Movies

It Feels Like We’re Headed for the Aliens vs. Predator Crossover Event Fans Always Deserved

Predator: Badlands includes connective elements with the Alien franchise, suggesting that a new Aliens vs. Predator could be on the way.

Predator: Badlands is seemingly setting up a new Aliens vs. Predator movie, which could be the crossover of the two beloved movie monsters that fans have been yearning for. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg of 2022’s Prey and the Hulu animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator: Badlands follows an exiled Predator, or Yautja, named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), who is forced to battle many other extraterrestrial foes in his banishment from the Predator society. Dek also finds an unlikely ally in the android Thia (Elle Fanning), with her role in Badlands also setting up some surprising connectivity with the Alien franchise.

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The Aliens vs. Predator franchise famously brought the two creatures into battle in everything from comic books to trading cards. However, 2004’s Alien vs. Predator and 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem failed to make the same impact on cinema screens, with both being subject to a terrible all-around reception and general disdain among both Alien and Predator fans. However, if the Alien Easter eggs seen in the Predator: Badlands teaser trailer and some of the movie’s character details are any indication, Aliens vs. Predator might just have a third turn at bat as an incoming capstone to Alien and Predator‘s recent revivals in popularity.

Predator: Badlands Has Some Major Alien Easter Eggs

Predator: Badlands promises to be a Predator movie like no other with its radical shift to focusing upon the outcast Yautja Dek as its main protagonist. At the same time, Badlands also seems to be pulling a Predator 2 with its inclusion of at least one major Alien Easter egg, though its going far deeper than a xenomorph skull being featured in a Predator trophy room by featuring Elle Fanning’s as the Weyland-Yutani android (or “synthetic” human) Thia. In fact, Thia will seemingly be the primary human(oid) protagonist of Badlands with her reported role as an ally of Dek’s.

What’s also interesting is how much the Badlands teaser trailer seems to place some subtle but noticeable emphasis on the Weyland-Yutani corporation’s presence in the story. One image of Thia in the teaser includes the Weyland-Yutani logo itself visible in her eyes, while the logo is also glimpsed on a truck in a scene featuring Dek battling a larger alien creature. Singularly, the Alien references seen in Badlands‘ first teaser seem to set up further connectivity between both franchises in the future, and that particular endeavor could not have come at a better time.

The Alien and Predator Franchises Are Undergoing a Simultaneous Renaissance (Which Makes Crossing Them Over Much More Viable)

Alien Earth poster with a Xenomorph

The Alien and Predator franchises have had their respective ups and downs, but it is arguable that the two have never been on fire at the same time as much have since 2022. Predator took quite a dive with the reception and box office underperformance of 2018’s The Predator, only for the 2022 release of Trachtenberg’s Prey on Hulu to give the Predator franchise a colossal revitalization, with Prey even earning positive comparisons to the 1987 original Predator. The animated follow-up, Predator: Killer of Killers, also capitalized phenomenally on Prey‘s reception, with Predator: Badlands gaining an added boost of goodwill and genuine excitement as the Predator franchise’s long-awaited and highly anticipated return to cinema screens.

Running parallel to the Predator franchise’s resurgence, the Alien franchise has done much the same in roughly the same time. 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant were each among the most divisive installments of the Alien franchise, with the latter also seeing a significant box office dip. However, 2024’s Alien: Romulus ended up being the well-received hit the Alien franchise was waiting decades for (and one that didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water either, with its own connections and references to both the most popular and most loathed Alien movies).

Much like Dan Trachtenberg’s stewardship of the new wave of Predator, Fede รlvarez is also shepherding Alien with similar world-building and lore expansion in an upcoming sequel, as will the upcoming Alien: Earth streaming series from Noah Hawley. Seeing Alien and Predator firing on all cylinders to a degree that neither has arguably seen since their initial glory days, along with both greatly expanding upon their worlds and Predator: Badlands planting seeds from the Alien franchise into its story, the iron keeps getting hotter for a potential third try at an Aliens vs. Predator crossover.

A New Aliens vs. Predator Could Be the Perfect Payoff for the Alien and Predator Franchises Being Revitalized

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While the Aliens vs. Predator movies are generally regarded as the low point of both franchises, both also have clearly gone through their individual struggles before and since with polarizing movies and hit-and-miss box office numbers. Both Alien and Predator have diversified their foundations by embracing both streaming and theatrical releases, and as a result of the strong reception to Alien: Romulus, Prey, and Predator: Killer of Killers, and the equally strong anticipation for Alien: Earth and Predator: Badlands, it’s safe to say that both extraterrestrials have gotten their houses in order. That makes talks about a new Aliens vs. Predator not only an entirely viable proposition, but one that could mark a real victory lap for the Alien and Predator renaissance.

Considering how well รlvarez and Trachtenberg have captained the individual Alien and Predator ships, the two are certainly more than qualified to tackle a new Aliens vs. Predator project together (รlvarez himself having suggested a possible AVP collaboration with Trachtenberg). As the end result of รlvarez and Trachtenberg’s work on the Alien and Predator franchises, such a collaboration could really be the crossover that fans of the extraterrestrial monsters have waited for, thanks to the continued lore and world-building that รlvarez and Trachtenberg would bring to it. With Predator: Badlands clearly signaling the possibility of a third Aliens vs. Predator movie, the payoff it could provide for Alien and Predator‘s individual revivals could well be the very crowning achievement they’re headed for.

Alien: Earth begins streaming on Hulu on August 12th, and Predator: Badlands will be released in theaters on November 7th.