I think the Alien franchise would lend itself well to a TV series.

[-Sentinel-]

Let's be honest here, all Alien movies made after the first two are lackluster to some extent. The franchise, much like Jurassic Park, is largely sustained by its past glory and is starting to run low on goodwill. On the other hand, we've seen franchises stumble on the big screen but really kill it on the small screen (recent DC movies vs. DC animation, Rise of the Skywalker vs. The Mandalorian). These days, I have more faith in TV series than movies when it comes to storytelling.

I think Alien should leave the big screen (especially in these times of pandemic) and go for a TV series with a mid-range budget. There's a vast world to explore. I envision short, stand-alone seasons (5-8 tightly-plotted 60-minute episodes), with each season focusing on a different group of people inhabiting the Alien-verse: e.g. a group of asteroid miners, a Weyland-Yutani research facility, a crew of pirates/salvagers, etc. Stick to the Alien formula: female protagonist, androids who may or may not be evil, anti-corporate themes, and humans who are as much of a threat as the alien.

A TV series is less of an investment than a movie, tends to be less bound to a singular creator's vision (which is often a hit-or-miss thing), and allows you to correct course more easily. Plus, there aren't enough sci-fi horror TV series out there, IMO.

[dancrilis]

These days, I have more faith in TV series than movies when it comes to storytelling. Let's be honest here, all Alien movies made after the first two are lackluster to some extent. The franchise, much like Jurassic Park, is largely sustained by its past glory and is starting to run low on goodwill. On the other hand, we've seen franchises stumble on the big screen but really kill it on the small screen (recent DC movies vs. DC animation, Rise of the Skywalker vs. The Mandalorian).

I think Alien should leave the big screen (especially in these times of pandemic) and go for a TV series with a mid-range budget. There's a vast world to explore. I envision short, stand-alone seasons (5-8 tightly-plotted 60-minute episodes), with each season focusing on a different group of people inhabiting the Alien-verse: e.g. a group of asteroid miners, a Weyland-Yutani research facility, a crew of pirates/salvagers, etc. Stick to the Alien formula: female protagonist, androids who may or may not be evil, anti-corporate themes, and humans who are as much of a threat as the alien.

A TV series is less of an investment than a movie, is often less bound to a singular creator's vision (which is often a hit-or-miss thing), and allows you to correct course more easily. Plus, there aren't enough sci-fi horror TV series out there, IMO.

I could see it working for a single season maybe - but by season three I think I would be thinking "why are there Aliens all over the place, and has nobody figured out who to deal with them yet - they are basically large vermin", on the other hand you could likely set a movie in the Alien universe and just not actually have any aliens show up - the setting itself seems fairly interesting.

[Anonymouswizard]

Side note: I actually liked Prometheus until it started linking itself too heavily to the xenomorphs, and disliked Alien: Covenant because it killed off the Prometheus plot threads I was most interested in for a story that didn't make a whole lot of sense when you remembered the original film.

But honestly, I'm fine with leaving the Alien franchise as it is. It has two great films, a film I personally enjoyed, and three bad films, so it's just about more hit than miss at this point. There's not really a lot left to explore that really differentiates itself from other SF (or SFH) franchises, the non xenomorph plot Prometheus set up was, as I said, jettisoned and replaced with a much less interesting setup. Possibly the most you could do is something based around archaeologists looking into the Space Jockeys, but that's unlikely to feel very satisfying now.

I'm not sure I'd watch an Alien associated TV series at this point. If I want to watch something Alien related it'll likely be Alien or Aliens, and each film stands perfectly fine as it is with neither them needing any sort of continuation.

[Psyren]

I wouldn't mind a movie or limited series based on Alien Isolation, a fantastic game starring Amanda Ripley (Ellen's daughter). It fits into canon pretty seamlessly, and the game has a cliffhanger ending that a series could pick up and continue.

[Tvtyrant]

Let's be honest here, all Alien movies made after the first two are lackluster to some extent. The franchise, much like Jurassic Park, is largely sustained by its past glory and is starting to run low on goodwill. On the other hand, we've seen franchises stumble on the big screen but really kill it on the small screen (recent DC movies vs. DC animation, Rise of the Skywalker vs. The Mandalorian). These days, I have more faith in TV series than movies when it comes to storytelling.

