Is Another AVP Movie on the Horizon with Alien and Predator's Rise?

Fans of the Alien and Predator franchises are in for a thrilling 2025, with exciting new additions to both universes. From the mind of Prey director Dan Trachtenberg, we're getting not one, but two new Predator films: the live-action Predator: Badlands and the animated Hulu series Predator: Killer of Killers. On the Alien side, Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley is bringing us the FX show Alien: Earth. While these projects aren't officially linked, the history of Alien and Predator sharing a universe is well-known, with their iconic clashes featured in films, comics, and video games.

Analyzing the promotional materials for Predator: Badlands and Alien: Earth suggests that Disney might be setting the stage for a new Alien vs. Predator crossover. Let’s dive into the details of these developments and explore why we might see AVP back on the big screen sooner than expected.

The teaser trailer for Predator: Badlands has sparked speculation among fans about a potential new Alien vs. Predator film. It features Elle Fanning as a Weyland-Yutani synthetic connected to a new Predator named Dek, confirmed as the film's protagonist by Trachtenberg. While a Weyland-Yutani android in a Predator film isn't a definitive sign of an Alien crossover, the significance grows when combined with new promotional videos for Alien: Earth.

The Gestation Complete teaser for Alien: Earth is filled with Easter eggs linked to Alien lore. It shows the black liquid mutagen from Prometheus, leading to an egg sac similar to one seen in Alien: Romulus. A mutated facehugger-like creature emerges, contained on a ship called the Maginot, reminiscent of the Nostromo. The creature is labeled as "Species 37" with unknown DNA by the ship's computer, MU-TH-UR. Given that the show is set two years before the events of Alien, this could indicate that Species 37 was Weyland-Yutani's first encounter with the Xenomorphs.

Alien and Predator’s Long, Intertwined History

The Alien and Predator franchises have been intertwined since the 1989 Dark Horse comic series Aliens vs. Predator, long before their first film crossover in 2004. Predator 2 included a Xenomorph skull as an Easter egg, and numerous AVP comics and video games followed, establishing their shared universe well before the Marvel Cinematic Universe popularized the concept.

Despite early success, the AVP films released in the 2000s, including Paul W. S. Anderson's Alien vs. Predator and The Brothers Strause's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, were met with poor reception despite box office earnings. The superhero and sci-fi genre was on the rise, yet AVP was treated as a B-tier property by 20th Century Fox, despite the legacy of iconic films like Ridley Scott's Alien, James Cameron's Aliens, and John McTiernan's Predator. The 2010s saw further challenges with Ridley Scott's Prometheus series and Shane Black's The Predator, but recent successes like Prey in 2022 and Alien: Romulus in 2024 have revitalized interest in both franchises.

With teasers for upcoming projects, the prospect of a new AVP seems closer than ever.

A sequel to Alien: Romulus is currently in development, with director Fede Álvarez returning and expressing interest in directing an Alien vs. Predator film. Romulus was a critical and commercial success, relaunching the franchise while maintaining ties to the Prometheus series. With characters like Rain Carradine and Andy in stasis heading to Yvaga III, a direct sequel could explore further connections to Predator: Badlands, which is also set in space.

Álvarez suggested that the best AVP film would be one where the crossover is a surprise, as he told Collider: “The best AVP will be the one that you don’t know is AVP until the other guy shows up. You think you’re watching a Predator movie, and then they land in some place and there are creatures, and fucking hell, it’s a Xenomorph. That would get me. … Or vice versa, you’re in an Alien movie, and then suddenly a mysterious creature is there, and you can hear that sound, and you see the cloak, and you go, ‘Is that a fucking Predator?’”

The Alien Movies' Long History of Recycling Rejected Ideas

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Álvarez's enthusiasm for an AVP film offers hope for a successful new take on the crossover. The previous AVP films were limited by their Earth setting and underdeveloped characters, leading to fan rejection. A new AVP could disregard those films and start fresh, perhaps featuring Dek as the lead hero or exploring the Predalien concept further. With the possibility of Engineer mutagen creating a hybrid being, the potential for a thrilling new narrative is immense.

With both Alien and Predator franchises thriving, the idea of a crossover film is undoubtedly on Disney's radar. In an era where cinematic universes and cross-medium storytelling are popular, a new AVP film seems more like a matter of when, not if. With talented directors like Álvarez and Trachtenberg involved, these iconic monsters might finally get the epic battle they deserve on the big screen.