The 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien birthed a new world of Giger-esque alien horrors and amazing space-age technology that would eventually become a franchise consisting of six full-length films—four original and two prequels—eighteen short films, plus numerous comics, novels, and video game spin-offs.

The Alien franchise is set in a world quite similar to our own, though most of the films take place out in space or on the moons of Calpamos. Space travel is obviously much more advanced in the world of Alien, as is cryosleep technology and other necessities for the types of exploration and planetary settlement humans are able to achieve in the stories. However, with so much of the cinematic world focused on space, what has become of Earth?

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From its rocky composure, position as the third planet from the sun, and ability to support human life, Earth in Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise is very much the same as the Earth humans inhabit today, though there are some notable differences.

How Earth Is Different In The Alien Franchise

Alien Resurrection Alternate Ending Paris Burning

The original Alien takes place in 2122, but the prequels show glimpses of times on Earth much closer to the current modern day as well as billions of years in the past. In the timeline of the Alien world, The Engineers visited Earth sometime roughly between 4 billion and 2 million BC, leaving one of their own behind, and as his body broke down, his DNA entered the water, recombining to create life on Earth.

Fast forward billions of years of human civilization, assuming a similar history to real life, and Peter Weyland changes the face of Earth and technology by founding Weyland Corporation on October 11, 2012. Soon after, in 2015, Weyland Corp launched the first industrialized space mission to install solar panels. Weyland’s technology allows those solar panels to align and move in Earth’s orbital plane but at an axial tilt, imitating a perpetual summer solstice, earning so much renewable energy that Peter Weyland becomes an immediate billionaire.

After the success of his solar panels, Peter Weyland is able to effectively end global warming with technology of his own design, generating an atmosphere directly above the polar ice caps. Because of this, by the early 22nd century Antarctica became host to a major air traffic control station for interstellar ships, marking the beginning of space travel as being a major part of technology and civilization, something that would only progress as the natural resources of Earth would expire.

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Well into the 22nd century, the Earth in the world of Alien still held an abundance of natural resources including various minerals and natural sources of fuel. However, much the same as in our modern world, as humans utilized these resources, they dried up. As early as the late 21st century, the environment began to significantly degrade, slowed by Weyland’s stopping of global warming, but continuing through humanity’s pollution and depletion of Earth’s resources. This prompted humans to begin searching other worlds for viable resources.

Earth would remain habitable well into the 22nd century, but by the 24th century much of Earth would be essentially an arid wasteland. Any remaining inhabitants of Earth were those people who could not get work in space or on the colonies for whatever reason. This is referenced in Ron Johner’s quote in Alien: Resurrection, “Earth, man... What a s**thole".

At the end of the extended Special Edition of Alien: Resurrection, Paris, France is shown in ruins, surrounded by a desolate wasteland. The devastation may have something to do with the "Lacerta Plague", which is mentioned by Annalee Call (Winona Ryder), the synthetic aboard the Betty. However, despite its dilapidated state and reduced populations, Earth wasn’t entirely abandoned, remaining the designated home base of the USM Auriga. Additionally, references are made to the fact that there may have been some attempts to re-populate the planet’s natural ecology to some degree.

All things considered, the Earth of Ridley Scott’s Alien is extremely similar to that of the real landscape and development, with the exception that the science and technology has progressed more quickly than the current scientific advances, though they will undoubtedly progress in a similar manner. Hopefully this Earth doesn’t end up in contact with xenomorphs.

Next: How The Xenomorph Changed, From Giger To Alien Movies