I think Alien should leave the big screen (especially in these times of pandemic) and go for a TV series with a mid-range budget. There's a vast world to explore. I envision short, stand-alone seasons (5-8 tightly-plotted 60-minute episodes), with each season focusing on a different group of people inhabiting the Alien-verse: e.g. a group of asteroid miners, a Weyland-Yutani research facility, a crew of pirates/salvagers, etc. Stick to the Alien formula: female protagonist, androids who may or may not be evil, anti-corporate themes, and humans who are as much of a threat as the alien.

A TV series is less of an investment than a movie, tends to be less bound to a singular creator's vision (which is often a hit-or-miss thing), and allows you to correct course more easily. Plus, there aren't enough sci-fi horror TV series out there, IMO.

The Alien comic books had a plot about the Xenomorphs destroying Earth, and then other aliens using a virus to wipe them out and colonize the planet. I believe it was the inspiration for the Tarsonis plot in Starcraft, it had psy emitters to draw Xenomorphs and everything.

Anyway, that plot line could be fun in a Walking Dead style plot. You get the heroes in space trying to find a way to wipe out the xenomorphs, and survivors on the planet trying not to die.

[-Sentinel-]

I could see it working for a single season maybe - but by season three I think I would be thinking "why are there Aliens all over the place, and has nobody figured out who to deal with them yet - they are basically large vermin"

Fair. But even if each season is a stand-alone, there can be a logical progression from one to the other, so that aliens are never a random occurrence except in the first season. You could even have one or two recurring characters (such as a ruthless Weyland-Yutani executive).

• Season 1: Fairly standard plot. Some poor sods (planetary explorers, maybe) find themselves with an alien on their ship after landing on a planet.
• Season 2: A group of salvagers explores the previous group's now-derelict spaceship and are picked off one by one by aliens. One or two survivors make it out.
• Season 3: Weyland-Yutani, having caught wind of the aliens found on the spaceship, have captured a few specimens and are working on weaponizing them. The specimens break containment and ravage the research facility.
• Season 4: After some costly mistakes, Weyland-Yutani has managed to keep aliens under control and breed them. When their miners on an asteroid colony go on strike for better conditions, Weyland releases a specimen to quell the rebellion without getting their own hands dirty.
• Season 5: The protagonist of this season, a journalist, has suspicions about Weyland. When she starts sniffing too close, Weyland decides to urgently decommission a secret facility located in an urban area and move it somewhere safer and more out-of-the-way. The move results in a very public disaster, which the journalist extensively documents. Weyland's involvement with aliens is revealed to all.
• Season 6: Weyland is gone (as per the backstory of Alien Resurrection). Now a more amateurish faction has taken over in trying to weaponize the alien. Predictably, it does not go well.

on the other hand you could likely set a movie in the Alien universe and just not actually have any aliens show up - the setting itself seems fairly interesting.

True! I guess we could go for a sort of space-cyberpunk story.

I wouldn't mind a movie or limited series based on Alien Isolation, a fantastic game starring Amanda Ripley (Ellen's daughter). It fits into canon pretty seamlessly, and the game has a cliffhanger ending that a series could pick up and continue.

Just started playing this! In fact that's why I'm thinking about Alien these days.

I also recommend the novel Alien: The Cold Forge, by Alex White.

[Eldan]

I could see it working for a single season maybe - but by season three I think I would be thinking "why are there Aliens all over the place, and has nobody figured out who to deal with them yet - they are basically large vermin", on the other hand you could likely set a movie in the Alien universe and just not actually have any aliens show up - the setting itself seems fairly interesting.

You know, I always figured, that the way to make more Alien movies would be to just stop using the Giger Xenomorph. Now, some people may want to hang me for this, but I think Prometheus had the right idea? Just... went about it completely the wrong way?

