Alien vs. Predator finally happened in 2004, but 17 years earlier, Predator 2 featured an Alien Easter egg that served to tease the crossover. When it comes to sci-fi/horror, few franchises boast the credibility of Alien and Predator. Alien’s fearsome Xenomorph first appeared in 1979’s Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, and doing battle with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. Predator’s ultimate intergalactic hunter species made their debut in 1987’s Predator, directed by John McTiernan, and doing battle with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch.
Alien would go on to have four sequels, ending with 1997’s Alien: Resurrection. Predator would get a sequel in 1990, then again in 2010. In 2004 though, a crossover that had already occurred in multiple video games and comic books finally made its way to the big screen, as Alien vs. Predator arrived in theaters. Sadly, the film was PG-13, and thus quite limited in trying to live up to its R-rated predecessors. Ratings certainly aren’t everything though, as 2007’s dismal, but R-rated Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem proved.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
In more recent years, the Alien universe has expanded via two Ridley Scott prequels, 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant. Meanwhile, Shane Black’s The Predator was released in 2018, to underwhelming results. It remains to be seen if Alien and Predator will meet again, but it turns out their union was teased by Predator 2, nearly two decades in advance.
Predator 2 Easter Egg Teased Alien Crossover 17 Years in Advance
In Predator 2, Lethal Weapon franchise star Danny Glover plays Lieutenant Mike Harrigan, who’s forced to tangle with the titular alien after it arrives on the mean streets of Los Angeles. While Predator 2 isn’t considered to be in the same league as Predator, the shift of setting from the jungle to the big city leads to some really fun action moments, and Harrigan proves to be an entirely different opponent than Dutch. While he’s a capable cop, he’s far from the musclebound badass Schwarzenegger’s hero was.
As Harrigan battles with the Predator late in the film on the creature’s own ship, Harrigan comes across what appears to be sort of a trophy room containing the skulls of the Predator’s conquests. Among these is a very recognizable Xenomorph skull, and while Harrigan doesn’t realize the significance of this, the viewer immediately does: at one point, a Predator killed an Alien. It was this tease that really kicked fan desire for a Predator/Alien crossover into high gear, and while it took 17 years to arrive on the big screen, the combination of both monsters across various media remains a popular one to this day. Hopefully one day someone comes along to give fans an Alien vs. Predator movie worthy of the concept.
