Scripting the Story: The ALIEN Universe

Good Alien Day CrewMembers! Welcome to "Scripting the Story: The ALIEN Universe."

Today is considered "ALIEN Day" because the moon that kicked off this entire Cinematic Universe was originally labeled LV-426. Therefore, fans have designated April 26th as a day to celebrate the movie and its encompassing universe.

The purpose of "Scripting the Story" is to help you unravel franchises that have taken some weird turns and can be very confusing if you just watch them from beginning to end. Here, we try to guide you as to what movies can make a more or less coherent story line. I'd like to thank an article from PocketLint (which will be linked below) for helping me fill in my memory gaps. Also we are sticking to the original releases for these films. Despite creating two different "Scripted Stories" for an original release and a Producer's Cut in our SCRIPTING THE STORY: HALLOWEEN, we aren't going to do that here. There are so many versions of some of these films, not all official releases, that it just didn't seem to make sense. And while some of these changes do make for pretty different movies (everyone turn and look at Alien3) the overall Universe arc stays pretty close.

OK, time to take off!

The Ripley Quadrilogy

Alien-Aliens-Alien3-Alien: Resurrection

We are introduced to Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in the first Alien film simply titled ALIEN. From there, she continued to be the bad ass lead of the series for 3 straight-forward sequels. Straight-forward as in no reboots, prequels, or legacy sequels so watching the first 4 movies in their release order is the appropriate way to do it.

The Prequel Release Order

Alien-Aliens-Alien3-Alien: Resurrection-Prometheus-Alien: Covenant

Between ALIEN: Resurrection and Prometheus, other ALIEN Universe Franchise movies were released, and we will return to them. First though, we believe it's more appropriate to knock out the single timeline before adding others.

Ridley Scott, the director of ALIEN, came back to the franchise to expand it past its horror roots. Prometheus was a prequel that ambitiously did so. Not only exploring the history of the aliens (Xenomorphs), the story was also tied to things much closer to home. ALIEN: Covenant continues the story as the second prequel.

Unfortunately, the gap between Covenant and ALIEN is still pretty wide. Scott had planned at least 2 more movies to fill in that space, but their future is uncertain. After purchasing 20th Century Fox, Disney did commit to more stories set within the ALIEN Universe, but it is unknown if any of Scott's planned movies are included in that commitment. Therefore, we do recommend watching them in release order (which is generally our default recommendation anyway) but you could also do...

Prequel Chrono

Prometheus-Alien: Covenant-Alien-Aliens-Alien3-Alien: Resurrection

...the chronological order.

Not too crazy so far right? Good because it will be! Before that though, let's work on the franchise that lives in the same universe and becomes intrinsically intertwined.

Predator Solo Franchise

Original Duology

Predator-Predator 2

Unlike the connective threads, a la Ripley, in the original ALIEN Quadrilogy, the original PREDATOR Duology were less in your face about their connections. After you finish the first one, you'll probably understand why. Even so, PREDATOR 2 is a direct sequel to PREDATOR and completes the original story line.

PREDATORS

The third movie to be released in the Predator Solo franchise is PREDATORS. This movie can very much stand alone from PREDATOR and PREDATOR 2. Saying that though, this movie isn't a reboot. It still takes place in the original timeline in the original universe, it is just a story that you don't need the other two to understand.

THE PREDATOR

The Predator franchise continues to be more of an anthology series with the release of the fourth film, THE PREDATOR. Once again, the story more or less stands alone from the other movies in the franchise.

Predator Solo Movies Release Order

Predator-Predator 2-Predators-The Predator

When you put the PREDATOR movies together, there are actually two ways to do it. That's because PREDATORS is chronologically 4th in the series. First is the release order.

Predator Solo Chrono Order

Predator-Predator 2-The Predator-Predators

Of course, there's always the chronological order.

The Crossovers

Alien vs Predator-AvP: Requiem

The concept of the Xenomorphs and Predators meeting each other didn't originate in the movies. In fact, it was Dark Horse Comics that first brought the two together with a number of limited serieses beginning in 1990. Fans were forced to wait 14 years before the two species ever met in theaters. However, you may notice a Xenomorph Easter Egg in PREDATOR 2. This was added in reference to the recently released comic series.

Despite all the source material to pull from, we only have two crossover movies at this point. While there are references to the "AvP" movies in other ALIEN and PREDATOR movies, any lingering plot threads are unfortunately still lingering.

Aliens and Predators

Time to begin putting the two franchises together, and this isn't even the crazy part yet!

As always with any franchise that includes prequels, there are two ways to watch. And, as always, we present the release order first:

Release Order

Alien-Aliens-Predator-Predator 2-Alien3-Alien: Resurection-Alien vs Predator-AvP Requiem-Predators-Prometheus-Alien: Covenant-The Predator

Chrono Order

Predator-Predator 2-Alien vs Predator-AvP Requiem-The Predator-Predators-Prometheus-Alien: Covenant-Alien-Aliens-Alien3-Alien: Resurection

You still with us? GOOD! You've come this far, why not join us as we get into the "crazy stuff"?

Still within the specific franchises

So this is introductory crazy. If mixing all the movies together was the batter, we're about to add some spice.

Before the releases of the post crossover films, Prometheus, ALIEN: Covenant, PREDATORS, and The PREDATOR, as well as for the 40th Anniversary digital release of ALIEN, a slew of officially licensed short films were released. These programs add fun and flavor, but they aren't required knowledge for any of the films. Hell, one even has Santa and his crew encountering Predators at the North Pole.

