Friday, December 21, 2007

AvPvTvR: A Hypothetical Mockup

From the department of: "I've got a little time on my hands" comes the hypothetical imagining of what would happen if we finally got that ultimate mash-up between Aliens vs. Predator vs. Terminator vs Robocop.

Functionally impossible because of conflicting licenses and things like that, but I should note we've historically debated Aliens vs. Predator for nearly 20 years since the first Dark Horse Comics mini-series and likewise Terminator vs. Robocop.

Of these franchises, Aliens vs. Predator has a surprising amount of longevity given the source material.

But as a craft exercise, let's see how it might work out:

I'll make the argument that for this story, the setting would take place in New Detroit, the historic home of Robocop and Omnicorp. We'll throw in a possible take-over attempt by Weyland-Yutani, the primary corporation of the Aliens/Predator mythos.

Historically, Cyberdyne and Cyber Research Systems Division have historically been credited with the research and creation that leads to Skynet and the creation of the Terminators.

However, with time travel and alternate futures being a major part of Terminator physics you can pretty much revise the future any way you see fit, including a way to make the historic Frank Miller version close to the canon truth for now: that Skynet gained intelligence by interacting with the Omnicorp product, Robocop.

Presently, we have many interesting and plausible scenarios to work with but presumably we should consider: What will give us the most bang for our buck: Lots of Predators, lots of Aliens, lots of Terminators and using Robocop, then?

From the precedents established in both Predator 2 and Aliens Vs. Predator, the Predators regularly use eggs from an Alien queen to seed selected planets for hunting grounds.

Bringing them all to New Detroit is no problem then. And therefore, a chance for Robocop to try and maintain order.

A fun and plausible scenario for introducing the Terminators is where it can become a challenge.

The two most likely options are pretty obvious: Give Terminators a reason to go back in time, or else demonstrate a prototype Terminator.

Of the two, I prefer the prototype Terminator route.

Before we get too far into this, we should note that many elements of this have already been proposed by fans such as:



We could REALLY have fun presenting the Terminator T-100s as a series originally planned to culminate in the Nexus 6 line, until the technology gleaned from the Predators demonstrates effective research routes to the T-1000 and beyond.

But that's pushing it.

The prototype Terminator model could be getting introduced as a way for Omnicorp and their new Cyberdyne partners to prevent a hostile Weyland-Yutani takeover.

Designed to be a less off-putting, public-relations friendly version of the Robocop concept, the Terminators human appearance has an unexpected advantage: They can be effective lures for Aliens and Predators alike because the lifelike, human appearance of the Terminators registers with enough verisimilitude that they present interesting and provocative targets.

Whereas, Robocop clearly registers as just a machine the Predators would have no interest in.

But an interesting issue may emerge that the Terminators are predominantly guided by inhuman AI priorities, and that by the conclusion of this story, as New Detroit is being overrun by Predators and Aliens and Terminators with a ruthless 'victory at any cost' policy of even shooting through, say, civilians, that Robocops become necessary because while cyborgs, they still maintain enough humanity and compassion for humans that they might be able to accomplish what the Terminators are failing to do.

And solve the current infestation problem.

And you might even see people volunteering to become robocops as the only effective way to counter them all. Which is really where the Robocop concept needs to be taken - we've already explored themes of forced inhumanity and the reassertion / indomitability of the human spirit / soul, memories, etc. But the question needs to be asked, what would happen if a situation arose where people must confront and volunteer for inhumanity?

Interesting issues to ponder for a Holiday weekend. :)

Oh, don't give me that look. :)
At least I didn't put in a Beverly Hills Cop Axl Foley returns home subplot. :)

Or to find a way to bring in the Batman/Superman vs. Predator/Aliens stories that have been done already, or bringing up the Batman vs. Punisher crossover that would then open us up to a thought of Archie vs. Aliens vs. Predator vs. the Punisher from back when the Punisher met Archie.

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