“Those Characters Will Combine… Perhaps:” Alien Vs. Predator’s Potential New Crossover Is Exactly What The 2000s Movies Should’ve Been

The Alien and Predator franchises have always felt like natural candidates for a cinematic crossover, and the potential for another shot at it has never been higher, at least not since the failure of the 2000s movies featuring the two iconic extraterrestrials. The xenomorphs of the Alien franchise are described as the perfect organism, so naturally they would be the ultimate prize for the galaxy’s greatest hunters, the creatures known as Predators. After several decades of separate movies, they finally met in 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, and then once more in 2007’s Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.

Unfortunately, both movies were critical bombs, and despite modest box office success, plans for a third entry in the joint franchise were put on the backburner after Requiem. Both franchises progressed forward separately, with both putting out an excellent entry within the last few years that reignited interest in each series. The tight, brutal prequel Prey proved how many more stories were left to be told across the light years and eons about the Predators, while Alien: Romulus brought the franchise back to its claustrophobic, terrifying roots. Naturally, talk about a crossover has picked back up in recent years.

A New Alien Vs. Predator Movie Will “Probably” Happen

20th Century Exec Steve Asbell Provided Insight

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in late 2024, 20th Century Studios executive Steve Asbell shed some light on whether a clash between the Yautja and the xenomorphs was in the works. After discussing plans surrounding the Predator franchise, including the upcoming movie Predator: Badlands, Asbell was asked very directly about whether audiences would get another Alien vs. Predator movie. The studio exec simply said that we will “probably” see another Alien vs. Predator movie, understandably drawing a tepid response from the interviewer from The Hollywood Reporter.

Although the two theatrical releases of the expansive Alien vs. Predator franchise were eviscerated by both critics and moviegoers, there is plenty of other media that has been successful. The crossover franchise actually began as a comic book series in 1989, and much of the written material since then has been far stronger than the shoddy movies. Most of the expanded lore of the Yautja culture has been fleshed out in novels, graphic novels, and comic books, so there is plenty of source material for a new iteration of Alien vs. Predator on the big screen.

The New Alien Vs. Predator Would Be An Organic Crossover Between The Franchises

The Two Creatures Would Meet Within A Sensible Context

Asbell was quick to clarify that a new movie pitting Predators and xenomorphs against each other would not be a continuation of the earlier movies, and in fact wouldn’t be anything like what audiences might expect given the crossover franchise’s history. One of the key points that Asbell hit on was the organic quality of the two species’ interaction, which was a big criticism of the original Alien vs. Predator movies. They are not even considered canon to the Alien franchise, given that the xenomorph origins given in those movies clash with the origin described in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.

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. But we haven’t gotten to that point. And we’re not just going to bang it out.

To hear Asbell tell it, a crossover between the two franchises likely wouldn’t even be a separate and distinct movie. The “organic” crossover that he describes could mean that one of the two creatures shows up in their adversary’s movie. With multiple Predator projects in development and the television series Alien: Earth debuting in 2025, there are plenty of opportunities for the seeds of a crossover to be sewn.

With The Proper Buildup, Alien Vs. Predator Can Be Disney’s Answer To The Monsterverse

The Two Characters Can Parallel Godzilla And Kong

Again referring to the expanded Alien vs. Predator franchise as opposed to the two movies from the 2000s, there is plenty of appetite and opportunity for a shared universe between the two sci-fi icons. Given the proper amount of time and attention, Disney (who is behind 20th Century Studios) could craft a legitimate cinematic universe centered around the rivalry between the two species. Just as Legendary did with the Godzilla and King Kong properties, Disney can flesh out a series of movies or television shows that explore the two creatures’ shared universe before throwing them together.

Admittedly, they shouldn’t follow the Legendary game plan to the letter. It would be fairly jarring to see the perfect killing machines that are the xenomorphs tag-teaming an enemy with a fully-armed and lethal Predator, so there’s no reason to go in that direction unless there seems to be real audience appetite for it. But building towards a new Alien vs. Predator movie (or series of movies) as opposed to just jumping into one immediately could be the secret formula to effectively combine the Alien and Predator franchises.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Alien vs. Predator

Created by

Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Cast

Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, Ewen Bremner, Colin Salmon, Tommy Flanagan, Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis

Summary

“Alien vs. Predator” is a crossover science fiction franchise that brings together the iconic extraterrestrial creatures from the “Alien” and “Predator” film series. The franchise explores the deadly encounters between the Predators, a race of hunters, and the Xenomorphs, a species of hostile and deadly aliens. Initially hinted at in the late 1980s, the franchise officially launched with a film in 2004, combining elements of horror, action, and science fiction. It has since expanded into films, comics, video games, and other media.

Expand