Predators Hunt Marvel Heroes on May Variant Covers

With Fox now being owned by Disney, allowing Marvel to play in the Alien and Predator universes, we've already seen the Alien-themed variant covers for several superhero titles, but now Marvel has unveiled a series of Predator variants for its May titles.

These are, of course, simply artistic flights of fancy and aren't any indication (yet) of actual crossovers between the Yautja of Predator fame and any particular Marvel superheroes.

That said, for my money, I reckon they would be a better fit in the Marvel Comic Book Universe than Alien's xenomorphs.

Rehomed Predators To Return Late 2021

Cover art by Iban Coello

The first Predator omnibus from Marvel Comics is scheduled to hit stores in August next year, according to the AVP Galaxy website.

Reprinting old Dark Horse comics, Predator: The Original Years Omnibus Vol. 1 will include:

PREDATOR (1989) #1-4, PREDATOR 2 #1-2, PREDATOR: Big Game #1-4, PREDATOR: COLD WAR #1-4, PREDATOR: THE BLOODY SANDS OF TIME #1-2, PREDATOR: RACE WAR #1-4, PREDATOR: BAD BLOOD #1-4, PREDATOR: INVADERS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION, PREDATOR: DARK RIVER #1-4, PREDATOR: STRANGE ROUX, and PREDATOR: KINDRED #1-4 – Plus material from DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #46, #67-69, and #119: DARK HORSE COMICS #1-2, #4-7, #10-14, #16-18 and #20-21; and A DECADE OF DARK HORSE #1

As well as the standard cover, featuring cover art by Iban Coello (pictured above), there is to be a direct market variant with a cover from original Predator comic artist Chris Warner.

While the Predators are most definitely not part of the official Alien canon, there's still an enormous overlap in the fandoms and there's nothing to stop Game Mothers from including the Yautja in their campaigns.

These reprints may provide crucial inspiration fuel for those who missed the numerous Dark Horse comics on their first publication.

Aliens vs Marvel Heroes on January Variant Covers

While Marvel has been tight-lipped about news of its upcoming Alien books, it is celebrating its acquisition of the franchise with a splash of variant covers on its titles in January.

Here's a selection to whet your appetite. 

Remember these are all just "art pieces" and no indication of whether the infamous xenomorphs are going to be shoehorned into the wider Marvel Comics Universe (as Conan the Barbarian has been) or left to their own devices in their own pocket universe.

Given that Marvel is simply licencing Conan, his being woven so heavily into the fabric of the Marvel Universe has been a big surprise to me

However, the Alien, Predator, and AvP franchises are now owned wholly by Disney (which, in turn, owns Marvel), so I would have thought highly likely that we will see some crossover with superheroes in the future.

The xenomorphs, for instance, could easily replace The Brood (Marvel's old xenomorph rip-offs).

What's Canon And What's Not

Alien RPG author and franchise mythology guru Andrew EC Gaska has penned a definitive guide to the canon of the universe where the official Alien roleplaying game (and the movies) takes place.

You can read it in all its glory here:

https://roguereviewer.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/defining-canon-in-an-alien-world/

Before you ask: no, Predators aren't part of the official Alien canon and, yes, it's your game universe, so you can have Predators if you want to stat them up and throw them at unsuspecting colonial marines.

Of particular interest to me is the tier of "myths and legends", which is sort of what I was getting at with my Space Beast ruminations the other month.

Alien RPG Writer Andrew E.C. Gaska Answers Fan Questions

Aliens and Predators Move To Marvel

Forget the Brood, because the O.G. xenomorphs from Alien are coming to Marvel Comics next year, along with the Predator.

If you've been wondering what Disney is going to do with the Alien and Predator properties since acquiring Fox, then this looks like a first step.

Starting in 2021, Marvel will be publishing new stories set in the franchises of Alien, Predator, and Alien vs Predator, which will "feature new and classic characters from Earth and beyond to explore never-before-seen corners of both the Alien and Predator universes".

So, that's another I.P. - like Conan - that Marvel has snatched from under the nose of Dark Horse.

Will this mean, as Marvel has done with Conan, that the Xenomorph XX121 and the Yautja will be crossing over into the Marvel Universe?

I'd pay to see that!

Warrior: Predator

A 16th century Native American warrior is forced to fight for her life against sister Predators. Will this fierce warrior survive? Or will she become another trophy for the deadly hunters?

(a fan film by Chris .R. Notarile)

Buy Two Aliens, Get One Free!

As a slightly more wallet-friendly offer for Alien Day, Eaglemoss is offering a "two-for-one" deal on select Alien products from its Alien and Predator Collection.

Get the cheapest one item free when you buy two. The offer ends on Sunday (Alien Day), so get young purchasing finger clicking!

Comics: Predator - Original Screenplay

Treading a similar path to the comic book adaptation of the original script of Alien, a new comic from Dark Horse presents Predator: The Original Screenplay.

