Alien Just Set up a Xenomorph/Predator Hybrid Deadlier Than AvP’s

While the Predalien is currently the deadliest (and only) Xenomorph/Predator hybrid out there, Marvel’s Alien sets up a way deadlier hybridization.

One of the most iconic and unique aspects of the Alien vs Predator series is the introduction of the Predalian–the result of a Xenomorph using a Predator as its host–but Marvel’s Alien actually just set up a Xenomorph/Yautja hybrid even deadlier than AvP’s.

The Predalien made its first appearance in the two-issue Dark Horse miniseries Aliens vs Predator: Duel by Randy Stradley and Javier Saltares–a story that picks up almost immediately following the events of the first AvP comic book series, Aliens vs Predator. In that first storyline, the Predators seed a planet with Xenomorph life in order to hunt them and complete their Blooding Ritual–a ceremonial rite of passage for the Yautja species. However, a colony of humans is unexpectedly in the middle of this hunt, which means that after the hunt is complete, another group of humans was dispatched from Earth to check on them–enter AvP: Duel. A team of Colonial Marines descend upon this world only to find nothing more than the chaos that was left behind, though there was one thing that was of interest: a Predator ship. Inside this ship was a Queen Xenomorph–the one used to seed this world–along with an unconscious Predator. Come to find out, one of the Queen’s Facehuggers impregnated this Predator, which allowed Xenomorph DNA to fuse with and grow from Predator genes, creating the ultimate killer, the Predalian. However, upon taking a closer look at the Xenomorphs’ reproductive process, this hybrid monster becomes infinitely less impressive–at least, compared to what it could be.

Related: Alien vs Predator’s Deadliest ‘Predator’ is Actually a Human

Predators Can Now Mutate into Xenomorphs, Not Just Be Their Hosts

In Marvel Comics’ Alien Vol. 2 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Julius Ohta, a spec-ops team of synthetics known as Steel Team are hired to go to a planet taken over by Xenomorphs (Tobler-9) and infiltrate a laboratory there, where Xenomorph experimentation was taking place before those very same aliens turned the entire world into an unlivable hellscape. When Steel Team enters the lab, they see a strange hybrid creature–a mosquito spliced with Xenomorph DNA. When this affront to nature was released, the ‘xeno-squito’ bit one of the humans who survived the initial Xenomorph assault on Tobler-9. As the comic book issues went on, this person slowly started to mutate into a human/Xenomorph hybrid–equipped with human problem-solving and practical thinking skills with all the deadly attributes of a Xenomorph.

While the Predalien looks interesting in terms of the character’s design, it’s not as special as it might appear. When a Xenomorph takes a host, any host, it will take on certain characteristics of that host–primarily physical characteristics–in a process known as DNA Reflex. For instance, the look of a Xenomorph fans are most familiar with isn’t the species’ original form, it only looks like that because humans have been their primary hosts in movies and comics. The bipedal, anthropomorphic design is due to the human species’ biological influence on the Xenomorph during its gestation–which means the same goes for the Predator.

The Predalian may look like it’s a perfect mixture of Xenomorph and Yautja, but in truth, it’s just a regular Xenomorph with facial prongs and heightened strength. However, if a Predator was bitten by one of the ‘xeno-squitos’ from Marvel’s Alien, that perfect fusion of Xenomorph and Yautja would actually take place, the same way it did for the human in the series. It is only a matter of time before Marvel’s Alien and Predator series crossover, and when they do, Tobler-9 will be irresistible to the Predators. So, upon the Yautja’s inevitable visit to this Alien planet–assuredly for their Blooding Ritual–it is possible they could unwittingly encounter the ‘xeno-squitos’, which would create a Xenomorph/Predator hybrid even deadlier than Alien vs Predator’s Predalien.

More: Alien vs Predator Reveals a Xenomorph-Killer Better than Ripley