Explore big, terrifying universe, where overwhelmed spaceship crews of normal Joes (not scientists, ike in Prometheus. Trucker types, like in Alien) encounter the terrifying unknown.

The Alien, I think, works best as a one-off thing. It's terrifying for a small crew, it's mostly a pest, a big swarm can beat the machoness out of some unprepared marines, but in the end, it's not interesting enough for a long-term story.

So, ditch it. Have Weyland-Yutani decide that this is a stupid idea, burn all their samples and let them find something new and alien they can be ruthlessly corporationist about.

[tyckspoon]

So, ditch it. Have Weyland-Yutani decide that this is a stupid idea, burn all their samples and let them find something new and alien they can be ruthlessly corporationist about.

"Your job today is to escort this vicious murder machine to this other planet that none of our exploration teams have ever returned from. Release it and document what kills it. Hopefully it'll solve one or the other of our problems."


(... I'm pretty sure this the plot outline of at least one Futurama episode, now that I think about it.)

[Tyrant]

You know, I always figured, that the way to make more Alien movies would be to just stop using the Giger Xenomorph. Now, some people may want to hang me for this, but I think Prometheus had the right idea? Just... went about it completely the wrong way?

Explore big, terrifying universe, where overwhelmed spaceship crews of normal Joes (not scientists, ike in Prometheus. Trucker types, like in Alien) encounter the terrifying unknown.

The Alien, I think, works best as a one-off thing. It's terrifying for a small crew, it's mostly a pest, a big swarm can beat the machoness out of some unprepared marines, but in the end, it's not interesting enough for a long-term story.

So, ditch it. Have Weyland-Yutani decide that this is a stupid idea, burn all their samples and let them find something new and alien they can be ruthlessly corporationist about.

I agree that I would like to see some exploration of the rest of the Alien universe. There are interesting things already. Even just the androids could be explored. The series has already established that alien life is enough of a thing that people aren't freaked out by it. So it stands to reason they have encountered other signs of alien life (or actual alien life). Let's see some of that.

But, I wouldn't ditch the Xenomorph. It just needs to be used a lot more conservatively. Say you have a crew find an alien city. They explore it only to find that the city is dead. As they look further into it they eventually come across the remains of the Xenomorph hive that destroyed the city. But, it turns out they did so 1,000 years ago and now they too are dead and gone. We, the audience, knows what happened. But the characters have no idea. If it's a series, save a live Xenomorph for a season finale or maybe even a later season after they've encountered a few sets of ruins like this. Build towards it (and use it sparingly if you decide to use it), while sticking with your larger formula of showing us more of the Alien universe.

My question is, do you embrace the comic idea of merging the Alien universe with the Predator universe? It's all owned by Disney now and they have two movies to build on so I could see it going that way to revitalize both franchises. If so, the Predator should also be used quite sparingly.

[Dire_Flumph]

I don't know, you could make a good Aliens TV series, but it would have to have something going for it besides just the Xenomorphs. The problem is that they just aren't *alien* anymore. As viewers we know too much about them, so there's no real fear after seeing someone get hit by a facehugger. We just watch the cast stumble around not knowing what to do while we mark time waiting for the chestburster.

Alien: Isolation worked because although we knew a lot more about the creature than Amanda did, it didn't really help us as players at all when all she has access to is civilian grade weaponry. The horror was in being hunted by something we knew we couldn't fight.

Spoiler: As well when....*spoiler*

Show

We found out it was really Aliens:Isolation

[Kitten Champion]

I think Alien: Isolation worked because it was the most logical format for the material it was adapting. Which feels like a silly point, but how many Alien FPSs are there? Then there was that Alien Contra-esque game, and who could forget that Beat'em'up Capcom made. In any case, you're not supposed to kill Xenomorphs like they're Zerglings as it's at complete odds with what makes Alien what it is, but games never got that memo.

That said, Isolation was well made beyond the novelty of its existence... but I'd question the logic of adapting it when you'll just have something we've seen before but now without the immersion and sense of agency.

Still, as to a possible show, having more time to pace things out and give you a genuine chance to know your characters could make for a stronger and more satisfactory story. The problem is my general lack of trust. Even Scott couldn't return to Alien and renew the sense that it was franchise was worth maintaining past 1986.

