The Earth after a viral post on social networks

The “Alien” franchise has enjoyed an extremely long lifespan, even by Hollywood standards. The original by Ridley Scott The 1979 film is a science fiction classic as well as being a huge hit at the time.. It spawned a series of sequels, spin-offs, and prequels that continue to this day. Most recently, Noah Hawley (“Fargo”) brought the Xenomorphs to Earth in the aptly titled live-action series “Alien: Earth” on FX and Hulu. Viewers of the series and those who have ignored it have recently realized that the series features some pretty impressive visual effects.

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– CINEMORPH (@CINEM0RPH) December 15, 2025

THE CINEMORPH X/Twitter account recently shared a gif from the show’s first season that shows a practical Xenomorph transposed in front of a giant image of Wendy’s (Sydney Chandler) lips. It’s a striking shot. The first season focused on a group trying to fight dangerous creatures crashing onto Earth from space, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. I don’t want to say too much, but Wendy can communicate with the Xenomorphs in the seriesand the gif, which has become semi-viral, is an illustration of this.

What the gif illustrates is how much the series relied on practical and inventive visual effects, rather than looking cheapened or watered down as one might expect with the big screen TV version of a franchise. Fans noticed.

“Looks like this was made 30 years ago (free)”, user doctor I don’t know said in response. User Drizzy Rey Jude also simply responded with a meme of Shaq saying, “I owe you an apology. I really wasn’t familiar with your game.” To put my cards on the table, I haven’t had the opportunity to see the show yet, but I was just as impressed by the shot.

What’s most refreshing about visuals like this is that they show a reverence for the 1979 classic that started it all. The impressive practical creature effects and set design are a large part of the reason why why the original ‘Alien’ still holds up so well, even by today’s standards. Even those who didn’t really like the series were impressed by things like the shot in question.

“75% of this series is the best Alien stuff we’ve had outside of ‘Prometheus,’ and the other 25% is the most disappointing bullshit I’ve ever seen,” one Twitter user said. Maybe said. Sometimes it’s about taking the good with the bad. In the same way, /The film’s Chris Evangelista praised “Alien: Earth” for its production designalthough he considered the show more broadly a “slog”.

Even on the more negative side, Twitter user @CrossMaul said, “I probably should have made the show actually good instead of just looking good.” Regardless, even the most serious detractors seemed to really appreciate the visual makeup of the series. Not just because it looks good, but apparently because it truly fits the best of this franchise.

Whatever happens in season 2, “Alien: Earth” was a pretty big hit for FX and Hulu when it first went around. Can it build on this in the future and convince more viewers through storytelling as well as visuals? We’ll have to wait and see, but at the very least it’s clear that Hawley and Co. haven’t been around a lot of lazy CGI and shrugged it off as “good enough for TV” or treated it as anything less than a major motion picture.

Season 1 of “Alien: Earth” is now streaming on Hulu.