It’s pretty cool that two of the most iconic movie monsters share the same cinematic universe.
Thanks to the Alien vs Predator films, the Alien and Predator franchises converged to take place in the same timeline. Now, there are 12 movies in total to watch - if you feel like revisiting what’s known as the Alien Universe. The oldest is Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic Alien, set in 2122. However, the earliest film chronologically is the latest film, Prey, set in 1719.
How to watch all the Marvel movies and TV shows in chronological order
The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 and is still going strong. Here’s the entire MCU timeline, shows and movies included.
To make things more complicated, the films' creators have planted easter eggs in other movies. Coupled with online theories, this has resulted in the inclusion of Blade Runner into theAlienUniverse. (It shares the same director as Alien,Ridley Scott.) To help you make sense of the Alien-Predator timeline, we put all the films in chronological order, with Blade Runner as a bonus.
Now’s a great time to dive-in to the shared universe of Aliens and Predators. There’s a new Alien film in the works from director Fede Alvarez called Alien: Romulus. It’s due to hit theaters on June 20, 2025 and it’s set between the first and second Alien films. As far as a new Predator movie, 20th Century has put Dan Trachtenberg in charge of those aliens after he directed 2022’s surprise hit Prey. He will direct a new Predator film set in the future called Badlands, as well as overseeing other Predator-based content. Also, don’t forgetDisney’s firstAlien TV showhas wrapped filming and is due out on FX in 2025. It’ll be the first TV series based on the classic film series, and is set three decades before the original Alien film.
The Alien Universe in chronological order (with Predator and Blade Runner) explained
Follow our guide below, and you will watch the events in the Alien Universe as they happened. At the bottom of this article, you’ll find a spoiler-free, bulleted-list version, of this guide plus additional watch orders with no spoilers.
There are spoilers below.
Comanche Warrior vs Predator
Prey (2022)
Prey follows a young woman training to become a Comanche warrior who has to face off with a Predator.
Set in 1719 on the American Great Plains, Prey stars Amber Midthunder as Naru, a young woman training to become a Comanche hunter. Unfortunately, a predator decides to hunt her and the rest of the hunters in her community.Prey released on Hulu on 5 August 2022in the US, and in the UK, it’s available onDisney+. It was written by Patrick Aison and directed by Dan Trachtenberg. It features a cast almost entirely of First Nation’s talent, including Midthunder and Dakota Beavers.
The first Predator film
Predator (1987)
Predator follows a team of elite commandos on a rescue mission in Central America.
Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team of elite soldiers are sent on a mission to rescue hostages from a Central American jungle. Soon after landing, the team encounters evidence that the mission isn’t all that it seems. In fact, they’re the ones being hunted by a Predator alien.
Carl Weathers stars as Dutch’s friend, Dillon. And John McTiernan directed the film. Shane Black plays Hawkins and would go on to direct another entry in the series.
3Predator 2
The predator comes to LA
Predator 2 (1990)
An LAPD detective must square off against a Predator who’s hunting vicious gangmembers.
This Predator sequel traded in the jungles for the skyscrapers of Los Angeles. Danny Glover stars as Michael R Harrigan, a lieutenant on the LAPD fighting against warring drug cartels. The heavily armed feud between the cartels and the police draw the attention of a Predator looking for new prey. When Harrigan begins to suspect something out of this world is murdering gang members, he meets Special Agent Peter Keyes (played by Gary Busey), who leads a special government task force hoping to capture the Predator.
Stephen Hopkins directed Predator 2.
4Alien vs Predator
A heavyweight fight between classic movie monsters
Alien vs Predator (2004)
When ancient ruins are discovered beneath the artic, it puts humanity on a collision course with Predators and Aliens.
When a satellite discovers a heat signature beneath the ice of Antarctica, the owner of the Weyland Corporation, Charles Bishop Weyland (played by Lance Henriksen), assembles a team to investigate. It’s headed by a guide named Alexa Woods (played by Sanaa Lathan). Once there, the team discovers a pyramid under the ice built by an unknown alien civilization.
Paul WS Anderson directed Alien vs Predator.
5Alien vs Predator Requiem
Introducing the Predalien, an alien-predator hybrid
Alien Vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
The ancient conflict between Aliens and Predators breaks out in a small town.
This Alien vs Predator sequel picks up directly after the events of the 2004 film: we see a Predator spaceship carrying an Alien-Predator hybrid crash in Colorado right as Dallas Howard (played by Steven Pasquale) is returning to reunite with his younger brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis). The ship releases the Predalien onto the town, along with facehugger aliens, which create more Xenomorph (Aliens). If that wasn’t enough, the last surviving Predator calls in reinforcements.
Greg and Colin Strause directed this installment.
6The Predator
The U.S. government captures a Predator
The Predator (2018)
A U.S. Army sniper helps capture a Predator monster, but that just leads to more problems for him.
A Predator ship crash-lands, and a surviving Predator attacks a US Army team in the middle of a rescue mission. Army Sniper Quinn McKenna (played by Boyd Holbrook) incapacitates the extraterrestrial monster, but soon, both he and the Predator are taken into custody by the US government and Special Agent Will Traeger (played by Sterling K Brown).
Shane Black, who starred in the original Predator as Hawkins, directed this film.
7Predators
The hunt is on
Predators (2010)
A group of seemingly random people awaken on a strange world stalked by Predators.
A group of people including a Spetnaz soldier, Israeli Defense Forces sniper, multiple drug cartel enforcers, and a death row inmate are led by a mysterious soldier named Royce (played by Adrien Brody) through a jungle, which they parachuted into while unconscious. Soon, the group finds themselves being hunted by two different groups of Predators.
Nimrod Antal directed Predators.
8Prometheus
An origin story for Aliens
Prometheus (2012)
A recently translated ancient language leads a group of scientists to journey across space to a distant planet.
The opening scene of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus shows the Alien race (known as Engineers) seeding life on Earth before jumping to the year 2089. There, a discovery by archeologists Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (played by Logan Marshall-Green) leads the Weyland Corporation to dispatch the duo on an investigation of the planet LV-223. Guy Pearce plays Peter Weyland in this film. He’s the son of Charles Bishop Weyland in Alien vs Predator.
Lis Anna-Langston directed Prometheus
9Alien Covenant
Who made the Aliens?
Alien: Covenant (2017)
A colony ship’s crew investigates a seemingly idyllic planet, but they find the disturbed android David there.
Set 11 years after Prometheus in 2104, The Covenant is a colonization ship headed toward Origae-6 when it suffers damage from a shockwave, forcing the ship’s android Walter (played by Michael Fassbender) to awaken the human crew members. While repairing the ship, the crew discovers the transmission of a human voice from a nearby habitable planet. Fassbender plays not only Walter but also Peter Weyland’s android, David, from Prometheus.
Ridley Scott returned to the Alien series to direct Covenant.
The film that started the universe
Alien (1979)
A mining crew on their way home answers a distress beacon on a desolate planet.
This is actually the oldest film on this entire list (and possibly the best), but it’s set father along in the Alien Universe timeline. In 2122, the crew of the Nostromo is on their way back to Earth when they receive a transmission from a nearby moon known as LV-426. When they respond to the beacon, executive officer Kane (played by John Hurt) is attacked by an Alien that emerges from an egg-like cocoon. This film introduces Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. Alien is directed by Ridley Scott.