[Rodin]

"Your job today is to escort this vicious murder machine to this other planet that none of our exploration teams have ever returned from. Release it and document what kills it. Hopefully it'll solve one or the other of our problems."


(... I'm pretty sure this the plot outline of at least one Futurama episode, now that I think about it.)

Almost certainly, although Simpsons did it first. Matt Groening must like the idea.

"No, that's the beautiful part. When winter rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death!"

[Eldan]

"Your job today is to escort this vicious murder machine to this other planet that none of our exploration teams have ever returned from. Release it and document what kills it. Hopefully it'll solve one or the other of our problems."


(... I'm pretty sure this the plot outline of at least one Futurama episode, now that I think about it.)

NOw I want to see something a bit like Ghostbusters or something. Where some urban schlubs have a business cleaning xenomorphs out of sewers and cellars with flamethrowers and it's played completely like normal pest control.

"Ayup, that there be a queen. Got to nuke it from orbit, ma'am. Gonna be expensive."

[-Sentinel-]

I don't know, you could make a good Aliens TV series, but it would have to have something going for it besides just the Xenomorphs. The problem is that they just aren't *alien* anymore. As viewers we know too much about them, so there's no real fear after seeing someone get hit by a facehugger. We just watch the cast stumble around not knowing what to do while we mark time waiting for the chestburster.

You can introduce an element of hope that someone who's been facehugged can have the chestburster surgically removed... if you get the person to the med-bay in time. Whether or not that hope is warranted, it adds tension. You no longer write off a facehugger victim as dead meat.

As a way to add "alienness", you can have several subtypes of xenomorphs from the same colony. Perhaps they have something smaller that can crawl easily through vents, a winged form, etc.

Alien: Isolation worked because although we knew a lot more about the creature than Amanda did, it didn't really help us as players at all when all she has access to is civilian grade weaponry. The horror was in being hunted by something we knew we couldn't fight.

I blame James Cameron's Aliens (a fine movie, mind) for turning the xenomorphs into common mooks. Alien 3 understood that it needed to go smaller from there, not bigger.

That said, Isolation was well made beyond the novelty of its existence... but I'd question the logic of adapting it when you'll just have something we've seen before but now without the immersion and sense of agency.

Most people who would see the series wouldn't have played the video game. Also, you can add quite a bit more plot and characterization; in fact you would have to.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I could see it working for a single season maybe - but by season three I think I would be thinking "why are there Aliens all over the place, and has nobody figured out who to deal with them yet - they are basically large vermin", on the other hand you could likely set a movie in the Alien universe and just not actually have any aliens show up - the setting itself seems fairly interesting.

I don't know about that...even people who are well armed don't really do all that well against them and there's also the issue that in a galaxy where long distance interstellar travel is common there are enough places where people who are even less prepared than that wouldn't know what they were getting into and had to figure it out themselves.

There's also that while they don't have human-level intelligence, they're cunning in their own way and 'smarter' aliens I think would be terrifying. I think this is a good idea as the OP proposed it.

[dancrilis]

I don't know about that...even people who are well armed don't really do all that well against them and there's also the issue that in a galaxy where long distance interstellar travel is common there are enough places where people who are even less prepared than that wouldn't know what they were getting into and had to figure it out themselves.

If you meet a polar bear when you are out for a walk should hope it has better things to do then bother you because if it wants to kill you you will be dead (terms and conditions apply), however if polar bears began to invade virtually any country on the planet they would die in droves if the government was willing to slaughter them.

You could make a season of a show where stranded people in the arctic have to survive while dealing with polar bear (or even a number of polar bears), but after a season I think the premise might get stale.

An Alien is a terrifying foe for a human - aliens are not terrifying foes for humanity (at least not as they have been presented to date from what I have seen).

Also because we (the audience) knows what Aliens are any changes to them would seem somewhat gimmicky and merely leaving them as is offers little new (just like with polar bears).

