Warning! This article contains SPILERS for Alien: Earth season 1, episodes 1 & 2.It’s been almost 40 years since James Cameron’sAlienswas released, and nowAlien: Earthfinally has a chance to solve one of the legendary sequel’s oldest mysteries.Alien: Earthhas an odd place in theAlienfranchise’s timeline. It’s a prequel to the originalAlien, but a sequel to bothPrometheusandAlien: Covenant, and it outrightrewrites someAlienlore.
Despite its chronological placement,Alien: Earthhas the chance to redefine the entire franchise.Earthhas already explored Weyland-Yutaniand its competition in much more depth than any other story, in addition to adding a lot of lore viaEarth’s human-synthetic hybrids. Now, it can also solve a decades-old mystery fromAliens.
Aliens References “Bugs” Other Than Xenomorphs, But The Franchise Never Explained What They Were
In James Cameron’sAliens, while the Colonial Marines are being briefed about the Xenomorphs and the situation at Hadley’s Hope, they belittle the situation. None of them take it seriously, and Private Hudson asks if the mission is going to be “another bug hunt.“Hudson’s comment implies that there are other alien lifeforms in theAlienuniverse besides Xenomorphs, but we never find out what they are.
There is anAlienbook titled “Bug Hunt” that describes some of the missions the marines inAlienswent on prior to the events at Hadley’s Hope.TheAlienmovies, however, have never addressed the line.Alien, like many other sci-fi franchises, is no stranger to overwriting lore established off-screen, so “Bug Hunt”’s description of other alien lifeforms isn’t a definitive answer to what other aliens exist in this universe.
Based on Hudson’s comment - and Hicks' confirmation - it seems like alien life is actually fairly common inAlien. Xenomorphs are unheard of, but no one from the Marines or Weyland-Yutani seems particularly surprised that there may be alien life on LV-426. The Marines have also apparently dealt with so many hostile aliens that they consider it boring grunt work.
Aliensalso mentions a race of people known as Arcturians. PublishedAlienworks have explained that Arcturians are a humanoid alien species, but the main movies have never shown Arcturians or given any indication that they are not simply humans colonizing a planet named Arcturia.
As common place as other alien lifeforms seem to be inAliens, we’ve never seen them. None of the subsequent five canonAlienfilms ever address the notion of a “bug hunt” again, and no one seems to be interested in alien life beyond the Xenomorphs. The notion of “bugs” inAliensis simply dropped, leaving a not-uncommon unsolved mystery for the franchise.
Alien: Earth May Have Already Introduced Aliens’ “Bugs”
Aliens' “bugs” have been a mystery for nearly 40 years, butAlien: Earthmay have already solved it.Alien: Earthintroduced five hostile alien lifeforms, including the Xenomorphs. We’ve already seen three in the show’s premiere, including T. Ocellus, which digs out its host’s eye and takes over their brain, as well as a yet-unnamed mosquito-like alien and the plant-like pod Tootles found.
It’s possible that one of the specimensthe USCSSMaginotbrought back during its mission for Yutani is a member of the same species the Colonial Marines refer to as bugs. TheMaginotwas presumably searching for any alien lifeforms it could find, and if these bugs are as widespread asAliensimplied they are, there’s a very good chance it’s one of the specimens they found.
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The Real Monsters
September 23
Based on the Marines' comments, the bugs would have to be significantly less imposing than the Xenomorphs. The bugs may be the mosquito-like lifeforms that drained the Prodigy employees of their blood. If the guards weren’t tied down by Morrow, they would have been exceptionally easy to deal with, after all. Easy enough for highly-trained Marines to consider exterminating them a matter of routine.
There’s also a chance that the bugs in question are one of the remaining lifeforms we have yet to get a good look at inAlien: Earth.There were reportedly five specimens on board theMaginot, but we’ve only seen three (at most) so far.Alien: Earthwould also have to do something to clarify that one of its new species is the same one mentioned inAliensto truly put this mystery to bed.
Aliens
Cast
Aliens, released in 1986, follows Ripley as she joins a group of Colonial Marines returning to LV-426, site of her previous encounter with the extraterrestrial species. Having been in hypersleep for 57 years, her story of survival is met with doubt, yet she assists in confronting the new threat.
