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How to watch the ‘Alien’ movies in chronological order

Here's the correct chronological order two watch all of the films that take place in the 'Alien' universe.

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Credit: Twentieth Century Fox

Alien is one of the most iconic sci-fi horror film series ever created, and since its first release in 1979, there has been plenty of growth within this unique universe.

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Whether you’re an old-school horror fan or someone who grew up in the era of Alien vs. Predator, binging through this franchise is a must-do. It can get confusing, however, to work out what order to do so. It’s perfectly acceptable to watch the films in the order of their release, but the Alien franchise has jumped around a lot in time over the course of its eight installments.

As such, fans may want to watch the films in chronological order according to their place in the timeline of the Alien world.

To help with this, here is a breakdown of the chronological order of the movies. Now, all you have to do is hit play!

How to watch the Alien movies in chronological order

An alien has its mouth open in the Alien franchise.
Image via 20th Century Studios

It’s been a slow drip but there is a ton of Alien content to check out. With the huge gaps between releases and different places in the timeline, it can be extremely difficult to pinpoint the right order to take in everything the world of Alien has to offer.

Furthermore, you can even throw in the Alien vs Predator films to spice things up. Here’s the chronological order of all films in the Alien franchise, according to the timeline of the world in which they take place.

  • AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
  • AVPR: Alien vs Predator – Requiem (2007)
  • Prometheus (2012)
  • Alien: Covenant (2017)
  • Alien (1979)
  • Aliens (1986)
  • Alien 3 (1992)
  • Alien: Resurrection (1997)

When you’re done watching these classic films, you’ll finally be ready to join the never-ending internet debate over whether Alien is superior to Aliens, or any of the other decade-spanning wars that the fandom has engaged in since 1979.

If you’re looking for more to watch following this binge then why not continue on from AVP with the iconic Predator film series? By doing this you’ll have plenty more to check out with the most recent edition being made in 2022.

Regardless of what order you binge through, you can’t go wrong with this series. This is especially considering all of the speculation that real aliens will be announced sometime soon. As such, you’re going to want all of the space knowledge you can get before then.