The Mandalorian star Timothy Olyphant is set to join the upcoming Alien TV series.
The prequel show, set on Earth years before the events of the main movie series, will see the Deadwood actor appear alongside Don't Worry Darling's Sydney Chandler, who was confirmed earlier this year.
According to Deadline, Olyphant will take on the role of a synth called Kirsh, who is a mentor and trainer to Chandler's character Wendy – a meta-human with the consciousness of a child and the body of an adult.
Related: New Alien movie has wrapped filming ahead of 2024 release
Also on board are Andor's Alex Lawther, who will apparently play a soldier called CJ, Black Mirror's Samuel Blenkin as CEO Boy Kavalier, Game of Thrones' Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, The White Tiger's Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, and Shadow and Bone's Kit Young as Tootles.
The new Alien series comes from Fargo's Noah Hawley, with original movie director Ridley Scott acting as an executive producer.
FX boss John Landgraf previously praised the showrunner and his "incredible ability".
Related: Sigourney Weaver rules out a return as Alien's Ellen Ripley
"I think you've seen it with Fargo, to both find a way of being faithful, showing fidelity to an original creation like a Coen brothers' movie, or in this case, Ridley Scott's and James Cameron's follow-up, Aliens, but also to bring something new to the table that represents extension and reinvention of a franchise at the same time," he said.
Work on the new series is set to continue at the beginning of 2024, with non-SAG-AFTRA cast members filming this year in Thailand amid the Hollywood strikes.
Alien is also prepping a return to cinemas in a new film starring Industry's David Jonsson, Shadow and Bone's Archie Renaux, The Batman's Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu and Mare of Easttown's Cailee Spaeny.
Director Fede Álvarez recently revealed that Scott saw his film and called it "f**king great", adding it was "one of the best moments of [his] life".
The Alien TV series will air on FX.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
