“You Are One Ugly Motherfu…” – My Wishlist for the Next Alien vs. Predator Film
Posted by Corporal Hicks on February 25, 2015 (Updated: 10-Sep-2023)
Alien vs. Predator, as a concept, is one of the few franchise crossovers that I truly believe works. This has been immensely obvious from its very inception in how well the comics were received and sold and it branched out further into very successful video games. I think I would not be alone in saying that I don’t think the film medium has done the idea justice yet. I do think Paul Anderson did a commendable job with the restrictions imposed upon him but the film was still a major disappointment that was not what a lot of us wanted.
And then there is Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem. What a complete wreck of a film. In near enough every single conceivable way. But let’s not devote the entire article to dissecting that particular corpse. AvP – Requiem doesn’t have to be the end of Aliens vs. Predator on the big screen though. Given Hollywood’s penchant for “re-vitalizing” film franchises I think there’s still a very strong chance to see a new sequel/reboot such as we had with Predators. I was thinking about where the previous films went wrong and what I would like to see in any potential Aliens vs. Predator film and decided to share it with you.
Set It In The Future!
As far as I’m concerned, the first big mistake Paul Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator made was setting the film on modern day Earth. Whilst I think he did a good job in taking the Aliens to one of the most remote and hostile places on Earth, it completely negates the point of the Alien films and Ripley’s constant sacrifices to ensure the Aliens never come to our homeworld. It was a desire on the part of producer John Davis to keep the film rooted in the Predator franchise that resulted in this.
However, since Aliens vs. Predator’s conception it was always rooted in the time and setting of the Alien films and this tradition carried across into the games. Look at the popular comics and games and you will find them set on far off colonies, with spaceships and Colonial Marines.
What I’d really like to see – and I’m positive many of us feel the same – is the return of Colonial Marines. I want to see Pulse Rifles firing into the cloaked figure of the Predators.
Many years ago Peter Briggs wrote an adaptation of Randy Stradley’s original Aliens vs. Predator comic on spec and it made the rounds. It’s a draft I’m quite fond of. However, it was something in one of his never-to-see-the-light-of-day additional drafts that I’m dying to see – zero gravity combat with the Aliens and Predator.
The opening of the second draft would have seen Predators board a derelict Predator vessel and engage in combat with Aliens in zero gravity. Ever since I saw that detail, I’ve imagined the sight of Aliens crawling along all the surfaces, unencumbered by the lack of gravity, bearing down on the Predators using their own technology to navigate the dead spacecraft.
A future setting would also allow us to explore something that we would probably never get to see in an Alien film: ship to ship combat. I would love to see a Colonial Marine vessel square off against a Predator ship.
Just imagine how amazing it would look seeing a Conestoga-class ship (granted it’s primarily a carrier ship) or a similar ship slicing through the depths of space. Back lit by some gorgeous space scenery it unleashes a barrage of missile fire against a Predator ship coming out of cloak,. Its energy weapons response in kind, intercepting the incoming missiles and burning through the hull plating of the Colonial Marine ship.
I think a really interesting approach to take for ship-to-combat would be a naval like approach, utilizing broadsiding combat. I’m thinking of something like in Battlestar Galactica or Halo (a series that derives a lot from the Aliens and Predator series) with big capital ships slugging it out.
It would also be a good opportunity to include some advancements in the weaponry of the Colonial Marines. As terrible as the game was, I did really like the Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle in Aliens: Colonial Marines. I would love to see them square off against the Predators with that kind of technology.
Return to the Original Designs
As the Alien series progressed, the designs of the Aliens moved further away from H.R Giger’s classic until we arrived at Alien Resurrection where the design was drastically different. Gone were the biomechanical aspects that made the original so unique and fascinating. The design changes made sense within the context of the film – they were the results of a DNA mixture between human and Alien.
Paul Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator reused these bodies as a cost saving exercise. Granted, he had them painted black instead of tan but there was no contextual reason to use the design. It is often believed that Paul Anderson stated this was due to the Predator interfering with the Alien hormones but that was nonsense written some an anonymous user on IMDB many years ago and since adopted by many. There was no reason for it other than cost.
Roll along Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem and we return to those bodies – again, cost – but this time we’re given a different head! The idea was that it would look more reminiscent of the Aliens design but the overbite and the huge necks really ruined that appearance for me.
What I would like to see for any new film would be a return to the originals. The majority of fans would pick either Alien or Aliens as their favourite version of the creature. And for good reason. They’re fantastic designs.
Understandably some of the suits in Aliens were more simplified – leotards with bits of Alien glued on – allowing for more mobility during the scenes where gymnasts were leaping around. Our very own Valaquen runs a fantastic blog called Strange Shapes and features a fantastic article about the creation of the suits for Aliens.
