Dark Horse To Reboot Comic Series

[RakaiThwei]

Just got word directly from Sebela on his Tumblr regarding this continuity and the old expanded universe material:

"I have a question regarding the new Alien-Predator universe which Dark Horse is creating. Is this a whole separate and new universe from the already established twenty five years of lore which was started from the late 1980s to 2009 or does this completely override the old lore?"

"The old Dark Horse comics series about Aliens, Predators and Aliens fighting Predators never came up in the writer's room as we're working off a different angle of the universe, one that may touch on some of the stuff those old books did, but only by accident. But we're not declaring all that stuff moot or rebooting it or anything, it's just two different neighborhoods in a pretty big city."

-Rakai'Thwei

[TheBATMAN]

This sounds fantastic. It's so refreshing to hear writers speak with a bit of passion for the likes of Prometheus and Predator 2 and not just harp on endlessly about Alien, Aliens and Predator all the time.

[predxeno]

I would like to see how our classic Aliens and Predators fare against the Black Super Predators and Engineers; let's see how the new guys fit into the war.

[RakaiThwei]

I would like to see how our classic Aliens and Predators fare against the Black Super Predators and Engineers; let's see how the new guys fit into the war.

You wanna see Predators and Aliens fighting against Super Black Predators? AvP: Evolution answers that for you.

Personally, I'd rather not see those Super things in the new comics.

-Rakai'Thwei

[predxeno]

I know, but I would like to see the fights in a media that better captures the glory of the fight and the underlying complexities of the conflict; AVP Evolution was fun, but in the end it's a phone game and is limited as such.

[Xenomrph]

Just got word directly from Sebela on his Tumblr regarding this continuity and the old expanded universe material:

"I have a question regarding the new Alien-Predator universe which Dark Horse is creating. Is this a whole separate and new universe from the already established twenty five years of lore which was started from the late 1980s to 2009 or does this completely override the old lore?"

"The old Dark Horse comics series about Aliens, Predators and Aliens fighting Predators never came up in the writer's room as we're working off a different angle of the universe, one that may touch on some of the stuff those old books did, but only by accident. But we're not declaring all that stuff moot or rebooting it or anything, it's just two different neighborhoods in a pretty big city."

-Rakai'Thwei

That's pretty much the answer I was hoping for.

[RakaiThwei]

That's pretty much the answer I was hoping for.

If you ask me, it sounds like a new continuity that doesn't really connect with the AvP movies or the twenty five years of expanded universe material. It's just a separate thing but establishes a new mythos without erasing the older mythos.

Least I hope I am right in that train of thought in understanding that answer.

-Rakai'Thwei

[predxeno]

The way I read it is that they're ALL part of the same continuity, but the older EU and the AVP films won't really be referenced at all (they'll kind of get the cold shoulder and be ignored).

[RakaiThwei]

The way I read it is that they're ALL part of the same continuity, but the older EU and the AVP films won't really be referenced at all (they'll kind of get the cold shoulder and be ignored).

Quoting Sebela from the IO9 article:

"I'm just sticking with the solo movies, because I think they build up an interesting mythology of their own that fits in well with the world we're building. I think the AvP movies have a lot of interesting things going on, but they seem to exist in their own little bubble, one that's very far away from ours, and, personally, I want to keep myself as free of all past AvP encounters, to start from a clean slate and build my own take on this mythical face-off."

Now when he says that he wants to keep himself free of all past AvP encounters, the movies included.. this kind of suggest that it's a shift somewhere to make this new universe somehow work. He's said that while the AvP movies had some interesting ideas, that he wants to stay as from what they have established in order to settle in his own ideas, and that he's not even going to use what was established in the older stories. Now if things do have connections to what was seen in the older stories more than likely, it was by accidental coincidence as he has said in his answer on Tumblr. He's not retconning or even connecting the older stories, he's just building a new mythos which just happens to have Aliens and Predators in it.

-Rakai'Thwei

[predxeno]

I hear that, but I see no evidence to suggest that all this takes place in a different universe, timeline, or continuity from what has already been established; it's just doing what Predators did with Predator 2, simply ignoring it but not refuting it.

