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Alien vs. Predator (franchise)

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The Alien vs. Predator franchise, also known variously as Aliens vs. Predator, Aliens versus Predator and occasionally Aliens/Predator, commonly abbreviated as AVP, is a science fiction action franchise created as a crossover between the Alien and Predator franchises that focuses on confrontations between the two titular species, often with humanity caught in between. The franchise — and indeed the entire concept — started with an Aliens vs. Predator comic book short story published in Dark Horse Presents #36 in February 1990, and eventually led to a series of two films, Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).

Since the first comic story, numerous video games, novels and other comics have been produced. The first cinematic crossover between the two species actually took place in the 1990 film Predator 2, in which a Xenomorph skull is briefly glimpsed inside a Yautja trophy cabinet, although the creatures did not formally meet on the big screen until Alien vs. Predator in 2004. A common element appearing in the AVP franchise is the creature known as the Predalien, acting as a literal crossover between the two titular species.

Proper Franchise Name

Unlike the well-defined Alien and Predator franchises, the exact title of the Alien vs. Predator series has taken many slightly different forms over the course of its history, chiefly regarding the pluralization (or not) of "Alien" in the title. The current accepted format is Alien vs. Predator, denoting a crossover between the franchises spawned by the 1979 film Alien and the 1987 film Predator. However, the original title of the AVP concept, as created by Dark Horse Comics in 1989, was Aliens vs. Predator, stemming from the fact the series began as a crossover involving the company's Aliens comics line. This plural format remains by far the most commonly used with regards to the AVP comics, and is correct when referring to the comic line specifically.

However, for the first feature film based on the concept, the singular title Alien vs. Predator was used; at the time, several comic book spin-offs based on this film also adopted the singular title. The feature film sequel, meanwhile, used Aliens. Prior to 1999, video games based on the franchise used the singular Alien in the title, whereas the games since have chiefly (but not exclusively) opted for the plural Aliens.

Another point of contention is the exact form of the conjunction ("vs.") in the middle of the title. The forms "vs." and "versus" have both been used, as well as a simple slash ("/") in some cases. Originally, the first comics that launched the franchise used the form "vs.". Between mid-1995 and 1998, the expanded "versus" was primarily used, before the series reverted to the shortened "vs." in 1999 — many of the comics that originally used the longer form have since had their titles altered to use the shorter equivalent. By contrast, the use of a slash has been minimal, only appearing on two individual AVP comics. The use of a slash is, however, far more prevalent in the crossover comics, specifically those that introduce the Aliens to other characters (e.g. Batman/Aliens).

The two feature films have exclusively used "vs." in their titles, while video games have also primarily used the shortened version, with the notable exception of four games released between 1999 and 2003, which opted for the expanded "versus" form.

Films

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Main article: Alien vs. Predator (film)

A group of scientists discover an ancient pyramid buried beneath the ice on an Antarctic island and launch an expedition to investigate, but are unaware the structure is used as a breeding ground for deadly alien creatures constructed by the Predators millennia ago for use in their hunts. The scientists and their mercenary protectors soon find themselves trapped in the middle of a war between the two extraterrestrial races and must fight to escape alive.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Main article: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

A deadly Predator-Alien creature spawned during events in Antarctica escapes into the small American town of Gunnison, Colorado and begins creating an army of Aliens. The Predators dispatch a ruthless hunter to clean up the infestation, leaving the town's unfortunate inhabitants caught in the crossfire.

Future

Colin and Greg Strause, the directors of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, hoped to develop Aliens vs. Predator 3 during the production of their sequel. A spec script for a third film was also written by Liam O'Donnell. In 2008, according to the horror news-website ShockTillYouDrop, "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."[1][2][3] However, on September 21, 2008, Collider published an exclusive interview with John Davis (the producer of both AVP films) in which he stated, "I think we've logically done what we could've done with the two AVP movies. But I think there's something to go back to with Predator."[4]

On October 28, 2010, io9 published an exclusive interview with the Strause brothers in which they revealed that Aliens vs. Predator 3 would have led directly into Alien. According to Greg, "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."

