Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Predator: Badlands and Alien: Earth
The Alien and Predator franchises are currently dominating Hollywood in a surprisingly similar fashion. Both franchises have recently flipped the script in key ways with projects like Predator: Badlands and Alien: Earth, expanding what each respective (yet connected) franchise is capable of with bold new directions.
In more ways than one, these recent entries in 2025 have evolved beyond sci-fi survival horror. Incredibly creative and unique in their own right, here’s how each has similarly entered new narrative spaces, and how both the Alien and Predator franchises have been succeeding well before this year alone.
Predator: Badlands Continues An Epic Trend We First Saw In Alien: Earth
Released in November 2025, Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands has quickly become one of the most popular entries in the franchise’s history.
Primarily set on a highly lethal alien world, the movie defies previous franchise expectations with its protagonist being a young Predator seeking to prove himself on his first hunt, who also becomes an unlikely duo with Elle Fanning’s Thia, a Weyland-Yutani employed synth (connecting to the Alien franchise, which has long been set in the same canonical universe).
Overall, Predator: Badlands is a very bold, character-driven take that’s earned massive critical praise. However, we also saw something very similar earlier this year with the typical monstrous antagonist becoming a key protagonist.
Wendy (Sydney Chandler) petting a Xenomorph with blood on its maw in Alien: Earth season 1, episode 7
As seen in Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth, which began streaming earlier in the year, a brand-new kind of Xenomorph debuted under the control of the human-synth hybrid Marcy (also known as Wendy), the series’ central character and protagonist.
Thanks to Marcy’s unique connection to the creature, she was able to harness the power of the deadly alien species in ways Weyland-Yutani (and Alien: Earth’s other newly introduced mega corporations) have only ever dreamed of in previous Alien entries.
While the stories may be quite different, they share one thing in common: giving the Predator and Xenomorph new moral shades, allowing both franchises to achieve fresh depth and narrative potential without losing their edge. It’s very exciting to see it happening within the same year, especially considering how energized both franchises have become over the last few years.
Even Before 2025, The Alien & Predator Franchises Have Been On A Major Roll
Xenomorph and Rain in Alien Romulus
The recent revival of both the Alien and Predator franchises truly began with the success of Trachtenberg’s Prey in 2022, the Hulu hit that redefined what a Predator movie could be, proving the franchise could still innovate with its unique timeline.
Likewise, Alien: Romulus in 2024 by Fede Álvarez was equally popular with its incredible practical effects, proving that the Xenomorph at any stage of its life cycle remains one of the scariest sci-fi movie monsters of all time. There’s also Trachtenberg’s animated movie Predator: Killer of Killers, which was also released this year in June 2025.
Marvel’s Alien and Predator comics have also been quite popular, as well as their super fun crossovers with various Marvel heroes, like Predator vs. Wolverine, Aliens vs. Avengers, and the brand-new Alien vs. Captain America (set in WWII).
Overall, there’s been some pretty great evolution and innovation with both of these franchises and what they can bring to the table.
While the hope is to naturally see more individual projects from both franchises, it should be obvious to 20th Century Fox and Disney that there’s never been a better time for a brand-new Alien vs Predator crossover film, as both IPs are right now on absolute fire.
Predator: Badlands is now playing in theaters. All episodes of Alien: Earth season 1 are streaming on Hulu.