20 Things You Didn't Know About Arrival

The otherworldly beings key to the sci-fi short story’s adaptation were originally envisioned as being far different (visually) from their final appearance. In the book, the Heptapods were described as barrel-shaped and this was the original plan before Villeneuve and the production team opted for the cephalopod design seen in the final cut.

Despite this, the way the aliens carried themselves and how they were perceived came from different sources in the animal kingdom and, unexpectedly, mythology. Animals such as elephants, whales, spiders and even the Grim Reaper were key in developing the Heptapods’ movement and behaviour, specifically their inhuman intelligence and surreal appearance. Furthermore, some designs were far more surreal in nature and really leaned into the fact that these are, indeed, aliens.

These disparate sources of inspiration were key in ensuring that the strange visitors from another world were both vaguely familiar and yet far removed from anything seen on Earth.