Warning! This article contains spoilers for Alien #10
Because of their reproductive versatility due to their biological imprint, there have been a number of creative Xenomorph redesigns since the classic look debuted in Ridley Scott’s Alien. When a Xenomorph gestates inside of any viable organism, the alien takes on aspects of that organism’s biology into their final form. The version fans are most familiar with look the way they do because those Xenomorphs almost always used human hosts (which is why the Xenomorph in Alien 3 took on aspects of a dog). In the latest chapter of the Alien mythos, one of the Xenomorphs’ silliest designs gets a terrifying new upgrade as the Xenomorphs evolve into something new.
In Alien #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca, the people who ventured out into deep space and created lives for themselves on the moon settlement Euridice are escaping their colony after a ship full of Xenomorphs crash-landed in their community. While searching for missing community members, the settlers find themselves in a Xenomorph hive where they encounter an all-new type of Xenomorph, one which resembles another creative redesign for the creature that debuted three decades prior.
The 1992 Aliens toy line produced by Kenner Products was an initiative to bring kids into the world of Alien by supplying content and merchandise appropriate for a younger audience. Every Xenomorph toy under the Aliens line was creatively unique as they merged the classic Xenomorph with a number of different creatures, creating characters like the Bull Alien, Scorpion Alien, Rhino Alien, Snake Alien, and Mantis Alien. Where this early ‘90s toy line becomes relevant when discussing the latest Alien comic book series is the design of the new Xenomorphs the settlers of Euridice encountered upon their entry into an alien hive. The new style of creature is bug-like with large, curved pincers instead of clawed hands. This design is reminiscent of Kenner’s Mantis Alien most notably because both Xenomorph variants share similar curved pincers. While this original look was intended to get kids interested in Alien action figures, this apparent upgrade on that design is absolutely terrifying.
While similar in some aspects, there are some key differences that are worth noting between the two designs. The biggest difference between these two similar yet separate and unrelated designs are the colors of the respective Xenomorph variants. The Mantis Alien is bright green while the new Xenomorphs introduced in the comics are darker colored similar to the more common Xenomorphs. The other difference between them is their legs, with the Mantis Alien having two powerful legs built for jumping and the new Xenomorphs scurry on at least eight legs similar to their more bug-like relatives the Facehuggers.
Both the Mantis Alien and the new Xenomorphs are bug-like with large front pincers, though the new look that recently debuted is easily way scarier. That’s the case not solely because the Mantis Alien was specifically made for kids so its design is more action-fun than truly horrifying, but because of the new ability given to these evolved Xenomorphs. The new Xenomorphs have the ability to reproduce by jumping down someone’s throat and passing on their genetic code themselves, so they no longer rely on Facehuggers to do so. Seeing this process in action is not an easy thing to witness, and while this new design may be similar in some ways to Alien’s silly Mantis Alien design, this upgraded version of the Xenomorphs is beyond terrifying.