While I'm not 100 percent convinced that the Yautja (or Predators) belong in the Alien universe (except in fan fiction, like the AvP movies), there may be something in this iteration of the story that could be lifted for use in a game.

Before there was Predator, there was Hunters.

Now, Dark Horse Comics and Twentieth Century Fox invite you to experience that story in Predator: The Original Screenplay.

Adapted from James E. Thomas and John C. Thomas’ 1984 screenplay Hunters, writer Jeremy Barlow (Alien vs. Predator: Thicker Than Blood, Star Wars: Empire), artist Patrick Blaine (Star Wars: Empire, Witchblade), and inker Andy Owens (Tomb Raider, Ghost) bring the original story to brutal life.

In Predator: The Original Screenplay, a team of military specialists are on a rescue mission in the jungles of Central America.

The details of the mission are classified, but the team soon uncovers a trail of lies and deceit.

Something is observing them — tracking their every move.

The hunt has begun!

A five-part mini-series, the first issue of Predator: The Original Screenplay is due out on June 10 (pandemic willing).

Xenomorph Size Comparison Videos

BUILDING BETTER WORLDS

From the Official Newsletter for the Upcoming Alien Tabletop RPG

Most Alien films tell a horryfing and thrilling story with a tight focus.

They generally don't reveal that much detail about the greater universe, instead leaving the viewer with largely unexplained names of locations and organizations to spark the imagination.

Cinematic scenarios for the Alien RPG will work in very much the same way as the films.

But for Campaign mode, we need to flesh out the universe and present the Alien world of 2183 AD to you as a cohesive whole.

The full game will have meaty chapters on governments, corporations, star systems, planets, colonies, and xenomorphs, as well as a beautiful star map of known space for you to explore.

The lead writer of the setting chapters is Andrew E. C. Gaska – author, senior development editor at Lion Forge Comics, and franchise consultant on Alien, Predator and Planet of the Apes for 20th Century Fox.

With total attention to the minute details of the Alien lore from decades of movies, games, books, and comics, Drew's work is to preserve the essence of the expanded material and bring it in line with hardcore canon, filling in gaps where needed. In addition to his setting design, Drew is the lead writer of the introductory scenario Chariot of the Gods.

To compliment Drew's work, RPG designer Paul Elliott (Hostile, Zenobia) is writing systems and missions generators for the Gamemaster to use, as well as modular locations and adversaries, to make the Alien RPG in Campaign Mode a truly sandbox, open-world game.

The end result is a rich game universe in the deadly cold of outer space for you to explore.

More details on the Alien RPG universe of 2183 AD will follow in later newsletters.

Stay tuned – and tell all of your friends to also sign up to this newsletter at Alien-RPG.com!

Predator: Dark Ages (2015)

As a special treat for loyal GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER! readers, here's the short Kickstarter-funded fan film Predator: Dark Ages, written and directed by James Bushe and starring Adrian Bouchet, Amed Hashimi, Sabine Crossen, Ben Lloyd-Holmes, Jon Campling, Joe Egan and Philip Lane.

First Trailer For Predator: Dark Ages

New teaser trailer to the upcoming short fan film Predator : Dark Ages.

Set during the Crusades, the faith and fighting skills of a group of Templar Knights is put to the test when they encounter the Predator.

Written and directed by James Bushe, the film stars Adrian Bouchet, Amed Hashimi, Sabine Crossen, Ben loyd-Holmes, Jon Campling, Joe Egan and Philip Lane.

Director of photography was Simon Rowling.

The Kickstarter-funded short fan film is due out soon.

"If It Bleeds, We Can Kickstart It!"

I'm trying (not very successfully itv seems) to wean myself off Kickstarter, but then I came across this campaign to raise funds for a Predator fanfilm set during the Dark Ages, pitting the ultimate hunters against a band of Templar Knights.

The short film revolves around a group of knights returned to England from the Crusades who find themselves hunting a "demon", who happens to be an alien Predator.

The campaign is looking to raise at least £5,000 by August 8, which would result in "a high concept trailer, giving you a glimpse of what could be a brilliant Dark Ages set Predator film", however if they can net £10,000 then we'll get an eight to 10 minute film ("a cut down version from the full script, with having to lose some fight sequences, even some scenes, as well as a lower end production kit and a smaller crew").

Their ultimate goal would be raise more than £15,000, which would allow them to produce a 20 to 25 minute film, showing off the the full script "in all its glory" using a "high-end cinema camera such as the Red Epic (used on The Hobbit), and the very best lenses to accompany it. As well as a full SFX crew, post production VFX, stunt work, horses, a remote camera helicopter and much more."

Check out the film's Kickstarter page to learn more about the cast, crew and investor incentives (which include a variety of downloads, Blu-Rays of the finished film, T-shirts, posters, artwork, props, the chance to be an extra etc

Let the hunt begin!

Predators (2010)

The biggest surprise in the latest addition to the Predator franchise is how well Adrian Brody can pull off the 'hard man' act. Beyond that, no matter how exciting the film is, and it is, we've seen it all before.

