Thanks to Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey in 2022, the Predator franchise is arguably more popular now than ever. While we’ve earned follow-up films Predator: Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands, which were largely contained stories, there continues to be a demand to see that narrative collide with the Alien series, which has similarly earned renewed interest in the wake of 2024’s Alien: Romulus and last year’s Alien: Earth. While there’s no confirmed crossover between those two titles on the way, a new announcement has confirmed that Predator will instead cross over with another beloved sci-fi saga: The Planet of the Apes.
The last movie in the Planet of the Apes franchise was 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, with all three of these cinematic properties being owned by The Walt Disney Company. Disney also owns Marvel Comics, and rather than a live-action crossover being on the horizon, Marvel confirmed today that we’ll be getting the five-issue Predator vs. Planet of the Apes starting this summer. The series will be written by Greg Pak (X-Treme X-Men) and drawn by Alan Robinson (New Fantastic Four), with the first issue being released on Jul. 29.
In the new series, both a Yautja and a human end up landing on the Planet of the Apes, which sets up a three-way conflict where everyone is out to eradicate one another. Three different covers for Predator vs. Planet of the Apes #1 were released, which you can see below.
Pak also offered a statement on the upcoming project where he explained how, even if the sci-fi series seems like an unlikely pairing, the crossover is more organic than one might think:
“Planet of the Apes and Predator are two of the most iconic sci-fi series of all time — I’d be thrilled to work on either of them. But both of them together? Just incredible.
“Both series do so much wild worldbuilding, grapple with a deeply organic and compelling kind of sci-fi, and take on massive and eternally relevant themes of violence and war. Both also absolutely go there, taking huge risks and leaps all the time. I can’t wait to show what we’re cooking up with Alan Robinson and the rest of the creative team.”
Another thing that both series have in common is how well-regarded the initial installment is, only for subsequent entries to fail to live up to what came before it. Predator 2, Predators, and The Predator all fell short of expectations, as did the two Alien vs. Predator crossovers. Interestingly, the 1968 Planet of the Apes movie earned four sequels through 1973, though its big-screen legacy stagnated for decades. Tim Burton attempted to reinvigorate the series with his 2001 remake, and while it was a commercial success with $362.2 million worldwide, its 43% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes prevented it from earning a follow-up.
Luckily, 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which served as both a prequel and reboot of the series, fully succeeded and resulted in a trilogy that earned critical acclaim. A Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sequel is targeting a 2027 release.
This is only the latest in a series of unlikely Marvel Comics crossovers, as the publisher has released titles like Aliens vs. Avengers and Predator vs. Wolverine.