He talks about the differences between the original Alien suit and the stunt suits as worn in Aliens: “When they looked at the suit they found it was littered with bottle caps, macaroni pieces, oysters, bones, as well as pieces of a Rolls-Royce, all embedded onto the suit and sprayed black. For their own suits, instead of tacking and sewing pieces onto the rubber, they opted to form the tubing and pipes as small cohesive wholes or plates that could simply be glued onto the spandex undersuits in easy-to-fit chunks.”
With the advent of more realistic CGI, the ability to bring back H.R Giger’s Alien with ease of movement and the grace that Ridley Scott always wanted would be fantastic. One of my favourite sights in Alien Isolation is seeing the Alien slink down from the overhead vents, all grace and deadliness. Imagine seeing that on the big screen, it would be a jaw-dropping sight.
That’s not the say the creature should be entirely replaced digitally. I just mean that the CGI would be used to do more complex movements as the later films have. I still think it would be important to maintain that actual presence and continue to use suits for the close-ups.
Whilst the designs for the Predators in Alien vs. Predator made complete sense – more armor – the designs were less than graceful. They completely avoided the sleek, athletic figure from Predator and Predator 2. I think McFarlane Toys did a great job of slimming down the design for their action figure line for the film but a return to that muscular athletic body shape would be appropriate going forward.
I feel that ADI’s Wolf design was very nice. I loved the idea of the scared, aged hunter – especially considering the nature of the Predators, it made sense that they would not get out of every encounter unscathed (as every Predator film attests to). He lost all that bulky armour, he had all manner of fancy toys and acid scarred face. It was much better than the Predators from Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator.
However, something I do not think ADI has managed to make a good looking face or skin for their Predators suits. Both films lacked that wet sheen that Stan Winston’s and KNB’s suits had. They looked far too fake, far too rubbery.
What I would love to see in the next Aliens vs. Predator is an athletic figure and a believable skin tone and a return of battle wounds.
Something that was inevitable when the two deadly extra-terrestrials finally got together was the emergence of the Predalien, the Alien-Predator hybrid. As far as back as Ridley Scott’s Alien it was always envisioned that the Alien takes some traits from the host – this was further solidified in Alien 3 and became known as the DNA reflex theory amongst the fandom.
Whilst the Predalien has only appeared twice in comic book form, it has appeared numerous times in the video game world. When the series finally hit the big screens, it was only logical that the hybrid would rear its terrifying head. However, the design left much to be desired.
All the various incarnations have been different but they all generally include the same traits brought about by the DNA crossover with the Predators – dreadlocks and mandibles. My problem with this is generally on how the dreadlocks are utilized.
In the case of ADI’s Predalien for AvP – Requiem (or Chet as it was nicknamed by the crew), they weren’t used very well. They flopped over its shoulder, completely spoiling the form and flow of the creature. I don’t really agree that the dreadlocks are appropriate, if they must be used I’d prefer they look something like Dave Dorman’s concept art or how the hybrid appeared in the comic Alien vs. Predator – War.
ADI also gave it more of a Predator coloured skin tone – not something I’m too thrilled about, I like my Aliens black and blue but it doesn’t ruin the design for me – another feature quite common in the design of the Predaliens. What I do have a problem with are the pectoral muscles that the crossover also bestowed upon the Predalien. The lack of biomechanical in ADI’s design was a major disappointment for me.
That’s not to say all the blame lies upon ADI. Much of that lies at the feet of Fox mandated instructions. From very early on in the production of Requiem, Fox had really wanted to emphasize the crossover with the Predator. They wanted it so much that they had the Predalien using Predator technology and being able to cloak… Think that sounds bad? You’re not the only ones who thought that sounded terrible. Thankfully the Strause Brothers fought against this.
According to an article on the Stan Winston – School of Character Arts, much of Fox’s direction came as the result of the opinion of the current design for the Predalien: “That 80/20 proportion changed a bit when a 14-year old happened to be walking through the halls of Fox, saw the maquette and said “Wow! Cool Alien!” This observation led to much discussion about how to make it look more like a Predator, and some last minute adding of dreadlocks to increase the Predator feel.”
In regards to the the mandibles, I’ve never had a problem with them and continue to believe they’re the only necessary trait that the Alien needs to take from the Predator. I don’t see the human-born Aliens running around with hair. However, Chet’s design in AvP – Requiem didn’t feature mandibles that fit in with the design. They looked tacked on as you can plainly see in the above picture.
One thing that I did like about Chet’s design was the inclusion of the Predator skull under a clear cowling. It was a small nod to H.R Giger’s original design but one I genuinely liked. That is something I wouldn’t mind seeing going forward.