Brody is Royce, a tough mercenary, who awakes in freefall over - what he soon discovers is - an alien jungle. He's been dropped in among a group of similarly bewildered and confused strangers, who all turn out to be soldiers, psychos, gangsters or criminals.

They have been snatched from Earth to be hunted by the Predator aliens on a planet-wide 'game reserve'... and that's about it as far as plot goes.

There's running, there's fighting, dodging traps, tangling with Predator-hounds and Predators, references to the original Predator movie, more running about, more fighting, a surprising cameo, some more running and finally some more fighting.

Of course, there's also a bit of crafty trickery along the way, but from the opening scenes it's pretty easy to single out which of the gang of hard nuts will survive until the final conflict and which will be fodder for the planet's killing machines.

Never dull, Predators is competently directed by Nimrod Antal, and the script by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch takes a stab at expanding the culture of the Predator aliens, while using them as dark mirrors for the 'predatory' nature of the humans, but it's simply not meaty enough to generate more than a shrug of passing interest.

Disappointingly forgettable, with no memorable set pieces, Predators - pedestrian as it may be - is perfect beer and pizza fodder for an undemanding audience who just want to wallow in some mindless, and ultimately pointless, sci-fi violence.

Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem (2007)

For years fans were crying out for a match-up between the Aliens and the Predators, but they were less than impressed with the 2004 addition to the mythos of both these creatures: Aliens Vs Predator.

At least that had Lance Henriksen in it as Charles Bishop Weyland (the 'inspiration' for the Bishop android in Aliens) to tenuously tie it in to the earlier films.

Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem picks up right from the end of the first continuity-befuddling AvP film, with the birth of the 'PredAlien' (a hybrid Alien born out of the chest of a Predator).

It attacks the Predators on the ship and forces a crash-landing back on Earth, near the small, isolated Colorado town of Gunnerson, releasing not only the PredAlien, but hordes of little face-huggers, in the wilds.

This is a town of bland, non-entities (the only slightly famous face I spotted was Reiko Aylesworth aka Michelle Dessler from 24) meaning that anyone could die at anytime (including children and pregnant women), as none have the protection of star quality.

We are quickly introduced to an array of stereotypes - from the returning soldier who has lost her 'special bond' with her daughter, to the disenfranchised local sheriff and the recently released convict returning to his home, and delinquent brother, to make a new life - before the action rapidly escalates.

You can't fault the directors Colin and Greg Strause for the speed with which they make the carnage snowball, as the alien horde grows exponentially and the humans quickly discover that there is nothing they can do to avoid becoming monster chow.

The Predators have dispatched one of their own to Earth, presumably to clean up the mess they've helped create, and he starts butchering humans and Aliens alike in his zeal.

Before you can say "but what's the story?" the film has spiralled into a plotless gorefest of Aliens munching on humans, humans running around screaming and the Predator killing anyone he can lay his hands on.

Much of the action takes place at night, and with the town's power out, so it's often difficult to even get a sense of what's going on, but ultimately it's difficult to grow tired to watching two of cinema's greatest killing machines doing what they do best.

There are some half-decent moments - such as the ambush of the national guard, which is a low-budget re-enactment of the marine massacre early in Aliens 2 - but don't expect to remember many, or any, of the performances about 10 minutes after you've stopped watching.

In the end, it is left to the US Army's radical "evac" plan, and a cameo by Françoise Yip as Ms. Yutani, to claw the franchise back into some vague semblance of the continuity established in the first three Alien movies.

Gone are the gritty, outer space environments, the 'lived in' space ships and alien planets, replaced by everyday, contemporary Earth; reducing the Aliens to just more monsters that go bump in the night.

In theory, it's actually not a bad idea - to remind us all just how bad ass Aliens and Predators are - but it could have done with a bit more story to back it up. For lengthy sequences, this movie ranks on a par with watching someone else play a particularly violent video game.

Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem is really one for die-hard Alien/Predator completionist fans only or if you're just looking for some moving wallpaper while you do something else; don't go into this expecting anything new or inspirational and you won't be disappointed.

Alien Anarchy!

"Oh, shi...!" A hapless scout finds himself trapped
between Predator and prey.

Nearing the end of unpacking the various boxes under and around my newly erected games table, I rediscovered my wonderful, pre-painted Aliens Vs Predator Horrorclix figures... and immediately wondered how they would measure up against the AT-43 figures I already had displayed on the table.

I pictured a scenario where the UNA had set up camp around a deserted town that happened to be an alien queen's nest.

The UNA have been ambushed by the xenomorphs, but a gang of Predators are also on the way through the surrounding forests to wipe out the alien nest; but will they assist the UNA troopers or just count them as additional trophies?

More pictures can be found below.

I've thought about trying to rebase the Horrorclix, but then again I might be able to persuade Nick to join me in a game "by the book" - I imagine it's pretty staright forward to translate the games' grid-based rules into tabletop measurements, by simply substituting one inch for each square.