Spoiler Warning: The site contains plot and/or ending details.

Multiverse Theory

Flowchart

Avery Hinks made an interesting blog entry on his WordPress blog investigating the canon and continuities of the Alien-Predator universe, with Ridley Scott's Blade Runner thrown in for good measure. This blog discusses the multiverse idea, laying out all of the connections between the Alien/Predator films and identifying which ones are set in that reality.

Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection would be overlooked if an Alien5 film were to be made. Instead, the film would have continued where Aliens ended, making it a direct sequel to that picture. Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection are no longer available, however Alien and Aliens are still available.

Prometheus is still canon following the release of Alien: Covenant. Furthermore, the events of Prometheus clearly contradict those of Alien vs. Predator, thus this makes sense immediately.

Keyes Keyes Because The Predator is a direct sequel to Predator and Predator 2, it appears to overlook the events of the Predators and the AvP films. Sean Keyes is the son of Peter Keyes, hence The Predator is obviously set in the same universe as Predator 2. This does not break the continuity of Predator and Predator 2, and the kiande amedha skull was still in Predator 2 whether or not the AVP movies were made. Alien, Aliens, and Prometheusare all set in the same universe as Predator and Predator 2.

As a result, what we've got here depicts alternate realities. Alien5 by Neill Blomkamp would have taken place in the same universe as Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection. The Predator and Predators cannot exist in the same reality. Alien vs. Predator cannot exist in the same universe as Prometheus. Predator, Predator 2, Alien, and Aliens, on the other hand, can all live in the same universe. As a result, the revised timeline will most likely resemble the one shown here.

P Weyland Note: Eldon Tyrell, the guy who built the replicants in Blade Runner and occupies an office atop a pyramid, was Peter Weyland's mentor. Tyrell's innovations allegedly "blew up in the old man's face." The dates don't match up for Blade Runner, which is set in 2019. Prometheus takes place in 2093, whereas Peter Weyland's TED lecture takes place in 2023 (the year Weyland Industries received patent number 8,128,899 for Method and Apparatus for Cybernetic Individuals in Scientific and Industrial Environments). This would make it difficult for Blade Runner's technology - several generations of synthetic beings ("replicants") already used for off-world colony work and galactic warfare - to fit into the Prometheus universe's timeframe.

Soldier Blade Runner Furthermore, in 2019, the world of Blade Runner is plagued by pollution and acid rain. Peter Weyland created a localised synthetic atmosphere over the polar ice cap in 2016 using a forerunner to his own atmospheric processor, thus preventing global warming.

Soldier was written by David Peoples, who also co-wrote Blade Runner. He has stated that the films are set in the same universe.

As a result, while this diagram is ideal for explaining the Multiverse Theory, the Runner and Soldier films are not part of it.

End of Entry Return to Top

Agents of Law

References
Law6
  • Agents of Law #5-6. Keith Giffen, Lovern Kindzierski. Aug - Sept 1995. Dark Horse, Print.

Agents of Law, part of their Comics Greatest World imprint, subsequently renamed as the Dark Horse Heroes imprint in the 1990s, is an example of a Yautja making a canonical debut in an external franchise.

Due to poor sales, Agents of Law #6 is the final issue in the series, making it one of several comics in the Dark Horse Heroes universe to be cancelled. A case of a Yautja making a canonical appearance in an external franchise is Agents of Law, part of their Comics Greatest World imprint, later renamed as the Dark Horse Heroes imprint in the 1990s.

Agents of Law #6 is the final issue in the Agents of Law series. It ended after six issues due to poor sales that was one of many comics in the Dark Horse Heroes universe cancelled.

Four Yautja hunted Dark Horse characters in this crossover event, Hunting the Heroes: The Predators Attack: Ghost, Motorhead, Law, and X.

The Yautja arrive in Golden City in search of the Dark Horse Heroes, a rare prey. Law, a supervillain, seizes control of Golden City from a group of superhumans, attracting the attention of this Yautja. Despite Law's superhuman talents, a victorious Yautja decapitates him after a bloody battle, putting the destiny of the city in the hands of Grace and her companions.

The crossover is in-continuity with the Agents of Law series and an external and alternative canon to the mainstream Alien-Predator films, with only the first two Predator films regarded to match this reality, due to the crossover being the intended ending of the Agents of Law comic.

End of Entry Return to Top

Judge Dredd

[Predator vs Judge Dredd]

While not canon in the mainstream Alien-Predator franchises, the titular creatures do make canonical appearances in select crossovers from Predator vs. Judge Dredd, and Alien vs. Judge Dredd: Incubus. These crossovers are a few of the rare instances where Kiande Amedha and the Yautja canonically exist in other franchises as legitimate alternate universe stories.

It is part of the main Judge Dredd canon-- with the Alien vs. Judge Dredd: Incubus, and by extension-- the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover. The canon of Dredd fits into a single continuous timeline (the character has aged in real time) and deals with "trans-dimensional encounters" such as his encounter with Batman, whereas the Yautja and Kiande Amedha encounters were first contact involving extraterrestrial life forms, serving as if the Yautja and kiande amedha have long since co-existed within the Dredd universe.

