Not everything needs to be a massive, interconnected franchise. As the Alien and Predator franchises enjoy an unexpected renaissance, certain aspects of both universes are content to stay in their respective lanes, including a hit TV show.
Alien: Earth Season 2 is happening, and the plot threads laid down in Season 1 will almost certainly expand Alien’s lore. But if you’re hoping for a sudden cameo from the Yautja, the predators of Predator, don’t expect to see one anytime soon. At least not on showrunner Noah Hawley’s watch.
Speaking to the SmartLess podcast, Hawley made it clear that he has no immediate intention of making his show a Predator show, in addition to already being a sideways prequel to the 1979 Alien film. “It’s not really my plan,” Hawley said, speaking to podcast hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. He also added that despite being in touch with Predator: Badlands director (and overall Predator overseer) Dan Trachtenberg, the pair are “not coordinating” a crossover.
That makes sense, as Trachtenberg’s new film, Predator: Badlands, didn’t go too nuts with the crossover fan service either. While Weyland-Yutani played a role in the story, Badlands’ post-credits scene wasn’t a xenomorph tease, just a hint of new Yautja lore.
The whole concept of the Alien and Predator franchises crossing over comes from a 1989 Dark Horse comic book series, which was parlayed into 2004’s Alien vs. Predator and 2007’s AvP: Requiem. Since then, both franchises have been owned by 20th Century Pictures, though it’s not like there’s been a sit-down where the shared canon of Aliens and Predator was hammered out. Perhaps more than any other sci-fi franchise, the connections between Alien and Predator are tenuous and murky.
Alien vs. Predator is not a well-regarded entry.
Fans aren’t really clamoring for more AvP movies, and in the 1990s, Aliens and Predators were actually fighting everyone in comics, including Superman and Batman. While 20th Century executives have made it clear that a new crossover is in the works, it’s not essential to either franchise’s future. No one is bugging James Gunn about making a Superman/Alien crossover, even though the source material is there, too.
Whenever the big crossover does happen, the Weyland-Yutani that we see in Alien: Earth will almost certainly be focused on other things. After all, as the Season 1 finale revealed, they’ve got bigger chestbursters to fry.