[Tvtyrant]

If you meet a polar bear when you are out for a walk should hope it has better things to do then bother you because if it wants to kill you you will be dead (terms and conditions apply), however if polar bears began to invade virtually any country on the planet they would die in droves if the government was willing to slaughter them.

You could make a season of a show where stranded people in the arctic have to survive while dealing with polar bear (or even a number of polar bears), but after a season I think the premise might get stale.

An Alien is a terrifying foe for a human - aliens are not terrifying foes for humanity (at least not as they have been presented to date from what I have seen).

Also because we (the audience) knows what Aliens are any changes to them would seem somewhat gimmicky and merely leaving them as is offers little new (just like with polar bears).

The Zerg and Tyranids are a combination of Xenomorphs with Arachnoids. They both spawn almost instantly and have nearly infinite numbers to make them threats to technologically adept humanoids. Also travel through space and have hyper-intelligent hiveminds.

Aliens requires humans not know about Xenomorphs or use military hardware for the story to work.

[dancrilis]

The Zerg and Tyranids are a combination of Xenomorphs with Arachnoids. They both spawn almost instantly and have nearly infinite numbers to make them threats to technologically adept humanoids.

A Starcraft or 40K movie or series might also be interesting - but while both the Zerg and the Tyranids likely draw some inspiration from Alien(s) they are very different creatures then the Alien (much closer to each other in truth).
They are also largely a problem because of numbers as you indicated, an Alien cult based on a Genestealer cult could be interesting but at that point why not just make a Genestealer Cult series.

[Willie the Duck]

Let's be honest here, all Alien movies made after the first two are lackluster to some extent. The franchise, much like Jurassic Park, is largely sustained by its past glory and is starting to run low on goodwill. On the other hand, we've seen franchises stumble on the big screen but really kill it on the small screen (recent DC movies vs. DC animation, Rise of the Skywalker vs. The Mandalorian). These days, I have more faith in TV series than movies when it comes to storytelling.

I think Alien should leave the big screen (especially in these times of pandemic) and go for a TV series with a mid-range budget. There's a vast world to explore. I envision short, stand-alone seasons (5-8 tightly-plotted 60-minute episodes), with each season focusing on a different group of people inhabiting the Alien-verse: e.g. a group of asteroid miners, a Weyland-Yutani research facility, a crew of pirates/salvagers, etc. Stick to the Alien formula: female protagonist, androids who may or may not be evil, anti-corporate themes, and humans who are as much of a threat as the alien.

A TV series is less of an investment than a movie, tends to be less bound to a singular creator's vision (which is often a hit-or-miss thing), and allows you to correct course more easily. Plus, there aren't enough sci-fi horror TV series out there, IMO.

I actually think it would have to be a high-budget series. Honestly, would people be okay with Alien kills which were the same 'replace the person about to die with a exploding blood sack'-style effects that shows like The Boys get away with? Alien had groundbreaking special effects for its time. Now, a lot of those practical effects can be replaced by CGI these days, but not by cheap CGI. Given how much the visuals have mattered to the series, I doubt it could be done cheap. I'd suggest perhaps an HBO vanity project type, like GoT. Or, to use a purer example-- Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles. That was a perfectly lovely show (and also a movie series that was outliving its good will, and someone rightly thought should move to the small screen) mostly cancelled because it was too expensive for Fox and the ratings it was getting. It might have survived if it had been given prestige support. Same, I think, with this.

[Raimun]

I think there should be a movie where the xenomorphs are used as their creators intended: as weapons.

In the movie, someone would unleash xenomorphs (with queen(s) and facehuggers) in a human city (on earth or elsewhere but not on modern day earth) with the intention of killing everyone in there but leaving the site (mostly) unharmed.

Basically, I'd want to see Aliens but bigger. Just like Fury Road is the bigger version of Mad Max 2.

That or a small scale movie that captures the mood and genius of the original Alien-movie but still fresh and with original ideas. I know this is asking for too much of current Hollywood.

Or maybe they should do something like Prometheus and really go for those original ideas. While the movie has problems and doesn't compare to Alien or Aliens, I think it's the third best movie in the franchise.

