The Alien and Predator franchises are more interested in expansive storytelling than building out an interconnected cinematic universe, and that’s a good thing. Fans of the sci-fi horror series and their recent canon can rest assured that releases within the shared universes and potential crossovers, if they happen, will not be dependent on needing to watch every single prior film or TV show.
Recently Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg touched on how, if at all, the other projects in development while he was making his second installment within the 20th Century Studios wheelhouse affected his work. “There was a lot going on while we were making this movie. Romulus was not yet out, and I hadn’t seen it yet. And Alien Earth, I was aware of happening, but not sure where that was [going to] end up. So we decided to set ourselves well into the future,” he told IGN.
In Badlands, Elle Fanning’s Thia is indeed a Weyland-Yutani synth from the Alien franchise’s evil corporation, but the far-future setting gave Trachtenberg room to play in his own sandbox. “So all the stuff that has happened would have happened before our movie. We’re not trying to squeeze [it] in,” he explained. “[I am] also cognizant of how, in this day and age, with all the media that we have, some of it can feel like homework. And you’re going to have to remind yourself, where in a timeline does this sit between this movie and that movie? And I really do not want that to be the case with Badlands.”
And that’s such a relief if, like myself, you were thinking, “Geez, do I have to watch Alien: Romulus and all of Alien: Earth before Predator: Badlands?” to find out that’s not the case at all. But obviously if you want to do all that, go for it. Just know they’re not movies or shows set up solely with the intention to build bridges to lead up to any sort of crossover event. Just enjoy the darn Xenomorphs wreaking havoc and that Predator on the hunt.