This iconic Alien character is canonically trans and fans are only just realising
Navigator Joan Lambert in the 1979 film Alien (Twitter/@CiaBreeves)
Navigator Joan Lambert in the 1979 film Alien (Twitter/@CiaBreeves)
More than 40 years after Alien hit cinemas a new generation of fans are discovering the futuristic film was more trans inclusive than they realised.
Ridley Scott’s 1979 space-bound slasher has achieved cult status for its genre-defining visual effects, depth of characters and stunning sci-fi realism – but trans reputation doesn’t often come to mind.
Yet if you look beyond Sigourney Weaver’s iconic performance as Ellen Ripley you’ll find a subtle detail that many viewers missed.
Among the small crew of the Nostromo is navigator Joan Lambert, a brilliant bag of nerves played by actor Veronica Cartwright. By the end of the film she and Ripley are the ones remaining aboard the doomed ship, left alone to battle it out against the Xenomorph.
Lambert was ultimately killed by the Alien while gathering oxygen tanks, but it wasn’t her final appearance in the quadrilogy.
James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens opens with Ripley being debriefed by her employers over the destruction of the Nostromo. Behind her, biographies of each of the deceased flash up on a computer screen.
Lambert’s file includes reams of personal data like her date of birth, height, weight and hair colour, but one important detail stands out.
Under gender it states: “Female (unnatural),” before expanding: “Subject is Despin Convert at birth (male to female). So far no indication of suppressed trauma related to gender alteration.”
The fact that Lambert is canonically trans has been known among sci-fi circles for years. But the blink-and-miss-it moment is easily overlooked, and many newer viewers are only now discovering this early trans representation.
Whether the characterisation was conceived by Ridley Scott in the first film or James Cameron in the second… is a mystery.
the character Lambert in the original Alien, a film nearly 50 years old, is trans.
— Seána Stout (@Eireannach0) June 25, 2025
albeit retroactively revealed in the sequel, (still in a massive blockbuster from the mid-80's) https://t.co/WuIGcRZEEz pic.twitter.com/49vPBc8ax1
Lambert from the first #Alien movie is trans.
— Matthew Hodson (@Matthew_Hodson) August 14, 2024
It is displayed on her record in the first sequel, Aliens.
And absolutely no fuss is made about it.
Nor should it be.
Some people are trans, get over it.
(Preparing for #AlienRomulus) pic.twitter.com/ijJ3xXhg5E
Something I feel we don’t talk about enough is how James Cameron (in “ALIENS”) snuck in and made cannon that Lambert from “ALIEN” is Trans. For it’s time, that’s huge. There are some haters out there, but I always appreciated his take on women in his films. #transrepresentation pic.twitter.com/L9Vr0cA8oI
— Laz Marquez (@lazmarquez) March 29, 2024
The Alien franchise has leaped (terrifyingly) into the limelight again in 2025, with the release of new TV series Alien: Earth. Season one of the Disney+ series came to an end two days ago, on 24 September, and fans are already clamouring for confirmation of a season two release date, which has yet to be revealed.
Alien: Earth is the first TV series in the Alien franchise and is set two years before the events of the 1979 film.
The show is set in 2120. Early on in season one, the USCSS Maginot – a ship belonging to the amoral Weyland-Yutani company – crashes into rival firm Prodigy’s territory, its CEO is delighted to have his hands on a competitor’s property. The property being, yes, you guessed it, an extraterrestrial killer.
All episodes of Alien: Earth season one are currently available to stream on Disney+.
