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During an appearance on The Playlist‘s podcast Bingeworthy, Hawley shed light on the creative decisions behind the xenomorph’s design. “Some micro elements are different, just refining away from things that felt too much like a guy in a suit,” he said. “I wanted it buggier, creepier. For me, creepier is never pointy teeth. Creepier is flat teeth, because that would hurt—and the smile then becomes very human in a way that’s disconcerting.”
Alien: Earth Has Successfully Put Its Own Spin on a Classic Franchise
Hawley’s desire to tweak the look of the xenomorph for Alien: Earth is logical for a few reasons. From a technical perspective, it allows the show’s creative team to take advantage of how visual effects and filmmaking technology have evolved over the decades. When Ridley Scott’s Alien was released nearly 50 years ago, putting a guy in a suit was the best way to portray a being like the xenomorph. But now, filmmakers have the ability to make the xenomorph slightly more grotesque by giving it that “buggier” aesthetic Hawley was aiming for.
Making some minor changes to the xenomorph is also an illustration of Alien: Earth‘s larger goals. Since its debut back in August, the series has earned a considerable amount of praise for honoring the Alien franchise’s sci-fi/horror roots while simultaneously keeping things fresh. Whenever there’s a new installment in a long-running property like Alien, carving out a unique spin on established formulas and tropes is a necessity. When looked at in this way, Hawley’s tweaks to the xenomorph feel like a statement of what he and his team are trying to achieve, putting their own stamp on well-known iconography.