[Traab]

They could always go American Horror Story with the concept. Basically each season is a new alien, not a xenomoprh, but its set to a similar theme. A mysterious monster with unknown abilities is picking off people at /insert random set location and the cast has to figure out whats going on, deal with a few twists (Omg, o'malley was using this as a chance to settle scores? No wonder the clues didnt line up!) Then eventually beat or escape from the monster with whoever is still alive. Find some subtle ways to link the universe together to give it an overarching timeline with some callbacks to the aliens franchise and it could work. Basically, more sci fi than fantasy horror.

[Tvtyrant]

A Starcraft or 40K movie or series might also be interesting - but while both the Zerg and the Tyranids likely draw some inspiration from Alien(s) they are very different creatures then the Alien (much closer to each other in truth).
They are also largely a problem because of numbers as you indicated, an Alien cult based on a Genestealer cult could be interesting but at that point why not just make a Genestealer Cult series.

I was more agreeing with your point. Xenomorphs require being a mystery to really be a threat, a good 24 hr news network and a combination of military and police could handle them.

I would pay good money for a Starcraft show. 40K is too dark, I don't think it would be much fun to watch a 40K civilians show.

Edit: A starcraft 1 era show, which is like Firefly meets Aliens. SC2 changes the human faction a lot, Terrans are way less space hillbillies.

[Psyren]

I think Alien: Isolation worked because it was the most logical format for the material it was adapting. Which feels like a silly point, but how many Alien FPSs are there? Then there was that Alien Contra-esque game, and who could forget that Beat'em'up Capcom made. In any case, you're not supposed to kill Xenomorphs like they're Zerglings as it's at complete odds with what makes Alien what it is, but games never got that memo.

As great a movie as it otherwise is, we have the first sequel (Aliens) to blame for that. What could (and probably should) have been tight horror with the added ramp of maybe 2-3 aliens keeping the heroes on their toes, was the beginning of the zergling hordes where the "horror" came from their sheer numbers but Conservation of Ninjutsu made individual aliens in the swarm easy kills. The timeskip may be justification for this - in Alien and Alien Isolation, weapons have little to no effect on the xenomorphs, whereas Aliens is set decades after both and features military hardware rather than security/peacekeeping gear.

That said, Isolation was well made beyond the novelty of its existence... but I'd question the logic of adapting it when you'll just have something we've seen before but now without the immersion and sense of agency.

The same reason you'd adapt anything - introducing it to a new audience, and/or reinvigorate the existing/installed audience that might be interested in novelty.

The core story beats and big setpieces can stay the same:

Spoiler

Show

e.g. Amanda looking for signs of her disappeared mother, Sevastopol and its Working Joes teetering on the brink only for Weyland-Yutani to buy them out and make things much worse, the Anesidora retrieving the Nostromo's flight recorder/visiting LV-224 and subsequently infesting Sevastopol, Apollo throwing the station's populace under the bus for its new masters, the station descending into objectivist anarchy, Amanda being betrayed by Waits, Samuels sacrificing himself so Amanda could commune with Apollo, the hospital, the reactor core/hive, manually aligning the locator dishes to contact the Torrens, and ultimately crashing the station so that nobody docks there and carries off the infestation.

It's also an opportunity to improve on some aspects of the original:

Spoiler

Show

like how the Working Joes so easily overpowered the heavily armed and fortified security bunker after the (first) xenomorph was jettisoned from the station. For me it would have made a lot more sense if they had some static defenses (e.g. turrets) that Apollo could seize control of in conjunction with his Working Joe army.

Still, as to a possible show, having more time to pace things out and give you a genuine chance to know your characters could make for a stronger and more satisfactory story. The problem is my general lack of trust. Even Scott couldn't return to Alien and renew the sense that it was franchise was worth maintaining past 1986.

