Releasing on June 13, 2025, Jordan Peele’s upcoming filmNopestars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun, and appears to feature an extraterrestrial threat plaguing a small desert community. With all that the trailers have shown so far, it certainly seems like aliens are invading — but is that really the case, or is there something else lurking beneath the obvious premise?
The trailers that have been released have already shown audiences a look at the alien threat, which takes some sting out of the main monster of the film. However,Peele’s out-of-the-box thinkingand his approach to genre pictures in the past suggest that there may be more than meets the eye in this isolated town.
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In 2019, Universal Pictures announced a 5-year deal with Peele and his production company Monkeypaw Productions, to create more projects driven by story and delving into genre movies. Following this partnership,Nopewas announced in the fall of 2020 with almost no information released other than Peele was set to write, direct and produce the film. The cast announcements slowly began to follow. Frequent Peele collaboratorsDaniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer were the first cast membersconfirmed, followed by Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, and Barbie Ferreira.
Up until the latest trailer, there was only speculation surrounding the plot of the film. It was clear that it focused on Palmer and Kaluuya’s characters and that some kind of threat from the skies. The full trailer, released in February, showed more of the characters. Palmer and Kaluuya play the Haywood siblings, OJ and Emerald, runningHaywood Hollywood Horses, a horse training ranchin a small town when something from above the clouds makes its presence known. The trailer is filled with dread, utilizing the type of soundtrack horror fans will instantly recognize. It’s filled with lots of small details that are blink-and-you’ll-miss-ts. Kaluuya’s character wears aScorpion Kinghoodie and has a flip phone, Steven Yeun’s character Ricky “Jupe” Park is running some kind of alien viewing show featuring plushies of the extraterrestrials, and Keke Palmer flies off into the sky. The main image is of something in the sky,camouflaged by clouds and trailing a string of brightly colored flags.
Dropping this trailer at 3 am sent the internet into a frenzy, with theories coming thick and fast about what exactly is happening in the film. It is clear that aliens are involved, but some theories suggest that the movie is taking place in the past, citing Kaluuya’s Scorpion King hoodie and flip phone and the fact the aliens are performing “bad miracles,” perhaps even turning horses into humans. While this may sound like a long shot, it does seem that the characters need horses in order to interact with the aliens.Kaluuya is seen asking Palmer"What’s a bad miracle?"
The final trailer gave an even more in-depth look at the film, and it’s also a lot more light-hearted than the first trailer. It opens with the death of the Haywood siblings' father, before transitioning to Yeun’s character telling a crowd that they are about to see something amazing. From there, the siblings plan to catch the aliens on tape, go to a Fry’s Electronics store, and purchase a wide array of AV equipment. They also call up the director (Michael Wincott) of the commercial they were shooting in the initial trailer to help themget the “Oprah shot.”
During the final trailer, the “aliens,” if that’s what they are, take people out of the town leaving empty bleachers and studios. The characters speculate that they can’t take people if they can’t see them, and make a point of not looking at whatever is stalking them from above. Whatever is in the skies rains what appears to be blood down on the Haywood ranch. When OJ is asked what he saw in the clouds, he responds “It’s not what you think.”
Putting together what has been shown so far with the dialogue, it definitely seems to suggest that more is going on than just a simple alien invasion. The merchandise at Park’salien viewing showis very generic looking, with little grey-headed alien plush toys — but there are also alien head masks labeled “Alien Viewer,” which that suggests people figure out that they can’t look at them directly. There is also the matter of the design of the aliens on the merchandise. It could just be a standard alien representation, meaning that people haven’t actually seen the creatures beyond the cloud cover. There is a moment in the trailer when OJ is being chased by what looks like a small grey alien, but is it just someone wearing one of Park’s masks?
Looking at all the evidence so far, there is definitely a case for the adversary inNopebeing something other than extraterrestrial. Or, if it is an alien film, they may behave unlike anyon-screen aliens that have come before them. Time will tell whether the fan theories are correct or if they are way off base, but either way, Peele is sure to please the fans eager for more of his work.
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