With Alien and Predator Both on the Rise, Is Another AVP Coming Soon?

Fans of the Alien and Predator franchises person a batch to look guardant to successful 2025. Not lone are we getting 2 caller Predator films from Prey manager Dan Trachtenberg with the live-action Predator: Badlands and the animated Hulu offering Predator: Killer of Killers, but we’re besides acceptable to person different large introduction successful the Alien beingness from Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley with the FX amusement Alien: Earth. Although these projects are not officially connected yet, fans cognize that Alien and Predator person a agelong past arsenic portion of a shared universe, with the 2 iconic monsters crossing paths successful galore films, comic books, and video games.

Examining the latest promotional materials for Predator: Badlands and Alien: Earth whitethorn supply clues that Disney is laying the groundwork for a caller crossover betwixt Alien and Predator. Let’s instrumentality a person look astatine the developments successful these franchises and wherefore we mightiness spot AVP instrumentality to the large surface sooner alternatively than later.

Evil Easter Eggs

The archetypal teaser trailer for Predator: Badlands already made immoderate fans wonderment if a caller Alien vs. Predator was connected its way. The trailer revealed that Elle Fanning volition beryllium playing a Weyland-Yutani synthetic who has a transportation to a caller Predator named Dek, who Trachtenberg confirmed volition beryllium the film’s protagonist. Although a Weyland-Yutani android being an important fig successful a Predator movie doesn’t needfully mean the movie is mounting up a large Alien crossover–the 2 franchises person agelong since cross-pollinated capable wherever this uncover isn’t a immense displacement successful the presumption quo–it does instrumentality connected greater value present that we’ve received caller promotional videos for Alien: Earth.

In the Gestation Complete teaser, determination are aggregate Easter eggs relating to Alien lore. We spot the achromatic liquid mutagen from the opening of Prometheus that is utilized to effect beingness connected Earth by the Engineers. This yet leads to an ovum sac that looks remarkably akin to 1 attached to a partition successful Alien: Romulus. Although the carnal that spills retired of it resembles a facehugger successful shape, it appears to beryllium mutated successful caller ways. This specimen is revealed to beryllium contained connected a vessel resembling the Nostromo from the archetypal film, though this vas is called the Maginot. The carnal is designated “Species 37” (a Mass Effect reference?!) and marked arsenic having chartless DNA by the ship’s computer, MU-TH-UR. Since we cognize the amusement takes spot 2 years anterior to Alien successful the series’ timeline, this indicates that Species 37 was what clued Weyland-Yutani into the Xenomorphs successful the archetypal place, since the Nostromo’s MU-TH-UR and Ash knew what it was earlier they landed connected LV-426.

A related teaser called Crate features specimen containers, with a narrator stating that the vessel “collected 5 antithetic beingness forms from the darkest corners of the universe,” and that each 1 is simply a unsocial species. Although a classical Xenomorph crawls implicit the cardinal crate, the information that we’re getting 5 antithetic taxon means the amusement appears to beryllium expanding the roster of alien creatures successful this beingness by a wide margin. Could 1 of them beryllium related to the Predators? That would surely way with Badlands being acceptable connected an alien satellite wherever the pb Predator Dek seems to beryllium hunting extraterrestrial monstrosities. Perhaps Elle Fanning’s android was searching for immoderate of the specimens featured successful the show? Or possibly 1 of these monsters volition mutate into thing we’ll spot successful Badlands oregon Killer of Killers. We won’t cognize for definite until it premieres, but we wouldn’t beryllium amazed if there’s Predator DNA determination successful Alien: Earth.

Alien and Predator’s Long, Intertwined History

Alien and Predator person been portion of the aforesaid satellite for longer than you mightiness remember. Although the archetypal AVP movie was released successful 2004, the 2 abstraction monsters archetypal clashed successful a 1989 Dark Horse comic bid called Aliens vs. Predator. Predator 2, released the adjacent twelvemonth successful 1990, famously featured an Easter ovum referencing Alien by including a Xenomorph skull connected the trophy partition of the Predator’s ship. Many different AVP comics and video games were released passim the ‘90s, cementing the thought of these 2 creatures having a shared beingness agelong earlier that thought was popularized successful the mainstream by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, they whitethorn person gotten to the inclination excessively early. Although determination were 2 AVP films released successful the 2000s, Paul W. S. Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator successful 2004 and The Brothers Strause’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem successful 2007, the bid failed to drawback connected due to the fact that of mediocre captious and assemblage reception (even though they made wealth astatine the container office). Although serialized superhero and science-fiction blockbusters were starting to instrumentality implicit the satellite astatine the clip successful ample portion due to the fact that of a bid of trends acceptable successful spot by the Star Wars prequel trilogy, not each franchise successful the genre abstraction was fixed the emotion and attraction it needed to past agelong term. AVP was treated arsenic a B-tier spot by 20th Century Fox adjacent though some Alien and Predator had fantabulous films to their names successful the past.

