ALIEN AdApted (AgAin And AgAin)
165
interventions (avpuniverse.com), with attending acrimonious debates over
creative ownership, originality, authenticity, and storyworld logic. One reason
I have limited my discussion to the official franchise is the sheer mass of nonsanctioned contributions: there are dozens of fanfiction sites with hundreds of
stories about the Alien universe alone, and much more if we include the Predator universe, the AvP crossover, and the various non-sanctioned crossovers
that fans have generated, not to mention graphic artwork and other media.
An abridged and a-chronic graphic approximation of this f ictional
universe might look as follows:
Novels
(various)
Board Game
Alien Universe
Alien vs.
Predator
Universe
Predator
Universe
Alien (novel)
Aliens (novel)
Alien 3 (novel)
Alien 3 (1992)
Aliens (1986)
Alien (1979)
Predator (1987)
Predator 2
(1990)
Predators (2010)
The Pretador
(2018)
Alien
Resurrection
(novel)
Graphic Novel
Adaptations
PC & Console
Games
(adaptations &
various)
Graphic Novels
(adaptations &
various)
Prometheus
(2012)
Alien: Covenant
(2017)
Alien
Resurrection
(1997)
Alien vs.
Predator I
(2004)
Aliens vs.
Predator II
(2007)
Graphic
Novels
(various
PC & Console
Games
(various)
Giger
Art &
Design
PC & Console
Game
Adaptations
figure 9.1: Approximation of the Alien universe.
In other words – and I think the point is clear by now – the fictional universe
of the alien creature and its various biological permutations (face hugger,
chestburster, queen, predalien, deacon, etc.) span a host of different narrative
and non-narrative manifestations and media (what Jenkins calls “corporate
convergence” wherever it is legally sanctioned) in a constant – formal,
medial, content-related, contextual – tension of difference and repetition, of
feedback and recursion, and of seeking to maintain at least some semblance
of logic and coherence. Considering the numerous storyworlds that make
up this fictional universe, this is clearly not easy: the intradiegetic timeline
alone covers several centuries, not to mention places, characters, creatures,
and dozens of non-actualized backstories/disnarrations (e.g. of the various
cybernetic organisms, the Weyland company, Ripley’s family, the space
165
interventions (avpuniverse.com), with attending acrimonious debates over
creative ownership, originality, authenticity, and storyworld logic. One reason
I have limited my discussion to the official franchise is the sheer mass of nonsanctioned contributions: there are dozens of fanfiction sites with hundreds of
stories about the Alien universe alone, and much more if we include the Predator universe, the AvP crossover, and the various non-sanctioned crossovers
that fans have generated, not to mention graphic artwork and other media.
An abridged and a-chronic graphic approximation of this f ictional
universe might look as follows:
Novels
(various)
Board Game
Alien Universe
Alien vs.
Predator
Universe
Predator
Universe
Alien (novel)
Aliens (novel)
Alien 3 (novel)
Alien 3 (1992)
Aliens (1986)
Alien (1979)
Predator (1987)
Predator 2
(1990)
Predators (2010)
The Pretador
(2018)
Alien
Resurrection
(novel)
Graphic Novel
Adaptations
PC & Console
Games
(adaptations &
various)
Graphic Novels
(adaptations &
various)
Prometheus
(2012)
Alien: Covenant
(2017)
Alien
Resurrection
(1997)
Alien vs.
Predator I
(2004)
Aliens vs.
Predator II
(2007)
Graphic
Novels
(various
PC & Console
Games
(various)
Giger
Art &
Design
PC & Console
Game
Adaptations
figure 9.1: Approximation of the Alien universe.
In other words – and I think the point is clear by now – the fictional universe
of the alien creature and its various biological permutations (face hugger,
chestburster, queen, predalien, deacon, etc.) span a host of different narrative
and non-narrative manifestations and media (what Jenkins calls “corporate
convergence” wherever it is legally sanctioned) in a constant – formal,
medial, content-related, contextual – tension of difference and repetition, of
feedback and recursion, and of seeking to maintain at least some semblance
of logic and coherence. Considering the numerous storyworlds that make
up this fictional universe, this is clearly not easy: the intradiegetic timeline
alone covers several centuries, not to mention places, characters, creatures,
and dozens of non-actualized backstories/disnarrations (e.g. of the various
cybernetic organisms, the Weyland company, Ripley’s family, the space