Predator: Badlands’ Timeline Placement Creates An Alien Plot Hole

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The latest installment in the Predator series, Predator: Badlands, uniquely blends the worlds of Predator and Alien. While it doesn’t feature the iconic Xenomorphs, the movie draws heavily from the themes and ideas established in the Alien films. This connection is primarily seen through Elle Fanning’s portrayal of two characters, Thia and Tessa, who are synthetic humans created by the Weyland-Yutani corporation.

In Predator: Badlands, Dek comes across both Predator and Prey while tracking the Kalisk on Genna. Director Dan Trachtenberg skillfully combines these two universes in a new and exciting way. The film focuses on this central crossover and doesn’t get bogged down in explaining the broader connections to previous Predator or Prey movies.

Okay, so here’s something I was thinking about after watching Predator: Badlands. Apparently, it’s set further into the future than anything else in the Alien and Predator universe – that’s official! While that makes for a really cool story in the movie itself, it does create a bit of a problem when you consider everything that’s happened in the Alien films. It kind of throws a wrinkle into the timeline, you know?

Weyland-Yutani Shouldn’t Exist When Predator: Badlands Takes Place

While the exact time period isn’t known, the creators of Predator: Badlands have confirmed the story happens after all the previous Predator and Alien movies. Alien: Resurrection was previously the furthest point in the future, set in 2381. If Badlands takes place even later than that, it creates difficulties with how the Weyland-Yutani corporation from Alien is used in the story.

Weyland-Yutani is the powerful corporation at the heart of the Alien film series. They’re known for creating artificial people (synthetics), the advanced MU/TH/UR computer, and for pushing the boundaries of technology and space travel. The company appears in every Alien movie.

I was really excited for Predator: Badlands, but I have to admit, it felt a little disconnected from the rest of the franchise because of what happened in Alien: Resurrection. Apparently, Weyland-Yutani, the huge corporation behind so much trouble, had actually gone out of business! It’s explained that they lost a big military contract and, by 2349, all these mega-corporations were made illegal. It just changes the whole dynamic, you know?

It’s odd that the corporation Weyland-Yutani appears so casually in Predator: Badlands considering they were supposedly gone by the time of Alien: Resurrection. This creates a significant inconsistency in the overall story, and it hasn’t been addressed.

As a critic, I don’t buy the idea that the choices in Predator: Badlands were made without careful consideration of the Alien universe. Director Trachtenberg has stated this film happens after Resurrection, which tells me there’s a plan in place regarding the return of Weyland-Yutani. It’s clear they’re thinking about the bigger picture and how this connects to the franchise as a whole.

How The Alien Franchise Can Make Sense Of Weyland-Yutani’s Predator: Badlands Role

There are a few ways the company could be back in business by the time the story of Badlands begins, which is good news for the characters in Predator and Alien.

A potentially controversial decision is removing Alien: Resurrection from the official storyline of the Alien franchise. The idea of altering the established timeline has been considered before, as seen with plans for Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5, which would have disregarded both Alien 3 and Resurrection and significantly rewritten the series’ history.

Although Neill Blomkamp’s planned film never happened, the people currently managing the Alien franchise might have decided his story isn’t part of the official timeline. It’s a drastic solution to the story inconsistencies, but it could work if they have specific ideas for future Alien movies.

If the filmmakers don’t want to ignore the events of Resurrection, they could position Badlands as happening not long after. This would allow pieces of the Weyland-Yutani corporation to still be operating, a concept some novels have already touched on, even if their place in the official story isn’t certain.

Thia’s team has been stationed on Genna for two years, suggesting they were deployed shortly before the Weyland-Yutani Corporation went out of business. These artificial beings might be completing a final, critical mission assigned by the corporation before it closed down.

The story could also show that even after officially shutting down, Weyland-Yutani continued operating in the shadows. Given the company’s vast influence and resources, it’s believable that it wasn’t truly gone, despite what everyone thought.

Even if Weyland-Yutani were to disappear, it could easily resurface years later. This would be the simplest way to move the Alien franchise forward, essentially reversing a choice that many fans disliked. The powerful corporation is central to the story’s identity and shouldn’t have been removed in the first place.

Okay, so after watching Resurrection, it struck me that Weyland-Yutani could’ve realistically made a comeback. The story could have gone in a fascinating direction – imagine them being the unlikely saviors of humanity and even Earth itself! I’d love to see them draw inspiration from James A. Moore’s Alien: Sea of Sorrows – it feels like a natural fit and could really redeem the company, turning them from villains into something…more complex.

It’s clear from the start in Badlands that Weyland-Yutani isn’t acting with good intentions, regardless of its current state. They want the Kalisk in order to replicate its ability to heal and regenerate in humans. Essentially, the company is pursuing immortality and will stop at nothing to achieve it.

As a big fan of both the Alien and Predator movies, I’ve been thinking about how they could explain Weyland-Yutani’s comeback by the time Predator: Badlands rolls around. There are a few possibilities, but honestly, it’s going to be up to future movies in either franchise to really flesh this out and make it make sense. Hopefully, they’ll give us a good explanation so we can all forget this little plot hole!

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2025-11-12 02:42