Alien: Earth Prosthetics Crew Tease ‘Something More Terrifying’ Coming in the Next Season

What do Alien eggs feel like? Based on insights from the special effects experts who built them for Alien: Earth, they are heated and gooey. The Second Skin team worked closely with Wētā Workshop and the series producers to realize their ideas for multiple extraterrestrial beings to the screen. For the franchise’s iconic Facehugger eggs, this involved slathering the exteriors with plant-based glycerin, giving them a slick, natural appearance.

Tor Sakthamcharoen and Honey Khamaiumcharean worked on many of the terrifying creatures in Alien: Earth, including monstrous ticks, face-melting flies, and the fan-favorite specimen t. ocellus, often referred to as “Eye Midge” by the cast and crew.

Inside the Workshop: Crafting the Creatures

What other beings did you create for Alien: Earth? How did the design process look like?

Sarawut "Tor" Sakthamcharoen: In fact, the monsters mentioned, such as the tick, eye creatures, fly hive, alien eggs, and Xenomorph embryo, were constructed in multiple versions than shown on film — various scales and shapes for different shots. Additionally, we also created background props, such as a sheep stunt for a dramatic death sequence and a foam alien inside a container. We also produced synthetic models, a fake cat with the Eye Midge, detailed hair work, and prosthetics for the Eye Midge sequence.

Sarinnaree “Honey” Khamaiumcharean: The Second Skin team also supported the visual effects team by creating a green chestburster. This was used on set to enable the cast react more naturally and served as a reference element for the effects artists.

Future Plans: Terrifying Possibilities for the Next Season

These tick creatures are particularly terrifying in Episode 5, but we only get to see part of their life cycle. Do you have any concepts for how that could evolve if there’s a follow-up season?

Tor: It’s not certain — that would be up to the filmmaker’s plan. But one thing’s for certain: Audiences haven’t witnessed how they construct their homes.

Creating the Alien Fetus

Tell me more about designing the alien fetus. How did you decide what it would appear as?

Sakthamcharoen: In fact, the original concept was provided by Wētā as a drawing. We found it really cool, but since it needed to be practical, we had to adapt it, sculpting a three-dimensional version and printing multiple scales for selection. Once the scale was finalized, we proceeded with molding and casting it to look like see-through gel, allowing the skeletal form of the alien fetus to be seen underwater.

Khamaiumcharean: Yes, the fetus concept originated from Wētā Workshop. Our Second Skin team took their designs and brought them into the physical realm, ensuring the design could work on set and blend with VFX work.

Comparing the Xenomorph Eggs

In the original Alien movie, the Xenomorph eggs have moisture that appears to be flowing upward. The eggs in Alien: Earth lack this element. Why did you omit it?

Sakthamcharoen: This aspect we never actually discussed with the director. But from what I understand, in the original Alien, Ridley Scott used a smart filming technique — inverting the camera — to make water droplets appear to flow upward. The props were also coated with glycerin for a slimy, real appearance. In the series, since the setting is on our planet, the decision may have been to make the eggs realistic in our gravity. But that’s just my guess.

Khamaiumcharean: We experimented with methods to echo the first 1979 Alien, but we needed to adjust certain features to suit the universe of Alien: Earth. In instances, we added new elements, and in others, we modified aspects to align with the story and tone.

Naming the “Eye Midge”

I’ve heard the “eyeball alien” is referred to as “Species 64”. But word on the street you refer to it as “Eye Midge”. How did that nickname originate?

Tor: Honestly, we don’t really know where the name started, as we never asked about its origin. The first time we heard the term was from Jeff Okun (VFX) and the Wētā design team.

Honey: We’re not exactly sure where the nickname began. But I believe it evolved into a useful term so that our international team could quickly grasp and communicate the appearance of the being.

Biggest Challenges in Monster Creation

What was the biggest challenge you encountered while working on the creatures for the show? What did you do to overcome it?

Tor: I’d say the main difficulty was certainly constructing the alien eggs and managing the dissecting sequences. It was something we had never done before, so there was a lot of trial and error. We really have to thank our crew — they pushed through with so much patience, ensuring success.

Khamaiumcharean: For me, the biggest challenge was creating and assembling the Xenomorph eggs. The our studio had to make various types — soft, hard, ones that could open, even animatronic and manual versions. We additionally designed the inside structures of the eggs in a way that viewers have never seen in any Alien film. Moreover, maintaining the eggs undamaged in the tropical weather was a significant challenge.

Preferred Monsters

What non-Xenomorph creature is your top pick?

Sakthamcharoen: I particularly enjoy the giant fly. Its size makes it somewhat adorable — large and bulky, almost like a huge insect. It’s got a trunk like an pachyderm and eyes like a spider, which makes it both strange and endearing.

Honey: Definitely the eyeball creature. It’s one of the smartest beings in the series. Although there was a lot of VFX involved, the practical version we built looked both absolutely cute and absolutely weird at the once.

Memorable Scenes

Which creature scene from this season of the series is your most liked?

Sakthamcharoen: My favorite has to be the Eye Midge with Shmuel scene. That sequence was so exciting, and from my side, it was a special blend of monster and effects design — an achievement we’re really proud of.

Honey: My favorite scene was the fly spitting acid saliva onto the character Issac. Since he is a synthetic body built to be highly durable, watching how it reacts to the corrosive substance really demonstrates both the creature’s biology and its frightening power.

Teamwork Approach

How was the development process like for creating fresh extraterrestrial beings in the series with such a big, international team? Was there a lot of back and forth with the producers?

Honey: From my side, the process was highly cooperative. The original monster ideas came from the filmmaker and Wētā, but once they came to our team, it was our task to translate those designs into practical builds that could function on set. That meant experimenting with supplies, building samples, and developing methods to combine prosthetics with digital effects. There was a lot of back and forth with both the filmmaker and the effects lead — we would present trials, adjust based on feedback,