Alien vs. Predator (also known as Aliens versus Predator and AVP) is a science fiction action horror media franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between, and part of, the larger Alien and Predator franchises, depicting the two species — Xenomorph (Alien) and Yautja (Predator) — as being in conflict with one another.
It began as a comic book series in 1989, before being adapted into a video game series in the 1990s. Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film series began with Alien vs. Predator (2004), directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, and was followed by Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), directed by the Brothers Strause, and the development of a third film has been delayed indefinitely. The series has led to numerous novels, comics, and video game spin-offs such as Aliens vs. Predator (2010).
Premise The Alien vs. Predator franchise depicts a series of deadly encounters between humanity and other extraterrestrial species: the Xenomorphs, ferocious, endoparasitoid creatures; and the Yautjas, technologically advanced warriors that hunt for personal sport, honor, and to colonize planets. Predominantly transpiring in the present day of the 21st century (with both films taking place in 2004, and the second film taking place immediately after the first), the series acts as a spin-off and prequel to the Alien franchise portraying humankind's encounters with alien species and life forms, and how they helped shape human civilization, technology and weaponry such as the Colonial Marines, the United Americas, the Nostromo, and those involved with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation that is seen in the Alien franchise of the future.
Throughout the series, audiences see the involvement of the forerunners of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in the history of these alien creatures as Weyland Industries, headed by Charles Bishop Weyland (one of the many within the Weyland family), who seeks immortality and the advancement of the company, whereas the Yutani Corporation, headed by Ms. Cullen Yutani, seeks to study creatures from space and acquire their technology and weaponry for organized warfare. Amidst the actions of the two corporations, human characters are forced to survive infestations of Xenomorphs and clashes with Yautjas, leading to the future merger between the two companies and the development of interstellar travel and eventually wars with different races from space and other advanced technologies. This also leads to the future events of the Alien franchise.
Background The first Alien vs. Predator story was published by Dark Horse Comics in Dark Horse Presents #34–36 (November 1989 – February 1990), leading to the popular The Machiko Noguchi Saga, following a woman who joins the hunt of the Predators (Yautja). In November 1990, Predator 2 was released in theaters and included a scene depicting an Alien (Xenomorph) skull as one of the Predator's trophies. Over the coming years, Fox had been pursuing a cinematic adaptation of the concept to advance the Alien and Predator franchises further, and Peter Briggs was tasked with the job to write an early script for the project and eventually pitched an idea titled The Hunt: Alien vs. Predator in 1994. However, the pitch was rejected and development of the film remained stuck in development hell for almost a decade before the first feature film was released in 2004 under the helm of Paul W. S. Anderson, titled Alien vs. Predator, with a sequel by the Brothers Strause, titled Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, eventually released in 2007. Ellen Ripley does not appear in this franchise, as it takes place more than a century prior to the events of the Alien series.
The first actor to be cast for Alien vs. Predator was Lance Henriksen, who played the characters Bishop and Michael Bishop Weyland in Aliens and Alien 3 (and Aliens: Colonial Marines). Although the Alien films are set 150 years in the future, Anderson wanted to keep continuity and a shared universe with the series by including a familiar actor. Henriksen plays billionaire and self-taught-engineer Charles Bishop Weyland, a character which ties in with the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as the original founder and CEO of Weyland Industries. Henriksen later returned to the franchise through the role of Karl Bishop Weyland, a descendant of Charles Weyland, in the 2010 video game Aliens vs. Predator.
According to Anderson, Weyland becomes known for the discovery of the pyramid, and as a result, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation models the Bishop android in the Alien films after him; "when the Bishop android is created in 150 years time, it's created with the face of the creator. It's kind of like Microsoft building an android in 100 years time that has the face of Bill Gates." The Brothers Strause also mentioned how the ending of their sequel built further upon establishing the future of the universe by having the Predator technology acquired by Yutani Corporation (and by extension, OWLF, and Project Stargazer of the Predator films) act as the impetus for the development of advanced technologies such as FTL (faster-than-light travel) drives fitted aboard spaceships.Woerner, Meredith (October 28, 2010). "The Third Aliens Vs. Predator Movie Would Have Served as a Prequel to Alien." io9.Gizmodo.com. Gawker Media. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
Furthermore, the 2018 film titled The Predator featured several references to Alien vs. Predator like the shurikens, mask designs, and Alexa's spear which the Predator named Scar made out of an Alien tail. An alternate ending for The Predator displaying a Weyland-Yutani Corp pod containing Ripley and Newt from Aliens (both played by Breanna Watkins) wearing a Weyland-Yutani breathing apparatus shaped like a Xenomorph Facehugger was also intended to further connect to the Alien saga.
