There’s a Notable Link Between Blink-182 and the Subtle Rise of Alien Movies

No One Will Save You has finally descended into Hulu queues, meaning we can all finally bear witness to this spine-chilling step in the right direction for the alien invasion genre. Indeed, writer/director Brian Duffield’s ability to craft such dense, blood-curdling tension may have earned him a tip of the hat from a Xenomorph or two, and Kaitlyn Dever continues to establish herself as a heavyweight in the world of young actors.

So why was Duffield so anxious about getting No One Will Save You out to the world? In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker opened up about the initial wave of anxiety he felt when he first caught wind of Jordan Peele’s Nope, worrying that, from an audience perspective, it may have seemed like he was riding the grey alien coattails of Peele with No One Will Save You: “But then we were all very anxious about Nope and if it was going to do Greys [archetypal Grey aliens].”

The two films couldn’t have been more different, of course, but despite the anxiety he initially felt over Nope (and Nope not quite being the movie we all thought it was), it all nevertheless tied back to the recent uptick in popularity for more old-fashioned alien media—the perfect landing zone for No One Will Save You.

And from Duffield’s point of view, we ultimately owe this jump to Tom DeLonge, the UFO enthusiast-turned-Blink-182 frontman-turned-prominent alien conspiracy theorist-turned-mastermind behind the upcoming alien horror thriller Monsters of California. He told Duffield told THR,

“And back in 2019, you had the Tom DeLonge [alien] stuff. It wasn’t quite as mainstream as it is now, and no one really knew about Nope at the time. As the years have progressed, it’s been fun to see all of this become a little bit more mainstream and weirdly accepted as fact. It felt like there was a moment in the last couple of years where everyone was just like, ‘Yeah, the government knows.’ It went from Tom DeLonge is crazy to Tom DeLonge is correct, and he has been the champion of the truth all this time. It’s super cool that he’s our guy.”

I always say that the world writes a better satire than any one human ever could, and one of the most prominent members of Blink-182 not only being the face of, but directly contributing to, the growing presence of aliens in pop culture is a prime, delightful example of such a premise.

And for those of you whose interest has been piqued by Monsters of California, the film is set to release in theaters on Oct. 6 later this year, so hang tight. No One Will Save You, meanwhile, is now streaming on Hulu in the United States, and on Disney+ via Star in international territories.

(featured image: Screen Media)