Ridley Scott’s archetypal Alien is 1 of the top fearfulness films ever made, James Cameron’s Aliens is among the astir iconic movie sequels, and John McTiernan’s archetypal Predator is 1 of the champion enactment films of the 1980s. Now, we’re not saying AVP needed to purpose for an Oscar (or are we?), but fewer would reason that the 2 films we received stood up with the champion the idiosyncratic franchises had to offer. The 2010s lone made the concern worse with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus bid ne'er getting a 3rd introduction aft the commercialized disappointment of Alien: Covenant, and Shane Black’s effort to rejuvenate the Predator franchise with The Predator falling level connected its face. But aft the occurrence of Prey successful 2022 and Alien: Romulus successful 2024, Alien and Predator person seen their fortunes crook around.

And present that we’ve seen teases of their upcoming projects, the thought of a caller AVP seems person than ever.

Converging for Carnage

We besides person to support successful caput that a sequel to Alien: Romulus is presently successful development, and that manager Fede Álvarez is not conscionable attached to instrumentality for that film, but has besides outright stated helium would beryllium funny successful directing an Alien vs. Predator film. Romulus was a large captious and commercialized occurrence for Disney, relaunching the franchise aft the Prometheus bid fell isolated portion inactive keeping that portion of the marque live with the Engineer-alike monster successful the 3rd act. Cailee Spaeny’s Rain Carradine and David Jonsson’s Andy are presently successful stasis heading to Yvaga III, with a nonstop sequel presumably picking up with those 2 and their continued voyage successful the acheronian reaches of space. But with Badlands besides acceptable successful the stars, could we spot immoderate cameos oregon Easter eggs successful that movie hinting astatine a Romulus connection?

In fact, Álvarez precocious said that the champion mode to bash an Alien vs. Predator movie would beryllium to person it beryllium a astonishment to audiences:

“The champion AVP volition beryllium the 1 that you don’t cognize is AVP until the different feline shows up,” the filmmaker precocious told Collider. “You deliberation you’re watching a Predator movie, and past they onshore successful immoderate spot and determination are creatures, and fucking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. … Or vice versa, you’re successful an Alien movie, and past abruptly a mysterious carnal is there, and you tin perceive that sound, and you spot the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a fucking Predator?’”

Álvarez coming crossed excited by the thought of AVP gives america anticipation that a caller instrumentality connected the mash-up volition win wherever the erstwhile ones fell short. Setting some of those films connected a modern Earth constricted their scope considerably, and they struggled to get the assemblage invested successful immoderate of their two-dimensional characters. The films were truthful rejected by the fanbase that an AVP relaunch could propulsion those movies retired of continuity without immoderate hassles and commencement implicit with a cleanable slate. With Badlands switching up the Predator look by casting a Predator arsenic the pb character, possibly Dek (provided helium survives Badlands) could beryllium the main leader of a caller AVP. As well, different introduction successful the crossover bid could yet grow connected the Predalien conception introduced successful those films. Maybe immoderate Engineer mutagen could make a being that’s portion Alien, portion Predator, and portion Engineer? Now that would beryllium terrifying.

Whatever happens with each of these upcoming projects, some Alien and Predator are successful a overmuch healthier authorities present than they person been successful years. Yet that besides means that the thought of making a due crossover movie betwixt the 2 astir surely has to beryllium connected Disney’s radar, particularly since an Alien vs. Predator match-up is conscionable astir the biggest “event” you tin get wrong this franchise. With cinematic universes and cross-medium integration much fashionable than ever, a caller AVP feels much similar a question of erstwhile alternatively of if. Especially with talented filmmakers similar Álvarez and Trachtenberg present associated with the property, possibly these 2 iconic monsters volition yet get the large surface conflict they truthful rightly deserve.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.