"The murderous alien hunters known as the Predators may not be as meticulously analyzed as their close cousins, the xenomorphs, from the Alien franchise. But since 1987, the franchise has certainly offered plenty of films. From the gritty 1987 original to the underrated 1990 Predator 2, to the present-day renaissance, the Predator franchise is clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. Indeed, the new batch of films, starting with Prey in 2022, has ushered in a newfound love and respect for the Predators and has once again brought the franchise back into the same canonical universe as Alien."
"But, if you're getting ready to watch 2025's Predator: Badlands or going down a frightening trip down memory lane, what is the best order to watch the Predator movies? From a script timeline watch-order, to unpacking the Alien connections, to the more recent Dan Trachtenberg films, here are all the best ways to approach watching the Predator movies."
"As most fans are probably aware, Aliens and Predators have been fighting each other since 1989, when Dark Horse Comics pitted the popular monsters against each other. That's right, even before Predator 2 was in theaters, the Predators and xenomorphs did battle in the pages of comics. This popular team-up led to the first Alien vs. Predator movie in 2004, which, for most fans, exists outside of the main canon of each individual film series."
"And yet, the connections between the Alien and Predator film series continue in a big way to this day. The 2025 film Predator: Badlands specifically features a Weyland-Yutani robot in the form of Elle Fanning's Thia. And, the possibility of more Alien/Predator crossovers is certainly on the horizon."
The Predator franchise began in 1987 and has produced multiple films, including Predator 2 (1990) and a present-day resurgence. The 2022 film Prey reinvigorated interest and restored canonical connections to the Alien universe. The 2025 release Predator: Badlands continues the series and explicitly references Weyland-Yutani through a robot character. Alien and Predator crossovers date back to 1989 Dark Horse Comics and culminated in the 2004 Alien vs. Predator film, which many fans consider outside the core canon. Multiple viewing approaches include release order, script timeline, and shared-universe watch orders.
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