Alien TV series adds a Mandalorian fan favourite to its cast

Disney and FX's upcoming Alien TV series has added The Mandalorian's Timothy Olyphant to its cast.

Earlier this week, Deadline reported that Olyphant is joining the Noah Hawley Alien series in a major role, joining Don't Worry Darling's Sydney Chandler in the prequel show. Currently there's no word on what we can expect Olyphant's character to be like, though according to Deadline he'll be playing a character called Kirsh, a synth, who takes the role of a mentor towards Chandler's character Wendy, a "hybrid, a meta-human who has the brain and consciousness of a child but the body of an adult."

The series is set before the original Alien film, and is also set to be the first time the franchise has actually been set on earth, supposedly 70 years from our future. It started shooting earlier this year in July, though without any SAG-AFTRA members like Chandler. Deadline also reported that filming is likely to resume in early 2024, now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, with Hawley sharing that a January or February start date is being considered.

This isn't the first time Olyphant has worked with Hawley, as the Mandalorian and Santa Clarita Diet actor also appeared in the fourth season of Fargo, which Hawley served as a writer for. The Alien show's cast also includes Alex Lawther (Andor) as a soldier named CJ, Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) as Boy Kavalier, a CEO, Essie Davis (The Babadook) as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as Slightly and Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) as Tootles.

The untitled Alien prequel series isn't the only project in the franchise in the works at the moment. 20th Century Studios is also developing Alien: Romulus, a film set between the events of the original Alien and 1986's Aliens, due out August 16 next year. Not much is known about the film just yet, but it has Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead 2013) attached as director, and Priscilla's Cailee Spaeny in a lead role.