There's also a lot from the game that you can cut to make it fit into a feature-length production. Big chunks of it are fetch-quests that send Amanda into hostile territory, made lengthier by your need to move relatively slowly or risk triggering the Alien's ceiling-drop AI - great for interactive horror but ultimately unnecessary to the plot. A big example is the lengthy sequence of helping Samuels get into Seegson Synthetics, his sacrifice, then another lengthy sequence of Amanda navigating to the AI core's human interface for her coversation with Apollo - that sequence could just take place within the AI core and Amanda can have her conversation then and there, coupled with a direct backdoor to the reactor to investigate Apollo's lead. Take a look at some speedruns of the game and you'll see how much narrative filler there truly is between the plot beats.

[Tyndmyr]

You know, I always figured, that the way to make more Alien movies would be to just stop using the Giger Xenomorph. Now, some people may want to hang me for this, but I think Prometheus had the right idea? Just... went about it completely the wrong way?

I'm in agreement. I want to see horrified people in the blackness of space discovering some ancient alien ship, and finding all kinds of wildly unexpected new horrors. I don't want to see "eh, it's aliens, but in a high school, facing off against generic american teens" which was the plot of AvP 2 or something.

You can absolutely make a horror series, but horror is dulled by familiarity. Toss in some fun cosmic horror, maybe the idea of some kind of great filter existing, and just embrace the sci fi aspect of it.

That said, The Expanse isn't bad.

[Arcane_Secrets]

If you meet a polar bear when you are out for a walk should hope it has better things to do then bother you because if it wants to kill you you will be dead (terms and conditions apply), however if polar bears began to invade virtually any country on the planet they would die in droves if the government was willing to slaughter them.

You could make a season of a show where stranded people in the arctic have to survive while dealing with polar bear (or even a number of polar bears), but after a season I think the premise might get stale.

But polar bears are honestly terrible in a human built environment. They're large which means they have massive food requirements (even when scavenging) and unlike smaller predators like coyotes (let alone feral cats) they're bad at hiding and being cryptic. They're well-camouflaged for the arctic but terribly camouflaged for practically everywhere else.

Now compare that to the aliens/xenomorphs. They're just about human sized enough to make use of most of our spaces, but small and agile enough to use crawl spaces/piping to get around a lot of barriers. For facehuggers, this is an even bigger problem. They're well-camouflaged in an industrial or urban environment. The only large structure/member of a colony that they have is the nest and the queen respectively, but dealing with that requires actually finding it first or being willing to support large scale destruction to get rid of it.

An Alien is a terrifying foe for a human - aliens are not terrifying foes for humanity (at least not as they have been presented to date from what I have seen).

That's because the only movie I've seen in which they actually attacked a large populated area on screen (instead of having it happen offscreen as a plot setup as with Aliens) instead of a spaceship/outpost/expedition was AVP:Requiem which....sucked really. They've kind of been underutilized that way.

[An Enemy Spy]

I just don't see how you maintain the tension for an entire series. At some point the Aliens just won't be scary anymore.

[Rogar Demonblud]

They aren't now. They have been used to the point all the scary bits are ground off.

So the series has to use something else. Space Marines going about doing----whatever the heck it is they actually do. Have them dealing with insurgents, where you have a lot of the similar themes of surprise attacks, tripping booby traps, etc.

[Eldan]

They are also largely a problem because of numbers as you indicated, an Alien cult based on a Genestealer cult could be interesting but at that point why not just make a Genestealer Cult series.

Huh. Honestly, that might be more interesting than most other ideas I've heard? With all the androids waxing about "perfect organisms", why not make a movie about people trying not to control the aliens, but become them.

(Yes, yes, Aliens 4, Covenant, bla bla, I mean a good one.)

[Psyren]

Interviewed a couple of days ago, Ridley Scott doesn't seem too sure what to do with the franchise.

“Whether or not we go directly back to {Prometheus and Covenant} is doubtful because Prometheus woke it up very well. But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”"

[Tvtyrant]

I just don't see how you maintain the tension for an entire series. At some point the Aliens just won't be scary anymore.

Pretty easy depending on setting. A single alien, people stuck with it inside a space station for a season. Pick up ques from Walking Dead; the Alien is an environmental threat, the real issue is the humans are having group conflicts and killing each other. Instead of working together to kill the monster they are focused on their political/resource issues, so the monster picks people off one by one.