With the arrival of “Fargo” series creator Noah Hawley’s massive prequel hit show, “Alien: Earth,” the old rumor mill (unsurprisingly) has started to churn. Because, naturally, if you put “Earth” in the title, fans are going to wonder if a certain invisible hunter is lurking in the trees. Well, put down your plasma casters, folks, because Hawley has officially spoken up, and his answer is pretty definitive about this.
Xenomorph vs. Yautja
Ever since the Xenomorph and the Yautja first locked eyes in the pages of Dark Horse comics, fans have been desperate to see them throw down on screen. We got our wish in the early 2000s, and well… the results were mixed, to put it politely. The “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” film was so dark you literally couldn’t see the monsters, and since then, the two titans of sci-fi horror have mostly stayed in their own lanes.
Noah Hawley Shuts Down The Crossover Hype
In a recent chat on the “SmartLess” podcast, Hawley didn’t just skirt around the question; he pretty much slammed the bay door on it. When asked point-blank if he was planning to weave the Predator mythology into the show, his response was a resounding no. He stated:
“No, not onto the show, I don’t think… I’ve met Dan [Trachtenberg] once, we’re not kind of coordinating any of that stuff. So, it’s not really my plan to do it.”
So Noah Hawley has no crossover plans with the current steward of the Predator franchise, Dan Trachtenberg. Usually, showrunners give us the vague “never say never” routine to keep engagement high.
As for “Alien: Earth,” Hawley seems focused entirely on his own sandbox. He acknowledged that Trachtenberg (who directed the absolute banger that was “Prey”) has his own roadmap for the Yautja, and clearly, those roads don’t intersect right now with Hawley’s vision for the series’s Xenomorphs.
Why Keeping Predator Out of “Alien: Earth” is a Win
Look, we all love a good sci-fi creature feature mashup as much as the next nerd, but keeping these two apart is the best thing for “Alien: Earth.” Hawley is trying to do something heavily atmospheric and grounded here. He’s playing in the timeline before Ripley, dealing with the Weyland-Yutani corporation and the initial arrival of the perfect organism.
Throwing a Predator into the mix would instantly change the genre from “existential cosmic horror” to “action figure deathmatch.” The “Alien” franchise works best when it’s about the terror of the unknown and the corporate greed that tries to exploit it. The “Predator” franchise is at its peak when it’s a survival thriller about the hunt. When you mash them together without extreme care, you usually lose the nuance of both.
Plus, this show actually has enough heavy lifting to do. It has to justify being a prequel to one of the greatest horror movies of all time without stepping on the toes of canon (or “Prometheus,” for that matter). Adding invisible hunters to the mix would likely just be clutter.
The Future of The Franchise on FX
Just because we aren’t getting a crossover doesn’t mean the future isn’t bright. “Alien: Earth” has already been renewed for a second season, meaning FX is confident in what Hawley is cooking up. The cast is stacked, featuring Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, and Alex Lawther, and the show is promising to explore the social and political landscape of Earth right as the Xenomorph threat emerges.
We are finally getting a deep dive into the corporate dystopia that allows monsters like the Xenomorph to thrive. That is infinitely more interesting than watching a Predator spear-gun a Facehugger for the fiftieth time.
Dan Trachtenberg Has His Own Plans
On the flip side, “Predator” fans aren’t being left out in the cold. Hawley specifically shouted out Trachtenberg’s work on “Prey” and the upcoming “Badlands” movie. It’s clear that 20th Century Studios is happy to let these two auteurs run parallel tracks.
We are in an amazing time of sci-fi revitalization. We have a serious, prestige TV drama in “Alien: Earth,” and we have a reinvented, historical anthology approach to “Predator.” By keeping them separate, we get two distinct, high-quality flavors instead of a… muddled sci-fi stew.
So, while you won’t see any three-dot laser sights tracking Sydney Chandler in Season 2, that’s actually great news. It means Hawley is sticking to his guns and giving us the terrifying, pure “Alien” experience we’ve been waiting for.
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