When asked about the ending sequence of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and the concept that the Predator weapon handed to Ms. Yutani would lead to us humans developing advanced space travel technology, Greg stated, "That was the idea. They never got any of the equipment from the first Predators. It's the first time they ever received any intact working technology left over. So they could take that and reverse engineer, figure out what the power source was — all of those things. And in theory, that would enable that company [Weyland-Yutani] to make massive advancements in technology and dominate the space industry. That was the whole idea, was to literally continue from Ms. Yutani getting the gun — and then cut to 50 years in the future, and there's spaceships now. We've made a quantum leap in space travel. That was going to set up the ending, which would then set up what AVP was going to be, which would take place 100 years in the future. That was kind of the plan."[5]

In 2012, What Culture stated that "surely sometime in the near future we will see a third attempt at an AvP movie" and listed five major reasons that would make a third sequel work — namely the inclusion of Colonial Marines, a strong lead character, no Predators teaming-up with humans, memorable action sequences, as well as a great director.[6]

In 2015, having worked on the special effects of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, VFX make-up artist David Woodruff (son of Tom Woodruff, Jr., who has worked on both the Alien and Alien vs. Predator franchises) participated in an interview with TheTerminatorFans, and when asked about the situation of a third chapter in the AVP-trilogy, he stated, "I haven't heard anything about a 3rd installment, not even rumors. This Neill Blomkamp project is the first possibility I've seen or heard of another Alien film and I'm all about it. I know the guys at Amalgamated Dynamics are pushing for something like this too. It's time."[7]

In 2015, during the London Film and Comic Con, Sigourney Weaver stated that one of the reasons she asked to have Ripley killed in Alien3 was because she knew that Fox were moving forward with Alien vs. Predator at that time.[8] Peter Briggs (who wrote an unproduced script for an Alien vs. Predator film in the 1990s) responded by praising all films in the franchise and pointing out that the AVP-films were more successful than Weaver's last two Alien-films, and noting that "There's a terrific Alien vs. Predator movie still to be made by someone. It just hasn't happened yet."[9] In mid-2018, Shane Black, director of The Predator, tweeted his belief that a third Alien vs. Predator could still happen.[10]

Novels

As well as a novelization based on the first Alien vs. Predator film, there are several expanded universe novels based on the Alien vs. Predator series. The first and third of these are adaptations of Aliens vs. Predator comic books from Dark Horse Comics; the others are original stories.

Film novelizations

Original stories

Comic Books

Main article: Aliens vs. Predator (comics line)

Dark Horse Comics has published several original comic book stories set in the Alien vs. Predator universe.

Trading Cards/Card Games

Video Games

Normal art36

Poster/cover image of the 2010 game Aliens vs. Predator (also known as AVP3 because it is the third installment in the Rebellion franchise).

There have also been numerous video games based on the series, some of which have been adaptations of the films.


Trivia

  • The concept of combining the Alien and Predator franchises originated with a brainstorming session amongst Dark Horse Comics executives the late 1980s. According to Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson, editor Chris Warner is the man who first proposed the idea.[11]

Gallery

See Also

External Links

Official sites

Official listings

Fan sites

  • Predator - The Hunted - a well-researched, well-written Predator fan site that has a lot of information about AVP as well.
  • Absolute AVP - an active fan site with lots of information.
  • AVP Galaxy - an active fan site with lots of information.
  • AlienvsPredator2 - an active fan site with lots of information.
  • AvP Central - a new and active fan site with weekly articles.

References

  1. ↑ Holtreman, Vic (March 10, 2008). "Oh, God. Aliens vs. Predator 3 Is Coming." ScreenRant.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ Giles, Jeff (March 11, 2008). "Fox Brewing Alien vs. Predator 3?" RottenTomatoes.com. Flixster, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Stephenson, Hunter (March 10, 2008). "Sequel to Aliens Vs. Predator Requiem Going Ahead?" SlashFilm.com. /Film. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ Weintraub, Steve (September 21, 2008). "Producer John Davis Gives Updates on THE SIMS Movie, the Aliens vs. Predator Movies and Jason and the Argonauts!" Collider.com. Complex Media, Inc. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Markham, John (December 17, 2012). "5 Things Needed to Make a Good Alien Vs. Predator Movie." Template:Webarchive WhatCulture.com. What Culture Ltd. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ "David Woodruff talks Alien 5, bringing back Hicks and AvP 3 movie rumors!". aliensversuspredator.net. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Sigourney Weaver Blames Alien Vs. Predator For Basically Ruining The Franchise". cinemablend.com. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "'Alien vs Predator' Writer Responds to Sigourney Weaver". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.
  10. ↑ http://www.predator4-movie.com/news/shane-black-thinks-theres-hope-another-alien-vs-predator
  11. ↑ Paul W. S. Anderson, John Davis, Richard Bridgeland, Tom Woodruff, Jr.. The Making of AVP (2004), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
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