For over 30 of our Earth years now, the alien Xenomorphs and predatory Yautja have had intergalactic beef. The extra-terrestrial rivalry of cinema’s lairiest lifeforms began in 1989 in a Dark Horse comic, while the following year’s big-screen Predator 2 upped the stakes by placing a phallic skull from H.R. Giger’s snarling beast in the dreadlocked hunter’s trophy cabinet. But when the two species finally came to blows cinematically – in 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, and 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – that potential never quite came to fruition. (Paul W.S. Anderson’s film is trashy fun; the Brothers Strause’s follow-up widely derided. Neither are considered canon.)
But, do you hear that? The sound of space-dreadlocks brushing up against acid blood? It might not just be you. There are signs that ‘Alien vs. Predator’ may, indeed, be back – and not just on the horizon, but already here. Evidence is mounting that their worlds are colliding again, dotted among the beasties’ recent outings.
And there’s plenty of crossover potential, since both Alien and Predator are in rude health right now. The Disney-owned 20th Century Studios (yes, the Alien Queen is technically a Disney princess now) has been putting that I.P. to good use. Predator came first, with Dan Trachtenberg delivering the excellent Prey in 2022; this year, he’s already followed it up in animated anthology feature Predator: Killer Of Killers, with the live-action Predator: Badlands just a few months away. On the Alien side, last year brought us Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus on the big screen, while Noah Hawley’s series Alien: Earth streams later this summer. In those projects, there are already signs that the ultimate interstellar turf war is raging again.
Fun as 2004’s AvP is, we surely haven’t seen the best version of an Alien vs. Predator movie.
The most concrete evidence comes in the trailer for Predator: Badlands – which, for the first time, will feature a Yautja itself as the film’s protagonist. That creature will be joined by Elle Fanning as Thia, an android created by – you guessed it – Alien’s Weyland-Yutani corporation; their logo can be spotted on Thia’s eyeball in the teaser.
It’s confirmation that Badlands is firmly set in the same continuity as the Alien saga. And there are other signs of shared DNA too. The final act of Predator: Killer Of Killers (SPOILERS AHEAD!) sees a trio of Earth heroes from across time brought to a Yautja battle planet, where one will have to fight its fearsome hulking leader – who dons a cloak of bones that seem to be made from Xenomorph tails. They’re long and barbed at the end, in a way that looks particularly familiar, though no confirmation has yet been given that the spines come from Alien’s signature aliens.
Fans are theorising, too, that Predator’s “ugly motherfucker” might make an appearance in this summer’s Alien: Earth. The series is set in 2120 on (no prizes here) Earth, two years before the events of Alien, and concerns an early case of Xenomorph contact amid a scramble of warring tech companies, Weyland-Yutani included. Recent trailers have kicked off much speculation that the Predator’s trademark clicking sound can be heard in the mix. Listen out at 54 seconds here:
Now, maybe take that one with a grain of salt – there are, very possibly, other species out there who like to click. Perhaps it’s a seriously pissed-off dolphin. But given that the Alien and Predator streams seem to be crossing elsewhere, it appears both the studio and audiences are ready for a battle royale. In late 2024, 20th Century Studios exec Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that a crossover is “probably” on the cards, but that it wouldn’t arrive “in the way you think”. “Not in the way that it will just be called Alien vs. Predator or anything like the original movies,” he teased. “If we do this, they’ll be organically created out of these two franchises that we’ve continued with characters that we fall in love with and those characters will combine… perhaps.” That sounds… well, exactly like what current evidence points at.
There is, undeniably, plenty of potential in a rematch. Fun as 2004’s AvP is, we surely haven’t seen the best version of an Alien vs. Predator movie. And with the Predator series flying high again, Earth to come this summer, and a Romulus sequel entering production soon, both champions are in peak condition right now. Bring on the next royal rumble. Ding ding ding!