a listening device onto him.
While they, as Hybrids, are exceptional, their mentality is obviously still that of children, and they’ve suddenly been forced to live in adult bodies, among adults, in a corporate and cold setting, having to just forget their childhoods. The actors portraying them do an amazing job of embodying childlike qualities, from play pretend, speaking tone, mannerisms, and jokes, standing out in every scene. This experiment will, no doubt, return to bite Boy Kavalier on the hand, since he tried to cheat Death, and that never works out. Hopefully, though, The Lost Boys will get their justice and come out on top as incredible Hybrids who understand their power, though the journey to that will be rocky, at least.
1
Wendy
Played by Sydney Chandler
Wendy is the heart of Alien: Earth. She’s torn between being a human in her essence and being a Hybrid on the outside; she is still a child, but shows higher levels of maturity than The Lost Boys, and is often considered their leader. Wendy is curious, inquisitive, observant, and attentive—her Hybrid abilities are likely just an extension of her already brilliant mind. Though she is still a child mentally, she’s able to make decisions that help her stay herself; when she begins hearing the Xenomorph language, she faces it bravely and decides that she wants to understand them better.
Wendy’s path probably won’t be neat—she has to carry a lot already, and she’s been a Hybrid a lot less than she was a child. Hermit is there to remind her of her humanity, while Boy Kavalier pushes her synthetic buttons. It’s up to Wendy to decide whether she prefers one or the other, or whether she’s capable enough to forge a unique path. Sydney Chandler is the breakout star of the show, and she hasn’t been acting for too long, but her portrayal of Wendy feels experienced and lived in; she’s bound to be a bigger actor soon.
