5 Best Sci-Fi Easter Eggs Hidden In Project Hail Mary
by Witney Seibold · /FilmPhil Lord's and Chris Miller's 2026 film "Project Hail Mary" takes place in the near future of 2032, when Earth is facing an existential crisis. The sun is going out, and no one knows why. The government enlists the help of one Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) to investigate the matter, and the bulk of the film entails his prolonged deep space mission to a nearby surviving star to see if he can get information on — and maybe a solution to — our dimming sol. While out in deep space, Dr. Grace meets a friendly space alien, also investigating the death of its own sun, and the two learn how to communicate in order to pool their research.
Prior to the mission, Dr. Grace had been drummed out of the scientific community for some wild theories, and had been making ends meet as a middle school science teacher. Although intelligent, Grace was no steel trap mind, no diplomat, and no logical android. He was a bit slovenly, and given to making pop culture references, just like any of us would. I would think that, should I ever meet a space alien, my mind would be heavily swirling with all the aliens I had witnessed in countless sci-fi movies and books. I would be asking myself if the alien was more like Spock from "Star Trek" or the xenomorph from "Alien."
As such, Drew Goddard's script for "Project Hail Mary," as well as Andy Weir's original novel, have numerous pop culture references embedded throughout, most of them delivered by Grace himself. Many viewers/readers have taken notice of these references, and we here at /Film have compiled a fun list of five of them. It's nice to know that, even in the depth of the cosmos, we'll still be making "Star Trek" references.
Shields up!
The star that Dr. Grace must reach is in the Tau Ceti system, about 11.9 lightyears from Earth. The high tech of the time allows Dr. Grace to traverse that distance in hypersleep, which slows his aging process. He also knows that this was a one-way voyage; there's not enough fuel or time for Dr. Grace to return. This is a fact-finding mission, period. While out by the Tau Ceti star, Dr. Grace first sees an alien ship, which looks like a massive bundle of sticks. The sight of the ship, quite naturally, causes Dr. Grace to panic a little bit. He has nothing prepared for such an extraordinary phenomenon.
In a panic, Dr. Grace yells, "Shields up!" The ship's computer, although not sentient, seems confused. He's on a space mission on a 2032-era shuttle. It doesn't have "shields."
Of course, "Shields up" is a common phrase heard on "Star Trek." That series is set in the 23rd century and takes place on the Starship Enterprise, which is indeed equipped with high-energy force fields that can block an attacking vessel's weapons. When a starship is approached by a sketchy enemy vessel, or someone nearby appears to be warming up their phaser banks, someone on the bridge might yell "shields up," preparing for an attack. That line is so simple that many of us have internalized it. I, too, might be a little surprised to learn that the 2032-era space ship I was on didn't also have "Star Trek"-like phasers or shields to fall back on. Sadly, "Project Hail Mary" does not contain a warp-capable vessel.
Rocky's home planet
The alien that Dr. Grace meets looks like an outsize tarantula made of stone, so naturally, he nicknames the creature Rocky. The two learn to communicate, and Dr. Grace eventually sets up an elaborate translation program that allows him to hear what Rocky has to say. In the movie, Rocky is voiced by actor James Ortiz. Dr. Grace is able to do a little calculating, and finds that Rocky comes from the nearby star 40 Eridani-A, which is about 16.5 lightyears from our sun.
As we have written about before, 40 Eridani-A was once posited by NASA to be the star around which the fictional planet Vulcan orbits. Vulcan, of course, is the homeworld of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) on "Star Trek." According to a 2016 NASA report, the system has three suns and might be host to an Earth-like planet that is capable of supporting life. Given its distance from Earth, and the role that Vulcan plays in the "Star Trek" franchise in general, it was easy to posit that 40 Eridani-A was where Vulcan might be located.
That means, of course, that Rocky and Spock technically come from the same star system. Of course, Spock is a humanoid life form that breathes air, while Rocky is a rock-like being that breathes ammonia and contends with gravity much greater than that of Earth's. Rocky's planet is also about 400°F. Rocky and Spock cannot come from the same planet.
And, quite sadly, NASA updated its findings in 2024 to indicate that the "Vulcan" they thought they saw was nothing more than an astronomical illusion. Oh well.
