New York Comic-Con 2025 invited Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Babou Ceesay, Samuel Blenkin and EP David W. Zucker to talk about the series. Here’s what The Mary Sue learned about the making of the stunning FX series and what they think a potential Season 2 could entail. The network has not yet made an official announcement, but given the enthusiasm at NYCC’s Empire Stage there’s certainly an audience for it!
At the panel, moderated by esteemed TV critic Alan Sepinwall, the cast began by sharing their experience with the original 1979 film. Most of them, like many of us, watched Alien waaay too young. “My mum had a crush on Sigourney Weaver,” Lawther, who plays Joe, remembered. “And I had a crush on John Hurt.” Chandler, who plays Wendy was an Alien superfan.
Zucker read a note from Ridley Scott, who directed Alien, which praised Alien: Earth as a “massively successful foray into the Alien universe” and singled out the strong writing. “Noah has kept the beast alive and dripping to scare the hell out of us for some time longer,” the note concluded. “Scream away! No one will hear you.”
The practical effects were not so scary “IRL”
Of course, Sepinwall had to ask about the show’s breakout character. A parasidic alien species called Trypanohyncha Ocellus (T-Ocellus for short) that looks like a demented eyeball with squid legs totally stole the show. It spent most of the first season in the body of a sheep, and without giving too much away found a human host by the end of the season.
What does the T-Ocellus look like for the actors? “Something between a sort of puppet,” Lawther described, giggling slightly, “and also there’s a man with like a protract-able wand with a thing attached to it, waving it in my face. And then, of course, it becomes something beautiful once it gets rendered on the screen.” He was relieved to see how cool the final product looked compared to how silly it was to film. “Much better than I thought it was IRL,” he said.
Blenkin, who played the Prodigy Corporation’s CEO Boy Cavelier, played most of his T-Ocellus scenes opposite a real sheep. “They would keep Victoria the sheep still by rubbing her belly with a long pole that had a glove on the end,” Blenkin said. “I’m telling the truth! She knew that was her cue to sort of stare into space. I mean, it was really scary!” There was an equally scary animatronic sheep on set as well.
In keeping the 70s spirit alive, the show didn’t totally rely on CGI. You might be able to tell that the Xenomorph is played by a man in a suit. Charming! Meanwhile, Ceesay talked about the amount of KY jelly he used to get his arm into a prosthetic. Lawther also waxed nostalgic on how Alien used KY jelly for Xenomorph drool, too. Fifty years and Hollywood hasn’t come up with a better substance, he marveled. They’ll secure a sponsorship from KY for Season 2, Blenkin and Chandler joked. (Have you ever noticed that actors in genre projects love to enthusiastically talk about how much lubricant they use? It’s weirdly a recurring theme. I’m looking at you, Sebastian Stan!)
There’s a lot left unsaid about the Wendy & Joe relationship.
Speaking of Season 2, one of the things that Chandler and Lawther would most like to explore if the show gets renewed for Season 2 is that sibling relationship. He was tasked with determining whether Wendy, the synthetic copy of his deceased sister Marcy, is still the girl he grew up with in a twisted Turing Test. Meanwhile, despite her Peter Pan inspirations, Wendy is desperate to grow up. “How can he, as a sort of parental sibling figure, allow this child to be independent of him and to be whatever it is that the child wants to be. It’s a question I guess many parents have to sort of grapple with; to allow their child to be an individual. But I think maybe a Season 2 would be about unpicking that even further, and seeing… who knows!”
Alas, even though Sepinwall polled the room, asked if they wanted a Season 2, and the room responded with thunderous applause… he was not setting up for a surprise announcement. True to the Alien franchise, we’ll have to remain in suspense.
(featured image: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPop)
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