Oscar-winning director Jordan Peele’s third film, Nope, introduces an imaginative and unique monster that redefines traditional science fiction imagery. The film’s central threat, teased before release as a classic flying saucer, turns out to be a living entity rather than a spacecraft, blending horror and biological curiosity above the skies of Agua Dulce.
Collaborating with CalTech to Imagine the Monster
The creature known as “Jean Jacket” or Occulonimbus edoequus, while fantastical, draws inspiration from real biological principles. Jordan Peele enlisted expertise from CalTech engineering professor John O. Dabiri, whose work on deep-sea exploration influenced the monster’s design. Dabiri explained in a 2022 Thrillist interview that the goal was to incorporate aspects of creatures that superficially seem impossible but actually exist in nature. He emphasized how many exotic animals live unseen in the ocean’s depths, exhibiting strange features that inspired the film’s flying terror.
“In my conversations with Jordan, it was fun to think about ways that we could pull features that people would say, ‘Oh, that’s impossible,’”
Dabiri shared.
“But, in fact, in the ocean, you find these very exotic creatures that would have these different characteristics. Nature has already given us some pretty out-there and unusual creatures. We just don’t see them, particularly the ones in the ocean, because the ocean is kind of invisible to most of us.”
— John O. Dabiri, CalTech Professor
Marine Life as a Blueprint for “Jean Jacket”
The design of the flying creature draws heavily on marine animals without rigid skeletons, such as squid, octopuses, and especially jellyfish. Dabiri elaborated on this connection, highlighting less familiar jellyfish varieties that move more stealthily than the commonly known umbrella-shaped forms.
“When you think of a jellyfish, you’re probably thinking of the umbrella-shaped animals, but there are other jellyfish shapes that actually don’t have this really dramatic body motion as they’re swimming,”
Dabiri said.
“They are almost like a rigid object. Instead, they have these rows of really thin hairs that paddle the water around them. They’re typically called comb jellies, like a hair comb. In those species, you get this behavior where they move very quietly or stealthily through the water. They don’t disturb a lot of the water around them when they’re attacking their prey.”
— John O. Dabiri, CalTech Professor
Earthborn Creature or Alien Entity?
One lingering question about the “Jean Jacket” is whether it originates from another planet or has existed undetected on Earth. During a 2023 conversation on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jordan Peele clarified the creature’s nature by confirming the film’s title as an acronym: Nope stands for Not Of Planet Earth.
This designation firmly places the monster in the realm of extraterrestrial beings, while still leaving viewers to contemplate the blurred line between alien lifeforms and nature’s own mysterious creations. The film’s presence now on Peacock allows a broader audience to experience Peele’s inventive blend of science fiction horror and reflective storytelling.
