The Aliens and Predators have been at war for quite some time. While the franchise did receive two films, there have been countless comics, novels, and merchandise that his pit the xenomorphs against the technologically advanced hunters. While there has never been an anime that sees these two properties going head-to-head, you might be surprised to learn that not only was an animated series approved, but it was finished and remains unseen by fans to this day.
Former Fox Executive, Joshua Izzo, recently took the opportunity to chat with podcast Perfect Organism, revealing the shocking info that not only had an Alien Vs Predator animated series been approved, but it was also finished and simply hasn’t been released to the public as of yet. Here’s how Izzo described when the project was originally going to be released, and just how long it has been trapped inside a vault:
Videos by ComicBook.com
“This was going to be initially released on Alien Day in 2016. That was the plan. Now what happened was, as we were going forward Ridley came back to Fox and said “I want to make another alien movie.” This was going to be Covenant. And Shane came and said “I want to make a Predator movie” which was going to be The Predator. AvP as a brand was something that was frowned upon at the time at Fox because those movies underperformed but meanwhile the intellectual property…just those words put together – Alien versus Predator – from a consumer products and a publishing perspective still worked.”
While not confirmed, Izzo hinted at the director of the project, who very well might have been Shinji Aramaki. Aramaki, for those who might be unfamiliar with his work, helped produce Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Applessed, Ultraman, and Harlock: Space Pirate to name a few. Izzo then took the opportunity to break down some of the Predators that appeared in the unreleased animated series, “One of the Predators is a cyborg and has a fully cybernetic arm and a cybernetic mandible. It’s super rad. One we called Bone because all of his weapons were made out of giant tusks. He was so cool.”
Izzo went on to describe that there was a vast amount of work that was being done outside of 20th Century Studios originally when it came to the animated series. Companies such as NECA, Titan, and Dark Horse Comics were all working on different projects related to the animated series, “I had deals signed. NECA was developing, Titan was working on an art book and a novel. Dark Horse was working on a comic book series. Those were all in process. Somewhere in the world, there is stuff that was being done. Someone has pictures. Anywho, so that kind of that was going to be one of the big driving forces behind Alien Day 2016.”
Do you think we’ll ever see this Alien Vs Predator anime? Which project for either Alien or Predator are you most looking forward to in the future? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of these alien nightmares.