Indirect and off-handed mentions of characters and events from these crossovers occur in the Dredd comics-- meaning they occurred. Batman was "that insane vigilante" and with Psi-Judge Schaefer mentioned indirectly a few times.

The crossover also directly mentions the events of Val Verde 1987 (Predator) as Psi-Judge Schaefer mentions her "Great-Great Grandfather" well as other encounters-- indirectly referencing Predator 2 and the old EU material (before the Fire and Stone reboot).

However, some events from the main Alien-Predator universe cannot occur and therefore omitted from the Dredd universe. The timeline of the Dredd universe extends from the early 21st century to the mid-22nd century, and even predates the films. This clashes with the timeline of the Alien era, as the events of Prometheus occurred from 2089 to 2094 AD, and the events of Alien occurred from 2122. Dredd encounters the Kiande Amedha sometime around 2120 to 2134.

While the events of Alien vs. Predator, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and Predators can fit in the Dredd universe, this crossover's publication predates the films.

This means that the first two Predator films and some of the old pre-reboot EU material set prior to Val Verde, 1987 and post Los Angeles, 1997-- up to 2030 occurred in two universes. Predator and Predator 2 occurred in both the main Alien-Predator universe, and the Judge Dredd universe.

End of Entry Return to Top

Transformers

References
[Transformers]

An unusual case of the Yautja making a canonical appearance within an external franchise is one single Yautja that appears in the Marvel UK line of Transformers.

In this issue, Starscream wandered through the swamps of a Louisiana Bayou; a Yautja aims his plasma pistol at Starscream. The Yautja was intent on claiming the bounty set by Megatron and Shockwave on Starscream's head. At the end of the story, Starscream survives, meaning the Yautja was unsuccessful.

The Yautja, though unidentified on the cover to issue #284, but in issue #293's letters page Dreadwind confirms the alien's identity. The writers state to be in-continuity in The Letters Page in Marvel's UK Transformers series. The Marvel UK Generation 1 comic had an interesting approach to fan mail - Transformers answered the letters.

Further note to the Yautja presence in the Transformers Multiverse, within the Transformers Animated continuity family, the home-planet of the Yautja, named "Yautja" is mentioned in the Allspark Almanac II. It was a neutral organic planet near Necronom IV. Necronom IV is the name of the H. R. Giger painting that inspired the kiande amedha from the Alien movie franchise. Alien fandom has sometimes re-purposed the painting's name as that of a hypothetical home planet for the creatures, and the Almanac followed that train of thought. The planet's closeness to Yautja alludes to the Alien vs. Predator franchise.

Therefore, the Yautja seemingly exist in two instances in the Transformers multiverse.

End of Entry Return to Top

WildCATS

References
WildCATS
  • WildC.A.T.s/Aliens. . Warren Ellis. Wildstorm/Dark Horse Comics, August 1998. Print.
  • Collected in Stormwatch: Final Orbit. Wildstorm. Print.
  • Preview: Page 1-3

Pyro Another interesting case of alternate canon is the WildCATS/Aliens crossover. This story assumes that the kiande amedha have long-since co-existed with the meta-human and extraterrestrial denizens of the Wildstorm Universe and are a never before encountered species by many of the extraterrestrial members of the WildCATS and Stormwatch teams.

The events of WildCATS/Aliens is set between Stormwatch Volume 2, issues #10 and issues #11 and WildCATS Volume 1 and Volume 2 that depicts the deaths of the Stormwatch team, and forming the Authority team. Warren Ellis was not enthusiastic about the crossover, quoting that it was "bloody stupid" but was won over when told that he could kill off whatever character he wanted. This served as the launch pad for Ellis to create a new superhero team with his own characters (the exception being Swift). Scott Dunbier, the editor at the time, explained the reasoning behind the idea: "One of my goals was that this should be a book with lasting effects, unlike the usual cross-company epics that come and go and mean nothing. Since Warren Ellis was wrapping up his run on Stormwatch, before diving into The Authority, I thought it would be an interesting idea to kill off a large portion of the remaining Stormwatch characters, the ones that wouldn't be moving on to the new book."

The following Stormwatch members were killed by the kiande amedha off-panel: Fuji, Hellstrike, and Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit's death was the most notable as she was a host to a never-before-seen type of kiande amedha with meta-human abilities over flame. Winter, who was believed to have been killed, was later was revealed to have survived in the Authority one-shot, "Scorched Earth". The Worldstorm event served as a reset to the Wildstorm universe. The 'reboot' sets the ground for a November 2006 relaunch of many Wildstorm titles. At first, the new titles appeared to include changes to Wildstorm continuity; as stories progressed efforts were made to explain these changes to preserve continuity from before the Worldstorm event. Following the Worldstorm event, deceased members of the Stormwatch team were revived and seen back in service.

Stormwatch Black team members who were not present in this crossover, Jenny Sparks, Jack Hawksmoor, and Swift went onto form the core team of the Authority.

This crossover can be seen as an alternate and independent canon from the mainstream Alien-Predator franchise. While the kiande amedha are considered canon in the Wildstorm universe, the historic events of AVP, Prometheus, and the Alien films are not accounted for and CANNOT occur due to the Wildstorm universe's frequent nature of cosmic and trans-dimensional cataclysms causing frequent resets, and it is later acquisition into the DC Multiverse.

End of Entry Return to Top