Alien and Predator are now Disney franchises. If it bleeds, will Disney kill it? Or are these franchises too perfect organisms to be ended at the House of Mouse?

So let it be written, so let it be done: Disney has acquired the movie division (and a bulk of the TV division) of 20th Century Fox. With the deal comes an array of licenses, among them the Alien and Predator franchises, a development that places both their futures in a precarious position. Disney has never worked with decidedly un-family friendly properties this big before, and the lack of immediate worth in the otherworldly horror legends might mean they take an indefinite hiatus from the silver screen.

Related: Every Movie Franchise Disney Has Bought From Fox

Although both the xenomorphs and the yautja may seem impenetrable as cult film icons, it's not unfair to say they've both been treading water over the last two decades. It's been at more than 30 years since James Cameron's Aliens and John McTiernan's Predator, those being the last time either franchise was both a box office and critical hit. That's a long time to draw on the goodwill of general fanfare and nostalgia. Sure those early movies are classics they fundamentally altered the horror and action genres as we know them but the amount of releases under their name that are well regarded and thus good money-spinners is becoming an increasing minority.

Of course, discussing cinema using box office as the primary lens can be reductive, but we're talking about a corporate acquisition here: profit is what will ultimately keep these things alive. The executives want to make their almost-60 billion dollar purchase worth it, and anything that's not going to work towards that is likely to be seen as dead-weight. The Alien and Predator movies have a tendency to be expensive, special-effects driven works containing big, memorable set-pieces and usually at least one notable cast member. They're not cheap and they haven't attracted a particularly competitive return on investment in quite some time.

Does Either Franchise Have a Future?

The Current Future of Alien and Predator Is Already Unclear

Xenomorph in Alien Covenant

Just this summer, we had Alien: Covenant from director Ridley Scott. Ridley, being the man behind the original Alien as he is, has been trumpeting this mad plan to make a multi-part prequel series to the first Alien for years, beginning with 2012's Prometheus. Covenant, a sequel to Prometheus, is a weird, esoteric, Frankenstein-meets-Greek-legend-meets-Alien sci-fi action drama about artificial intelligence and humanity's relationship with other intelligent life. It's big and it's strange and it reflected an ethos within Fox to occasionally greenlight riskier sounding blockbusters from creators they like just to see what happened. It made $240 million on a $97 million budget, meaning it just about outdid breaking even despite under-performing in US and ultimately making less than its predecessor. Covenant might be an interesting instalment in the Alien canon, but neither it nor its prequel have set an auspicious standard for the series' future.

Predator's immediate future is in surer hands with the upcoming The Predator from Shane Black. A celebrated action director in his own right, Black also made Disney and Marvel a billion dollars with Iron Man 3 in 2013, which could spell big things. That said, the last time we saw the hunter was 2010's Predators which very much failed to set the world alight, and before that there were the Alien Vs. Predator movies, and the less said about those the better. Is the interest still there?

Related: What Will Alien: Covenant's Sequel Be About?

The big takeaway from Alien and Predator's standing cinematically is that right now, they're trading on respected members of Hollywood wanting to play with them. Nobody's really going to say no to Ridley Scott, no matter the quality of his pitch, and people tend to like Shane Black and enjoy working with him (not to mention there's been talk of Arnold Schwarzenegger making an appearance in The Predator). But it's doubtful that's enough for a meaningful future on the silver screen within the corporation that just paid a large fortune to acquire you. What's worse, the movies aren't all that's uncertain, either.

Alien vs Predator

The Alien/Predator Expanded Universe Is Even More Complicated

Since the early '90s, Dark Horse comics have held the licenses to produce both Alien and Predator comics. The publisher, one of the most long-standing rivals to the big two of Marvel and DC, has developed its popularity on the back of a combination of franchise deals and original creations. The Legend of Zelda, Avatar and The Legend of Korra and Halo are among the well-known properties the house publishes extended universe work within. Alien and Predator have, over the last 25 or so years, been two of their most consistent sellers with a set of mini-series and one-shots across of myriad of settings that drawn a dedicated fanbase.

It's unlikely Disney will be too keen on letting a rival brand to one of this biggest sub-divisions, Marvel, make money off characters they own. Granted the comics part of Marvel is a meager part of a much bigger machine now, but why let someone else profit off a job you could be doing yourself with full control over all aspects. Especially when that rival brand has been working with your other competition, as both Alien and Predator have crossed over with DC characters, including Batman and Superman, on multiple occasions.

Related: Alien Movie Series Timeline Explained

Dark Horse have built a respectable expanded universe for the worlds of the xenomorphs and the predators. They've explored different aspects of their origins and told chilling, distinct stories that have fleshed out different characters and arcs that the movie series may never touch on. Not only would losing that stream of storytelling be sad, it's unclear where it'd even fit in assuming the property rights were at Disney.

Marvel comics have never really been big on darker, horror-centric stories. Yes, they've explored the area in the past and created adult-oriented work, the Marvel MAX line being the biggest example, but they've resisted ever leaning too heavily on terrifying, gory or otherwise violent stories. There is a glimmer of opportunity in that having this small but eager audience for Alien and Predator comics could lead to Marvel doing a more mature imprint again, perhaps resurrecting the dormant MAX, and playing to an adult audience. The Punisher, Daredevil and Jessica Jones could join them to form a stable of R-rated books, they being a reflection of their Netflix counter-parts while Alien and Predator begin a new canon in their home forevermore. Such a thing might actually help Marvel attract a broader readership as the constant influx of big events and convoluted crossovers in their books over the last few years has caused a dip in buyers and a bit of an identity crisis for the comics house.

Is The A Future For Alien or Predator Away From Movies?

There's always potential in these franchises making the jump from movies to TV. The Marvel/Netflix shows have done very well for all involved (or so the limited information available on their viewership tells us), and their popularity shows that people will respond to that more complex content. The two otherworldly hunters would fit right in that tone, especially in the lawless environment that is television production right now where there's so little restriction on what form a series can take, attracting some of the most respected names in filmmaking in the process. Smaller budget but much less pressure on immediate returns and much more freedom to do what the narrative needs and not what executives think might sell better.

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These are uncertain times. Fans wanted to see X-Men and Fantastic Four back in the hands of Marvel, but nobody quite thought Disney would just buy their owners wholesale to do it. Like both Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios before it, 20th Century Fox is surely in for some restructuring in certain areas as Disney cast out the dead-weight. It could be we see a rebirth of both Alien and Predator in the coming years, with renewed interest and cohesive visions from talented filmmakers. Or, like Michael Fassbender's David in Alien: Covenant, they're left all alone on a deserted planet with only the remnants of the civilization that once was for company. We'd be safe from a third Alien Vs. Predator, at least.

Next: Alien Theory: Is David the Space Jockey?

Key Release Dates

  • The Predator 2018 poster
    Predator
    Release Date:
    2018-09-14