Project Hail Mary Continues One Of Star Trek's Most Important Sci-Fi Missions

Beware of potential spoilers!

Phil Lord's and Christopher Miller's new film "Project Hail Mary" begins in a grim spot. Astronomers have discovered that the Sun is suddenly being blotted out, and will die in a few decades. Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is enlisted to join a space mission to a distant star that seems to have survived a similar phenomenon. He hopes to obtain sufficient information to save the Earth. 

When he arrives at his destination, Dr. Grace encounters a large, eerie, spindly vessel, clearly of extraterrestrial origin. He finds that there is a singular space alien on board the vessel, an alien that has traveled out to this distant star for the same reason: the alien's homeworld is also afflicted by a dying sun. Dr. Grace carefully travels to the alien's ship, and the two make contact. 

The creature is a hyper-intelligent rock being that is built like a tarantula. It takes a while, and they have to be separated (they cannot breathe in each other's environments), but Dr. Grace and the creature begin to communicate. Dr. Grace nicknames the alien "Rocky," and they set up a computer program that can scan Rocky's language. After a lot of chatting and scanning and translating, Dr. Grace and Rocky begin having open, extended conversations in English. They decide to work together to solve their mutual problem.

Dr. Grace learns that Rocky is emotional, funny, and compassionate. There is no hostility between them, no suspicion, no threat of violence. There is just the need to get along and work together. This understanding of a strange alien is a perfect example of the mission of "Star Trek." "Project Hail Mary" possesses some of Gene Roddenberry's notorious utopian impulses, depicting a galaxy wherein humans and aliens are destined to cooperate. 

The opening narration of "Star Trek" lays it out pretty plainly. The show — and by extension the entire franchise — is devoted to a mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. Most of the "Star Trek" shows are set on Starfleet vessels that are full of science officers, engineers, and diplomats. They approach every crisis with curiosity and an eye for problem-solving. Starfleet officers, when doing their jobs correctly, are masters of conflict de-escalation and and trust. "Star Trek" is meant to depict humanity at its finest (it's not an action franchise), capable of achieving pacifism, and ridding itself of warlike impulses. 

"Project Hail Mary" isn't about a mission of exploration, of course, as it surrounds a last-ditch effort to save the Earth from a cataclysm. It is, however, rooted in the same philosophy of open-minded communication as "Star Trek." Indeed, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller made sure that Rocky was a relatable and intelligent being, even if he resembles a faceless rock tarantula. Dr. Grace is a scientist, not a soldier, and he doesn't walk onto Rocky's ship with weapons at the ready. He is curious and not suspicious. His concern is communication. Later, his concern is collaboration. Later still, their mission becomes one of diplomacy and caring. 

Science fiction should, when it's aiming for a hopeful future, open our minds, not close them. If we can feel sympathy for a faceless rock being, then our hearts are perhaps just that much more open to other human beings.

/Film's own Ethan Anderton spoke with Lord and Miller recently, and he asked about the design of Rocky, and they explained what had to be done, on a practical level, to make a faceless, completely non-human alien look sympathetic and relatable. Lord admitted that "It took about a year and a half," to come up with the design. "We worked with Neil Scanlon and this amazing team at the creature shop that we'd worked with before. And we just sculpted and sculpted and drew and drew until you would look at one of his facets and go like, 'I like that guy. I like that rock. I don't know what it is.'" 

Miller added that the FX team also made models and prototypes out of foam until they found an appealing shape. Once that was done, the team could start to add details to Rocky, giving him a unique look that added to his backstory.:

"[W]e're going to dig in and make sure that each side of his carapace can be slightly different so it can give you a slightly different expression. And then we worked for a long time about like what kind of carvings he would put onto his body, like tattoos that would show like his rank, his mission patch, his wedding band. He had like a house tartan for his family on his front two forearms. Because he's an engineer, he had like a slide rule and other stuff on his body."

And these are all details a casual viewer would notice. The details made Rocky that much more explicit. Miller also credited Rocky's puppeteer, James Ortiz, for giving the alien some very human movements.