A Cancelled Star Trek Crossover Pitted The Next Generation Crew Against Alien's Xenomorphs

To do a little fun sci-fi time-crunching, Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien" takes place in the year 2122, which was, by the "Star Trek" timeline, about 30 years before the events of "Star Trek: Enterprise." James Cameron's "Aliens" skips ahead to 2179, about 25 years after "Enterprise," but still about 75 years before anything from the original "Star Trek" series. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection" skips ahead again, this time to the year 2379, which was the same year "Star Trek: Nemesis" took place. 

Of course, the "Alien" movies and the "Star Trek" shows definitely take place in separate universes. The "Alien" movies are marked by their cynicism, usually depicting shifty, profit-driven company men who aim to retrieve alien xenomorphs for nefarious purposes, no matter the human cost the retrieval requires. "Star Trek," meanwhile, is marked by its optimism, depicting a future wherein a galactic Federation ensures peace, study, and diplomacy throughout the cosmos. One franchise is about how corporations aim to own killer monsters, intended for use in war. The other is about the glories of a future without money or war. 

But we sci-fi fans love to speculate, don't we? What would happen, we may idly ask, if the characters from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were to encounter an alien xenomorph from "Alien?" The latter, after all, is a killer monster that bleeds acid. What would a phaser do to a xenomorph? Would Captain Picard try to communicate with a xenomorph? Would he protect it, knowing it's just a life form like anything else? 

As it turns out, we almost had the real answers to those questions. IDW, a comic book label that specializes in property licensing, once conceived of a Captain Picard vs. Aliens comic that was to be published in 2017. Sadly, it never came to fruition. Comics writer Rich Handley talked about the stalled project on his website. 

According to Handley's website, the "Star Trek"/"Alien" crossover comic was to be called "Acceptable Losses," and its writing was announced at the 2016 MCM London Comic Con. The writers were to be Scott and David Tipton, the authors of dozens of IDW "Star Trek" comics from 2007 to 2017. The artist was to be J.K. Woodward, perhaps best known for illustrating Peter David's 2003 comic "Fallen Angel." He also drew multiple "Star Trek: The Next Generation" comics for IDW, as well as comic tie-ins to shows like "CSI." 

"Acceptable Losses" was intended to be published in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and the comic would have starred Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D facing off against an alien foe. Sadly, there is no hint as to what the story of "Acceptable Losses" would have been, and Handley's website only states that the Romulans and the Borg would have been involved somehow. Of course, if the Borg became involved, one can rest assured that readers would be treated to the sight of an alien xenomorph being assimilated into the Borg's collective. 

The Borg, after all, were clearly inspired by the works of Swiss surrealist (and Dracula-looking dude) H.R. Giger, and the same artist famously designed the xenomorph for Ridley Scott's original movie. Seeing the Borg assimilate a xenomorph would have brought pop culture full circle, and also would have made for the kind of powerful and aggressive alien antagonist that Captain Picard would have had to work overtime to defeat. How would one deal with a Borg that has an increased level of bloodthirstiness?

Various artists released some concept images, and they look plenty alluring. One of the covers was to feature Captain Picard being buried in alien xenomorphs, very much the same way Captain Kirk (William Shatner) was buried by Tribbles in the classic Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" (December 29, 1967). Another would have featured a bunch of xenomorph eggs littering the floor of a Borg ship. 

So why didn't the "Next Generation"/"Alien" crossover happen? According to Rich Handley's website, no reason was ever given. Fans, however, have speculated that "Alien" director Ridley Scott didn't like the idea and personally put the kibosh on the whole affair. (Scott has neither confirmed nor denied this.) 

Of course, "Star Trek" would eventually to have an "Alien" crossover ... kind of. The episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" called "All Those Who Wander" (June 30, 2022) was a direct knock-off of James Cameron's "Aliens," and not only featured similar story beats and similar settings, but even featured a near-identical monster. On "Strange New Worlds," the xenomorphs were replaced by the Gorn, but both species incubated their hatchlings inside the abdomens of other living beings. The Gorn also burst out of their hosts' chests, just like in "Alien." 

Both "Aliens" and "Strange New Worlds" featured a group of well-armed military personnel stalking down the hallways of a now-dead, high-tech location, situated on a distant world. And both featured a frightened young girl, found hiding in the corridors; in "Aliens," it was Newt, played by Carrie Henn. On "Strange New Worlds," it was Oriana, played by Emma Ho. 

So the IDW comic never actually brought the two licensed properties together, but "Star Trek" did the "Aliens" thing anyway, five years later. /Film even called it one of the franchise's better horror episodes.