[RakaiThwei]

I hear that, but I see no evidence to suggest that all this takes place in a different universe, timeline, or continuity from what has already been established; it's just doing what Predators did with Predator 2, simply ignoring it but not refuting it.

And what evidence is there to suggest that this new storyline can fit within the old material? Personally, I am trying to wrap my head around it and visualizing it.. It doesn't seem to work. I do my best to try and figure out what is canon and what isn't, especially in regards to the expanded universe and the movies as well. This also includes words from writers, directors, etc.. Word of God. This has made things easier for me in figuring things out, but I do acknowledge that others may not agree with me.

Well to work in Prometheus with AVP, one would have to actually tackle the major problem... When Weyland-Yutani was founded. Or rather specific which Weyland company is the true Weyland company. Be it Charles Bishop Weyland's or Peter Weyland's companies. Now I have come across many theories on how the two companies could be related but that's all they are, theories.

And while yes, you could tie all the films together by just from a narrative standpoint as the films to the average Joe Blow don't have any conflicting issues but even then if you ask me, and perhaps a few others, it just doesn't work. Sure, you could write up whatever explanation you want regarding some plot holes in some of the films but it's still theory and fanfiction at best.

Until someone official actually makes the effort into working and acknowledging all nine films without ignoring a single one, works in explaining certain details and makes a good and solid attempt to tie in all nine films together with satisfactory means to seal up plotholes and conflicting details, I don't see how all of this can work... And that's just the movies.

The expanded universe is even more of a mess as it is. And I'm trying to figure out how this all really fits in.. I'm almost tempted to hear out your or Xenomrph's theories to how this would all fit in.

-Rakai'Thwei

[predxeno]

My biggest regret for this new arc is that we will never see how the AVP films will ever fit with Prometheus.  There are always continuity discrepancies in any major franchise or series, we can't just announce them "not canon" just for that (though many fans have tried), it's just our duty to live with it; it's our cross to bear.

[RakaiThwei]

There are always continuity discrepancies in any major franchise or series, we can't just announce them "not canon" just for that (though many fans have tried), it's just our duty to live with it; it's our cross to bear.

I'm not saying what is and isn't canon. What I am saying is that meshing everything together to encompass a single universe is extremely hard to do, as somethings do need to be omitted. Also, I'm probably the only one who takes the Word of God trope on this forum into account, but it's made things easier for me to figure out where things fit. You are free to disagree with me though!

-Rakai'Thwei

[predxeno]

Oh ok, I'm not sure what the difference is between universe and canon (if there is one), but I think I getcha.

On a side note, I hope to see an Alien vs Pred Dog fight; the Tracker Predator bio said he used them to tear one apart.  It's Payback Time, Xeno-Style.

[RakaiThwei]

Oh ok, I'm not sure what the difference is between universe and canon (if there is one), but I think I getcha.

Well for me, being well versed in fictional works.. the term universe is to describe a fictional world. Canon is what is recognized as official works which are related to that particular franchise. For example, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... All of the works through out the years were recognized as canon by Mirage Studios, except for Image's run on TMNT and Saban's Next Mutation. What was seen as canon were the comics, films and cartoons.  However for years prior to Turtles Forever, they were simply separate stories which really neither acknowledged or refuted the other.Turtles Forever established that each Turtles story was set in a different universe, the comics, films, and toons were all separate universes.

To me that's the difference between canon and universe. This applies to many other franchises out there such as Marvel and DC for example.

Now in the case of Alien-Predator.. This is much, much trickier but for me it was made easier when I took into account to what creators were saying on production of the films, comics or even the games. Also, the storylines help if they don't really contradict the original material but even so, if a creator states where the work in question is connected or not.. for me anyway, helps me figure out where it's at in terms of continuity and what not.

On a side note, I hope to see an Alien vs Pred Dog fight; the Tracker Predator bio said he used them to tear one apart.  It's Payback Time, Xeno-Style.

Are you actually referring to the NECA Toys backstory which was written for Tracker?  I'll be honest with you, I really do not like the NECA storylines for the characters. They just... make me cringe.

-Rakai'Thwei