The five notes
When Dr. Grace encounters Rocky's ship, a long tube extends from it, connecting the two vessels. Grace gets into a space suit and cautiously makes his way across the alien bridge, unsure of what he might encounter. He finds a glass-like barrier partway down the corridor, and he is unable to see through to the other side. Nervous, he begins tapping on the "glass," perhaps hoping to signal whatever eerie beings may be on the other side. Not sure what to tap, however, he taps out and hums a five-note tune. D, E, C, C, G.
That tune, of course, was the five-note signal that humans used to communicate with the alien mothership in Steven Spielberg 1977 hit "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." That film climaxes with a spectacular VFX sequence wherein a massive alien spacecraft reveals itself, and a crowd of people below attempt to communicate. They learned that the ship responds to light, color, and sound, and find that the D, E, C, C, G combo is the most effective. The tune is catchy enough to stick in the minds of sci-fi fans everywhere, and it stands to reason that Dr. Grace would remember the five notes when meeting a real alien for the first time.
Naturally, Rocky, lurking in the shadows on the other side of the "glass," hasn't seen "Close Encounters" (or any movies, for that matter), so he doesn't know how to respond. They two find a way to communicate otherwise. Later on, Dr. Grace gives Rocky a crash course in cinema, but they do not watch "Close Encounters."
'At least he's not growing in me'
After working with Rocky for a spell, Dr. Grace begins to relax a little. He finds that Rocky, while an alien, shares many emotional and intellectual impulses with humans, and that they can bond through universal concepts like the perception of time and mathematics. Through the translation machine, Rocky even begins figuring out humor and conversation, and the human and alien begin to bond. Grace even realizes at one point that he is developing a friendship with Rocky. Rocky is growing on him. He adds, "At least he's not growing in me, which was a concern for a while."
This is, of course, Dr. Grace making a reference to Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien." As all sci-fi fans know, that film follows the horrifying biological reproduction process of a bizarre, killer alien species that looks like a phallus/skeleton with teeth. In that film, John Hurt is attacked by a horseshoe-crab-like creature that attaches itself to his face and knocks him out. When examined, it is learned that the creature has rammed an ovipositor down Hurt's throat and is slowly implanting an alien fetus inside his chest. After the crab monster — the facehugger — drops off of Hurt, an alien infant bursts forcibly out through his chest. It's one of the most famous gore scenes in horror movie history.
Rocky, luckily, doesn't reproduce in such a fashion. There are no ovipositors in "Project Hail Mary," and Dr. Grace's body is never forcibly used to incubate the hellish zygotes of murderous space monsters. If one likes that sort of thing, there are nine "Alien" movies and an "Alien" TV series.
'I'm a scientist, not Buck Rogers'
At one point in the "Project Hail Mary" novel, Dr. Grace becomes so overwhelmed by the situation — facing an alien ship for the first time! — he resigns himself to his fate. He was assigned this mission to study potential problems with Earth's sun, not meet aliens almost a dozen lightyears from Earth. As he says at one point, he doesn't really have any kind of recourse if the alien is a killer monster. "If there is hostile intent," he says, "What would I do about it? Die. That's what I'd do. I'm a scientist, not Buck Rogers."
This is a two-in-one reference to both Buck Rogers (natch) and to "Star Trek." Buck Rogers, of course, was the title character of a famous newspaper comic strip that began in 1929, and was expanded into a famous 1939 film serial and, later, a 1950 and a 1979 TV series. No one has heard from Buck Rogers in numerous years — he mostly just shows up in board games these days — but for a long time, his name was synonymous with adventure-forward science fiction. Most people over a certain age still recognize the name, although I am unsure if any Gen-Z kids have ever scraped up against Buck Rogers. Dr. Grace, of course, is no space adventurer.
His phrasing is also reminiscent of a common line spoken by Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) on the original "Star Trek." When asked to take on a task outside his field of experience, McCoy would reply with "I'm a doctor, not a ..." (pick one) "bricklayer/engineer/mechanic/escalator/coal miner." Andy Weir, clearly a Trekkie, likely made this double reference on purpose. It's also an amusing moment of self-awareness in a laidback narrative.