Alien: Earth Season 2 is in production now in London and a fresh set of leaks are giving us a glimpse at a vehicle we haven’t seen in 40 years. Noah Hawley is no stranger to inviting himself inside the minds of other creators. For FX’s Fargo, he was reportedly challenged to make Fargo without Marge. He succeeded in creating a show that felt like the Coen Brothers’ film by treating the original movie’s tone as a “state of mind.” With Alien: Earth Season 1, the showrunner did a similar trick by channeling Ridley Scott. For Season 2, Hawley might be channeling a different filmmaker from the franchise. The show’s creator said this about Season 2, “It’s a bigger show, more world building.” James Cameron also put on a bigger show after Alien laid the groundwork, and Noah Hawley is bringing back some of the director’s hardware.
Recently, production on Season 2 of Alien: Earth took to the streets of London. One Londoner caught X’s attention when he posted photos to find out what was filming, with his best guest being Batman II. That’s the wrong sequel. Aliens fans were quick to point out the vehicles appeared to be early models of the film’s APC (armored personnel carrier). As more photos poured in, it became clearer that Canary Wharf was subbing for a Weyland-Yutani building, potentially its headquarters. Video posted to Instagram appears to show a scene being shot where soldiers are pouring out of the Weyland-Yutani marked vehicles.
Filming in Canary Wharf this morning – more for #TheBatman #RBatz ? pic.twitter.com/n4zXyx0bwr
On a film set, the primary, camera-ready version of a car is called the hero vehicle. It doesn’t necessarily mean the movie’s hero is going to drive it. But in Aliens, she did. The M577 Armored Personnel Carrier was a defining piece of Colonial Marine hardware in the film, alongside the pulse rifle and Cheyenne dropship. The audience is taken aback when the APC roars out of the dropship bay into action. During the Marines’ disastrous trip into the Xenomorph hive, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley has to take control of the veritable tank, drives it directly into the facility and rescues Hicks, Hudson, and Vasquez. The scene gives the APC’s hero vehicle moniker a literal meaning.
Noah Hawley isn’t the only creator channeling the M577 scene. In the recently released film Onslaught, Michael Biehn comically revisits the scene, but on the other side of the monitors. He’s forced to watch as his men’s feeds are taken out one by one by a group of experimental super soldiers. He too attempts a heroic rescue, like the one he received from Ripley in Aliens with less-than-desirable results.
James Cameron’s team originally created the M577 around a Hunslet ATT77 aircraft tug once used to tow airplanes around the runways at Heathrow Airport. As Alien: Earth is set about 59 years before Aliens, the Weyland-Yutani-tagged APCs don’t appear to be as kitted out with weapons as the Colonial Marine version. To see multiple APCs in working order speaks to the scale Hawley was referring to. We won’t be surprised if these are an earlier model in the M series. Whether the APCs are there to keep one of the show’s dangerous alien species out, or perhaps keep a xenomorph in, we’ll have to wait until Season 2 premieres on FX to find out. As the showrunner said, “The island can’t contain them anymore. What’s next?”
