Sci-Fi Fans Are Saying The Same About Alien: Earth After A Viral Social Media Post
The "Alien" franchise has enjoyed an exceedingly long life, even by Hollywood standards. Ridley Scott's original 1979 film is a seminal sci-fi classic in addition to being a huge hit at the time. It spawned a series of sequels, spin-offs, and prequels that are going strong 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. Both viewers of the show and those who ignored it have recently come around to the notion that the series featured some rather impressive visual effects.
— 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 centered on a group trying to wrangle dangerous creatures who crash land on Earth from space, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Not to give too much away, but Wendy can communicate with the Xenomorphs in the show, and the gif, which went semi-viral, is illustrative of that.
What the gif illustrates is how much the show leaned on practical and inventive visual effects, rather than looking cheapened or watered down as one might expect with the TV version of a big-screen franchise. Fans took notice.
"This looks like it was made 30 years ago (complimentary)," user doctor idk said in response. User Drizzy reyy 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 chance to watch the show yet, but I was equally impressed with the shot.
Alien: Earth honored the franchise's legacy of impressive VFX
What's most refreshing about visuals like this is that it shows a reverence for the 1979 classic that started it all. The impressive practical creature effects and set design are a big part of the reason why the original "Alien" still holds up so well even by today's standards. Even those who didn't love the show outright were impressed with stuff like the shot in question.
"A solid 75% of this show is the best Alien stuff we've gotten outside of 'Prometheus,' and then the other 25% is the most disappointing s**t I've ever seen," Twitter user Maybee said. Sometimes it's about taking the good with the bad. Similarly, /Film's Chris Evangelista praised "Alien: Earth" for its production design, even if he viewed the show more broadly as a "slog."
Even on the more negative end, Twitter user @CrossMaul said, "Probably should have made the show actually good instead of just looking good." No matter what, even the most serious detractors really seemed to appreciate the show's visual makeup. Not just because it looks good, but seemingly because it really is in line with the best that this franchise has to offer.
Come what may in season 2, "Alien: Earth" was a pretty big hit for FX and Hulu in its first go-around. Can it build on that going forward and win over some more viewers with the storytelling as well as the visuals? We'll have to wait and see, but at the very least, it's clear that Hawley and Co. didn't coast with a lot of lazy CGI and shrug it off as "good enough for TV" or treat it like something lesser than a major motion picture.
"Alien: Earth" season 1 is streaming now on Hulu.