Badlands’ Fits in the ‘Alien’ & ‘Predator’ Timeline, Explained

The timeline placement of Predator: Badlands within both the Predator and Alien franchises has intriguing implications for the entire series. The Predator film series has mostly taken place in the present day or the past, as seen in Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. Meanwhile, the Alien franchise has largely taken place in the far future, except for the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films, which brought the Xenomorphs to contemporary Earth. However, Predator: Badlands advances the Predator series into the future, aligning it more closely with the timeline of the Alien films​​​​​​.

But where exactly does Predator: Badlands fit in a full Alien and Predator viewing order? Where in the vast timeline does it take place? Does it connect to the events of Alien: Earth or Alien: Romulus, or is it set far past them? Predator: Badlands doesn’t give a clear answer, but there are plenty of clues hinting at where it takes place in both franchises’ timeline, and how the events of past Predator movies might subtly inform the background of this story and suggest what area of the timeline a new hypothetical Alien vs. Predator could take place.

‘Predator: Badlands’ Is Purposely Vague About When It Takes Place

Predator: Badlands never identifies when in the timeline the movie takes place. The audience can tell the story is set later in the Predator timeline, thanks to the appearance of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and its synthetics from the Alien films. Keeping Predator: Badlands‘ exact timeline placement vague is done by design. As Dan Trachtenberg told IGN:

“There was a lot going on while we were making this movie. [Alien] Romulus was not out yet, 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, so all that stuff that has happened would have happened before our movie. We’re not trying to squeeze in.”

This means Predator: Badlands takes place in the future, but no specific date is given. Yet certain clues do offer some hints of what takes place before it. All major Predator films occur before Predator: Badlands, except for the climax of Predator: Killer of Killers. The climax of Predator: Killer of Killers takes place on the Predator homeworld of Yautja Prime. However, the appearance of various warriors from different periods suggests the story could plausibly occur at any point after Predator 2, which is set in 1997.

The Alien franchise establishes that the Weyland-Yutani Corp. was formed in 2099 following the merger of the Weyland Corporation and the Yutani Corporation. This means Predator: Badlands at least takes place after Prometheus, and most likely after the events of Alien: Covenant. It also suggests it is set after the events of Alien: Earth and Alien, which take place in 2120 and 2122, respectively. Predator: Badlands establishes that the Weyland-Yutani corporation is engaged in off-world colonization and studying other planets. It features a wide variety of synthetics, so it could seemingly take place at any point in the timeline after Alien.

‘Predator: Badlands’ Might Take Place Between ‘Alien 3’ and ‘Alien: Resurrection’

20th Century Studios

The Weyland-Yutani technology seen in Predator: Badlands, from the liftloaders to the new MU/TH/UR computer interface, is more advanced than what was seen in Alien or Aliens. Currently, the most likely placement for Predator: Badlands is within the 202-year gap in the Alien timeline between Alien 3 (2179) and Alien: Resurrection (2381). This is the most unexplored area of the Alien franchise, and one that the Predator series has never set foot in, giving the filmmakers the most creative freedom without retconning any prior entry. It also means it doesn’t interfere with what is established in the currently developing Alien: Earth or the upcoming Alien: Romulus sequel.

The flexible nature of Predator: Badlands‘ undisclosed timeline means it could be set close to the events of Alien: Romulus if the creators wish to do a crossover. Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez has hinted at wanting to work with Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg on a new Alien vs. Predator movie. 20th Century Fox has been teasing a new crossover film. Depending on the direction of the Alien: Romulus sequel and how long Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Johnson) remain adrift in space, they could potentially cross paths with Predator Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and the synth Thia (Elle Fanning) in a future film. They could also remain separate, as not locking Predator: Badlands down to a specific timeline gives them a great deal of creative freedom.

Here is a rough estimation of the Predator film timeline.

‘Predator: Badlands’ Might Build on the Franchise’s Two Most Controversial Entries

20th Century Fox

One of the most interesting clues about Predator: Badlands timeline placement might restore the Alien vs. Predator films to the Alien chronology. The Predator franchise has maintained a loose connection to the Alien vs. Predator films, with a Predator spear crafted from a Xenomorph tail appearing in the 2004 film and again in 2018’s The Predator. However, the Alien films have gone out of their way to remove the AVP movies from canon, with Prometheus seemingly making it impossible for them to co-exist. Alien: Earth retcons might have allowed Prometheus and Alien vs. Predator to co-exist, therefore merging the Alien and Predator series into one unified canon. Now Predator: Badlands might pick up a major plotline dangling from the worst film in both the Alien and Predator film series: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem ends with one of the Predator’s plasma canons in the custody of Ms. Yutani (Françoise Yip) of the Yutani Corporation, years before the merger with the Weyland Corporation. This seemed to set up a third film that never happened, but it implied that knowledge of the Predator’s weapons could have eventually led the merged Weyland-Yutani Corporation to pursue space travel in search of other lifeforms. Instead of finding the Yautja, they discover the Xenomorph.

Alien: Earth features the latest descendant of the Yutani family, played by Sandra Yi Sencindiver, who serves as the CEO of Weyland-Yutani in the year 2120. Predator: Badlands establishes that the Weyland-Yutani corporation is already aware of the Yautja species, even classifying them by their actual name rather than “Predator.”

2018’s The Predator, another widely disliked entry in the franchise, also ended with Rory McKenna (Jacob Tremblay) working in a lab studying the Yuatja technology. Given that Rory deciphered the Predator’s technology, he could have translated their language. During the 100-year gap between The Predator and Alien, world governments and companies like Weyland-Yutani became aware of the Yautja species. They may have encountered them in space and sought to study them, as they did with the Xenomorphs. This is a subtle detail in Predator: Badlands that shows that even without directly acknowledging Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem or The Predator outright, it is building on unlikely entries to create a grander tapestry. Predator: Badlands treats all previous material as canon, even if it does not directly reference specific events or characters. Predator: Badlands is now playing in theaters.

Release Date

November 5, 2025

Runtime

107 minutes

Producers

Brent O’Connor, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg, Ben Rosenblatt

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  Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi

  Dek / Father