For me the perfect design would be to look back at what Dave Dorman had originally envisioned for the Predalien.
Some of the earlier designs for the Predalien actually looked quite promising. In particular I’m quite fond of some of Farzad Varahramyan’s designs. On the pictures below, the piece on the left-hand side I like the lack of the emphasize on the Predator aspects of the hybrid although the dreadlocks are far too wavey for my liking. However, for the piece on the right I like them being used as spikes on the head, flowing with the design rather than against it.
Any chance we can mass tweet this article to FOX? Surely they should listen to articles from AVP Galaxy. Aren’t the fans here their biggest target audience?
make a AVP movie a prequel to aliens ( because of alien 5) maybe revolve around the story around Amanda ( after the events of alien isolation 2) i have made a forum on a good alien 5 movie (change the ending of alien 3…) and i have made a forum on AVP isolation (after the events of alien isolation 1 or 2 check out that forum) if you want to hear my opinion of a new AVP movie then contact me i will be glad to tell( zenomorph homeworld or predator homeworld or a colony)
I’d say acid resistant, rather than proof. You take away the danger of their acid blood and you take away one of their biggest advantages.
I think purposefully handicapping the predators is a no-go as well. By all means, give the aliens an environmental advantage in the cramped interior of a spaceship or whatnot…but they should have acid-proof gear and shoulder cannons, unlike in Anderson’s AvP
I’d completely forgotten about using the Runner and the Praetorians! It would be nice to see a variety of Aliens appear on screen at once. Especially seeing the Runners and the Drones/Warriors (whatever you want to call them).
Great read and great points Hicks. So I am on board with most of your ideas, in particular, the lazy writing on the part of RR and S. Bros. I don’t believe you will win the fans over with literal, ver betum dialogue. Nor will you with tacky wannabe costume designs that are “going back to the roots.” Not even close.
I believe you can do the original AvP Prey storyline. It was original when it was published, built upon the known characters of the Alien and Predator. Now, the trick would be to reimagine the Alien as the 1979 Star Beast horror that it was intended to be, but on the numbers scale of Aliens. Stop referring to them as bugs (we all know why) because it puts a bad perspective on the species. They feel far too fragile, even with superior numbers, and nonthreatening whenever I read it.
I like your idea about introducing a new species for the primaries to eat/hunt/breed with, but I want the next film to make more Runners (Dog Aliens), just not necessarily with dogs (unless it’s off screen, since I don’t enjoy watching animal violence of any sort). It’s a concept that hasn’t been reproduced yet since it’s inception in A3 and I feel like we have a few different subspecies to play with with the Xenos. Runners will be faster than the Drones/Warriors, but weaker, meaning on screen they can be taken down with less shots/expended strength. And for God’s sake, can we PLEASE finally get some Praetorians on the big screen?
Ok, I just had a brain-storm along this idea of 2 separate canons. Why not have the Core Alien canon which would be Prometheus, Alien, Aliens, and the new Alien 5, and then have a parallel Alien VS Predator canon which is basically everything Predator, everything AVP, and Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and AR? It kind of makes sense. The Bishop character we see in Alien 3 is made to look like the original Charles Weyland character in the first AVP film? Any takers?
A desert planet would be cool. Something I loved in Three World War was the Aliens coming out from under the sand to attack the marines. I’d love to see a desert landscape, all these weird resinous/Gigeresque things sticking out the landscape, creating a camouflage for the Aliens to hide in, but out in the open rather than in the Hive like in Aliens.
Good article, man. Personally, I’d love to see a Ryushi-esque desert setting come into play, as it would be unique to both series, and relatively cheap to do really well. Seems like a no-brainer, really. Another thing I loved about the original comic was the introduction of Chigusa. Doesn’t always need to be WY all the time, let’s expand the universe a bit.
(Can’t believe i never got the real use of the R in the AVPR title! Christ, what a pile up of colossal idiocy that whole thing was.)
I agree with all this. I also think it was a mistake for the previous AVP films to even try and be a horror film. Requiem was so underlit you couldn’t see what was going on, and in a film supposedly front-lining action between the two species that’s a major flaw. The first AVP comic is amazing, and took place mostly in daylight. So please, instead of inept attempts at horror, let’s have well-lit, artistic and beautifully choreographed fight scenes.
Excellent article.I think that the two AvP movies focused too much on the feeble human survival aspect and not Colonial Marines kicking ass so the set in the future idea is a must.One of the many faults with Requiem is that the film was so dark (literally) that it was a nightmare trying to see what was going on!.Hopefully after Shane Black’s new Predator and Neill Blomkamp’s new Alien is released there will be some better ideas for the new AvP in the pipeline.Just hope they read this article first!.