Here's a rundown of those:

Prometheus Tie Ins:

Ted 2023

Introducing the Next Generation David

Prometheus: Quiet Eye

Alien Covenant Tie Ins:

Alien: Covenant — Prologue: Last Supper

Alien: Covenant — Meet Walter

Alien: Covenant — Crew Messages

Alien: Covenant — Prologue: The Crossing

Alien: Covenant — She Won't Go Quietly

Predators Tie Ins:

Moments of Extraction

Crucified

The Predator Tie Ins:

The Predator Holiday Special

ALIEN 40th Anniversary Tie Ins:

Alien: Containment

Alien: Specimen

Alien: Night Shift

Alien: Ore

Alien: Harvest

Alien: Alone

Now, most of those are included on the DVD releases of the films or can be found on YouTube, but that's not all you can find on there!

Besides movies, comics, and novels these franchises have found their way into video games. One of which was adapted into an official web series! "ALIEN: Isolation - The Digital Series" is a computer generated adaptation of the video game with the same name. This series follows Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen, as she looks for answers regarding the disappearance of her mother.

You know what else you can find on YouTube? A 360 degree short film that pits some Colonial Marines from the Alien franchise against a Predator! If you're interested it's called "Predator vs Colonial Marines" and it is an official release.

Now that we've gone over the official bits and pieces of the Alien and Predator franchises, we're going to step into the franchises that are officially adjacent to them. While not recognized by the movie studios as connected, the creators behind these programs do.

Official adjacents

Confirmed by Ridley Scott:

Blade Runner Franchise: On the director's commentary for BLADE RUNNER Scott says, "This world could easily be the city that supports the crew that go out in Alien. So, in other words, when the crew of Alien come back in, they might go into this place and go into a bar off the street near where Deckard lives. That’s how I thought about it.” With Ridley's blessing, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 are now included in the overall universe. An Easter Egg on the PROMETHEUS Blu-Ray even appears to have a reference back to the Blade Runner franchise. In character writings of Peter Weyland seem to condemn the "genetic abomination" creations of his former mentor and allude to it being Eldon Tyrell, creator of Replicants.

Confirmed by David Peoples:

David Peoples wrote the screenplay for BLADE RUNNER and for the Kurt Russel feature SOLDIER. Peoples purposefully included a handful of references in SOLDIER in order to create a "side-quel" to BLADE RUNNER. Hence, if BLADE RUNNER is in, so is SOLDIER.

CRAZY SAUCE TIME!

At one point, we figured that was good enough, but as Steven Tyler of AEROSMITH once said, "anything worth doing [is] worth over-doing." So let's overdo this cake!

Theorized connections:

The connections here are based more on fans extrapolating from Easter Eggs generally surrounding the Weyland Corporation. For reference, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is responsible for sending out the ship and crew that we first meet in ALIEN.

Firefly and Serenity

This TV Show and follow-up movie were created by Joss Whedon. Whedon also wrote the script for ALIEN: Resurrection. Apparently, as a nod to that, he included a Weyland-Yutani logo in the HUD of the Serenity spaceship. As far as we can tell though, Whedon has never stated this was anything but an Easter Egg.

Death Race (2008)

In 2008, Paul W. S. Anderson helmed a remake of 1975's DEATH RACE 2000. In his many Hollywood credits, you'll notice he wrote and directed ALIEN vs PREDATOR as well as directed SOLDIER. In a Whedon-esque move, Anderson included the Weyland Corporation reference in his Death Race. The reference continued and at times got heavier in the 3 direct to video sequels/prequels. (Fun Fact: Before starting this Blog, the Death Race franchise was one of the first franchises Tom tried to unravel on his personal Instagram page!) The connection here seems to be much stronger than that of "Firefly" and Serenity, but no official affirmation has ever been made that they are in a shared universe.

Homage Connections:

While the just mentioned Theorized Connections at least have shared members of the ALIEN Universe behind-the-scenes crew, these next few are just off on their own.

The Rig (2010)

The titular Rig is owned by the Weyland Drilling Company and a logo similar to Weyland-Yutani's is seen throughout. IMDB writes that Director Peter Atencio wanted to pay homage to the Alien franchise with these nods.

Underwater (2020)

On Alien Day 2020, director William Eubank posted a photo on Twitter confirming that a piece of equipment one of the characters used had the Weyland-Yutani logo on it. Besides the confirmation of the logo, no other connections were confirmed.

Fun, right? Let's timeline again!

The Whole Crazy Thing!

Title: Release: Chronology:

Predator 1987 1987

Predator 2 1990 1997

Alien vs Predator 2004 2004

AvP: Requiem 2007 10/10/2004

The Rig 2010 2010(?)

Death Race* 2008 2012

The Predator 2018 2018

"The Predator Holiday Special"

Blade Runner 1982 2019

Predators 2010 20XX

"Moments of Extraction"

"Crucified"

Solider 1998 2036

Blade Runner 2049 2017 2049

Underwater 2020 2050

Prometheus 2012 2089

"Ted 2023"

"Introducing the Next Generation David"

"Prometheus: Quiet Eye"

Alien: Covenant 2017 2100

"A:C— Prologue: Last Supper"

"A:C— Meet Walter"

"A:C— Crew Messages"

"A:C— Prologue: The Crossing"

"A:C— She Won't Go Quietly"

Alien 1979 2122

"Alien: Containment"

"Alien: Specimen"

"Alien: Night Shift"

"Alien: Ore"

"Alien: Harvest"

"Alien: Alone"

Aliens 1986 2179

"Predator vs Colonial Marines"

Alien3 1992 2179

Alien: Resurrection 1997 2379

Firefly 2003-2004 2157

Serenity 2005 2157

*this series requires its own Scripting the Story

Again, thank you to PocketLint for helping me to stay on track as I went down this rabbit hole!

~Until then, enjoy the show!