What’s that sound? Oh yeah, it’s the unmistakable hiss of a Xenomorph ready to take over your screen — or maybe it’s me, screaming with excitement.
It’s just over three weeks until “Alien: Earth” debuts with its first two episodes, and in the lead-up, there’s been plenty of conversation with the creative team about what fans can expect.
In fact, executive producer Dana Gonzales shared plenty of insights in a recent Collider interview, including how “Alien: Earth” will give fans more Xenomorph screen time than any previous movie in the franchise.
Although Gonzales didn’t specify exactly how many Xenomorphs will appear, he did say: “All the movies, if you really study them, are like, 20 frames, two seconds, they show the Xenomorph. We have huge sequences where all you're seeing is the Xenomorph. It’s driving a lot of things.
“We have a pretty incredible performer that's doing it and a great stunt team. We're asking them to do a lot. Again, it’s finding the balance of how that works, because seriously, [nothing] in the franchise has shown as much as we have.”
Since “Alien: Earth” features more Xenomorph screen time than ever before, making sure the updated design looked great on camera was a top priority. Gonzales explained in the interview that while the series uses CGI in post-production, the Xenomorph itself is completely practical: “It’s 100% real.”
He then added: “And the Facehuggers we have, they're all real. I don't know how many we have, but we have many Facehuggers that do different things. So there are mostly real creatures. I think [it's] the fact that Wētā [FX] built these incredible characters that do several things really well that we can see them longer. Even the eggs are quite sophisticated, and we can show them.
“I think that's gonna be the strength of the show, especially to have eight hours of that compared to an hour and a half movie. I don't know our running time of creatures, but it's going to be quite a bit.”
Getting up close and personal with the Xenomorph is a good thing
Originally, I was firmly convinced that the Xenomorph was at its best when kept lurking in the shadows just out of sight, mysterious and terrifying. After all, “Alien” earned its iconic status by making the creature feel truly alien. But we’ve seen that approach countless times now, and “Alien: Earth” is shifting gears.
Don’t get me wrong, I hope future movies continue to keep Xenomorphs lurking in the shadows to build suspense within a shorter runtime. But for a series, it makes sense to have them front and center. After all, this is eight hours of content, not just 90 minutes of horror.
This upcoming series will explore how the Xenomorph adapts and reacts to an unfamiliar environment, introducing not only the classic terror but also new creatures designed to “re-mystify” the franchise, as director Noah Hawley described it.
This fresh take genuinely excites me because it honors the legacy while pushing boundaries. With Gonzales confirming that practical effects take center stage and that the Xenomorph will have unprecedented screen time, the anticipation just keeps building.
Plus, with “Alien: Earth” shaped by Hawley’s multi-season vision, having more Xenomorph screen time makes perfect sense. It allows the show to explore the creature’s presence and impact in greater depth over an extended narrative, giving us fans a richer experience than a typical movie runtime could offer.
Calling myself an “Alien” fan doesn’t quite cut it. We’re talking shelves of magazines, figurines taking up any free space in my room, and countless posters I've collected over the years. And somehow, that obsession is only going to grow when “Alien: Earth” premieres on FX on Hulu in the U.S. on August 12, and on Disney Plus in the U.K. on August 13.
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