Films Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter Story by Producers Alien vs. Predator Paul W. S. Anderson Paul W. S. Anderson, Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett John Davis, Gordon Carroll, David Giler and Walter Hill Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Greg and Colin Strause Shane Salerno John Davis, David Giler and Walter Hill
Alien vs. Predator (2004)
In 2004, a Predator mothership arrives in Earth's orbit to draw humans to an ancient Predator training ground on Bouvetøya, an island about one thousand miles north of Antarctica. A buried pyramid giving off a "heat bloom" attracts a group of explorers led by billionaire and self-taught engineer Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen), the original founder and CEO of Weyland Industries, who unknowingly activates an Alien egg production line as a hibernating Alien Queen is awakened within the pyramid. Three Predators descend on the planet and enter the structure, killing all humans in their way with the intention of hunting the newly formed Aliens, while the scattered explorers are captured alive by Aliens and implanted with embryos. Two Predators die in the ensuing battle with an Alien, whereas the third allies itself with the lone surviving human, Alexa "Lex" Woods (Sanaa Lathan), while making their way out of the pyramid as it is destroyed by the Predator's wrist bomb and eventually does battle with the escaped Alien Queen on the surface. The Queen is defeated by being dragged down by a water tower into the dark depths of the frozen sea, but not before she fatally wounds the last Predator. The orbiting Predator mothership uncloaks and the crew retrieves the fallen Predator. A Predator elder gives Lex a spear as a sign of respect, and then departs. Once in orbit, it is revealed that an Alien Chestburster was present within the corpse, thus a Predalien hybrid is born.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Set immediately after the events of the previous film, the Predalien hybrid aboard the Predator scout ship, having just separated from the mothership, has grown to full adult size and goes about killing the Predators aboard the ship, causing it to crash in the small town of Gunnison, Colorado. The last surviving Predator activates a distress beacon containing a video recording of the Predalien, which is received by a veteran Predator on the Predator homeworld, who sets off towards Earth to "clean up" the infestation. When it arrives, the Predator tracks the Aliens into a section of the sewer below the town. He removes evidence of their presence as he moves along using a corrosive blue liquid and uses a laser net to try to contain the creatures, but the Aliens still manage to escape into the town above. The Predator fashions a plasma pistol from its remaining plasma caster and hunts Aliens all across town, accidentally cutting the power to the town in the process. During a confrontation with human survivors, the Predator loses its plasma pistol. The Predator then fights the Predalien singlehandedly, and the two mortally wound one another just as the US air force drops a tactical nuclear bomb on the town, incinerating both combatants along with the Predalien's warriors and hive, as well as the few remaining humans in the town. The salvaged plasma pistol is then taken to Ms. Cullen Yutani of the Yutani Corporation, foreshadowing an advancement in technology leading to the future events of the Alien films.
Future Colin and Greg Strause were adamant that they wanted to develop Alien vs. Predator 3 during the production of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. They essentially sought to make an AVP-film in space and set in the future, but by the time they were hired, 20th Century Fox had already decided to go with Salerno's script set on Earth. They incorporated elements of their ideas into the second film, like the Predator home planet. In 2008, "an anonymous source over at 20th Century Fox got in touch with us over the weekend to relay the news another Aliens vs. Predator sequel is a 'certainty' at this point. If you recall, the brothers Strause – who helmed the Christmas release Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – stated Fox was going to take a 'wait-and-see' approach to a third chapter, furthermore, that the story would have to continue in space."Giles, Jeff (March 11, 2008). "Fox Brewing Alien vs. Predator 3?" RottenTomatoes.com. Flixster, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
On October 28, 2010, io9 published an exclusive interview with the Brothers Strause in which they revealed that Alien vs. Predator 3 would have led directly into Alien. Greg Strause stated, "The original ending for AVPR, that we pitched them, ended up on the Alien homeward [sic], and actually going from the Predator gun, that you see at the end, it was going to transition from that gun to a logo of a Weyland-Yutani spaceship that was heading to an alien planet. And then we were actually going to cut down to the surface [of the alien planet] and you were going to see a hunt going on. It was going to be a whole tribe of predators going against this creature that we called "King Alien." It's this huge giant winged alien thing. And that was going to be the lead-in, to show that the fact that the Predator gun [at the end of AVPR] is the impetus of all the technological advancements that allowed humans to travel in space. Which leads up to the Alien timeline."