Noah Hawley changed many aspects of the Xenomorph design for Alien: Earth which has received polarizing feedback from the fanbase since the first 2 episodes debuted last week. While some love the new design, others feel it’s too much of a far cry from Giger's original masterpiece. During an interview with IGN, showrunner Noah Hawley discussed the new hostile organisms in Alien: Earth and addressed the reasons behind his design alterations for the show’s new Xenomorph.
Hawley begins talking about the new Xenomorph design at around the 5:20 mark, to which he explains:
I had to protect the silhouette. My suit performer was not 7 and a half feet tall. I was okay with that. He had a more muscular body, a lot of the suit changes were based on who the performer is and I know Fede went animatronic with his creatures [in Alien: Romulus] to make them as skinny as possible. For me, the creature works best when we think of it more as a quadruped. The more you’re down on all fours, the more the head is back, the shorter the smoke stacks have to be on the back, etc. So there were some functional shifts that we did.
Hawley goes on to say he never liked the Human ribcage design of H.R. Giger's original, so he went with more of a crustacean feel... He then explains that he made the teeth more flat, more Human-like because he thinks that would hurt more than the sharper canines Xenomorphs are known for having...
For me the ribcage always bothered me because it feels very much like a human ribcage. I went with more of a crustacean kind of feel in places. It’s more of a cockroach brown than a black. I do find that people try to make things scarier by making their teeth sharper. I actually find the flatter teeth to be more worrisome. That looks like it would hurt.
What do you think of Noah Hawley's alternative Xenomorph design choices? Do you think the Alien is more terrifying when it's on all fours? Or when it's walking upright? Let us know in the comments!
Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth TV series arrives this summer on Disney+ / Hulu and FX Networks! The first 2 episodes began streaming August 12th, 2025 and the show will span 8 hour-long episodes! You can find a list of the episodes titles and their release dates here.
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