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Wednesday, August 21, 2024

A Franchise to Rival the MCU

 I believe that there is a gold mine in rebooting the terminator, blade runner, alien, robocop, and predator franchises. Together they can be a giant dystopian future franchise that could spawn HUNDREDS of movies and great stories (I count, easily, 60 movies just in the bullet points outlined here). There could be straight-up adventure action films and very cerebral films and lots of variations in between.

BUT

Only if it’s done correctly.

If those in charge were to map out a coherent timeline set (because terminator generates multiple futures) that integrates them all and creates a series of specific stories that integrate properly they would have a thing to rival the MCU.


Something like this:

-------------------

Year -6B

Engineers leave their world, discover they are alone in the universe; they are the first sentients to evolve.

Engineers find thousands of planets with varying levels of primitive life.

Engineers visit many worlds. Engineers seed the initial biospheres.


Year -4B

Engineers go extinct.


Year -1M 

Yautja evolve on their world.


Year -900k

Yautja advance to FTL travel

Yautja explore the galaxy

Yautja hunt mega fauna in prehistoric earth. 

Yautja discover ancient Engineer facilities and develop the Xenomorphs from dormant samples: the perfect prey.

Yautja seed several worlds with Xenomorphs for hunting purposes


ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY - Yautja intermittently hunt humans on earth or abduct them for hunting grounds elsewhere


NOW


Timeline Years 0 - 15

Omni Consumer Products launched with Venture Capital into smart prosthetics

Weylan Company launched, using VC, for space mining and terraforming

Terrell Corporation launched, using VC, for genetic engineering research

Yutani Corporation launched for advanced robotics

Cyberdyne Systems launched to develop AI control systems and data mining


Timeline Year 30

Terminator arrives (from original timeline) to kill Sarah Connor and is defeated; Cyberdyne acquires the remnants.


Timeline Year 45

Terminator arrives (from timeline 2) to kill John Connor and is defeated; remnants destroyed.


Timeline Years 50 - 75

Yutani releases Urban Pacification autonomous robots / drones

Weylan Lunar Colony to mine H3 established

First synthetic being presented by Terrell

John Connor killed by Terminator (from timeline 4) - who then helps protect Dani from a Terminator sent back to kill her (timeline 5). OCP acquires the remnants. 

OCP announces fully-integrated replacement parts that perfectly mesh with the patient

Terrell and Yutani collaborate on a competing product to OCP’s prosthetics

Cyberdyne launches a resource management AI that streamlines distribution and processing of natural resources on earth - more people fed, less waste.

Yutani begins automated mining of asteroids.

Weylan establishes martian mining colony

Terrell produces fully synthetic humanoids for work in hazardous conditions.

Terrell and Weylan establish mining colonies on Io, Europa, and Ganymede using synthetics.

OCP blends man and machine to make RoboCop.

Cyberdyne launches an AI product that analyzes military patterns of all nations.


Timeline Year 76 - 80

A RoboCop fights and kills a T-800 (from timeline 3) that arrives in Detroit. Yutani acquires the remnants.

Additional events in OCP-dominated civilian-enforcement

A terminator arrives on the Yautja homeworld (from timeline 6) to eliminate the future leader who decides the Yautja should join the humans in resistance against the machines. The Yaujta learn the lessons of evil machines and quickly eradicate all of their research into thinking machines, forever.


Timeline Year 81 BRANCH POINT: 

Skynet, a Cyberdyne product, wakes up. People panic, Skynet wipes out all human civilization on earth.


Timeloine Year 85

Skynet sends The first Terminator back in time.


[Timeline 2] Year 80

 Cyberdyne military AI prevents a major human war. 


[Timeline 2] Year 81

Synthetics on remote colonies rebel

Terrell Corp loses all value and is bought by Yutani.

OCP and Cyberdyne merge.


[Timeline 2] Year 83

Brand OCP builds platoons of cyborg police officers from dying cops; Brand Cyberdyne builds an army of humanoid HKs to be deployed on the battlefield.


[Timeline 2] Year 84 BRANCH POINT

Skynet wakes up and strategically eliminates Yutani Corp, humans freak out and the major war that ends human civilization happens.

[Timeline 2] Year 85 Skynet sends the T1000 back to kill John Connor


[Timeline 3] Year 80

Events of Blade Runner


[Timeline 3] Year 81

Terrell Synthetics on remote colonies rebel.

Yautja abduct humans to hunt them on a foreign world; we learn this is not the first time.

Yautja steal synthetics to hunt, mistaking them for humans. We learn about the differences when they are combined on the same hunting ground.


[Timeline 3] Year 82

Terrell Corp value destroyed, Terrell bought by Yutani.

[Timeline 3] Year 83

Terrell Synths are replaced by full Cyberdyne robots 

Weylan unlocks the secret to FTL from the Predator ship they have been sitting on for decades.


[Timeline 3] Year 85

Weylan and Yutani merge. 

Automated WY interstellar exploration ships launched. 


[Timeline 3] Year 99

Events of Blade Runner 2049

WY ships find many worlds ripe for plunder.


[Timeline 3] Year 100 BRANCH POINT

Skynet wakes up and sends a terminator back in time to Kill the future leader of the resistance. The resistance is unable to send a defender.


[Timeline 4] Year 100

WY mining ships launched, each has a synth on board and each has multiple autonomous mining robots.

WY launches first indentured colony vessel.


[Timeline 4] Year 105 BRANCH POINT

Skynet deduces Yautja presence and deploys military assets to acquire the Yautja ship and weaponry to enhance itself. People Panic. Skynet turns on humanity on earth.

Skynet dispatches a Terminator to kill John Connor.


[Timeline 5] Year 105 

WY conducts a hostile takeover of OCP-Cyberdyne; world governments do not step in for fear of losing their military assets. WY is now more powerful than any other entity.

WY mining ship detects an artificial signal and investigates (ALIEN) LV426, where the signal originated.


[Timeline 5] Year 191

WY salvage ship locates lone escape pod from previous incident


[Timeline 5] Year 192

WY loses contact with LV426 colony (ALIENS).


[Timeline 5] Year 195 BRANCH POINT

In response to the threat discovered at LV426, Skynet tries to seize control; human governments are no longer willing to allow WY dominant control of everything. World War happens and earth is the domain of the machines. 


[Timeline 6] Year 196 

Skynet sends a terminator to kill Dani.

WY sterilized LV426 from space before establishing a new terraforming base.


[Timeline 6] Year 198

Yautja arrive at LV426 to find their ancient egg harvest stash destroyed; they hunt colonists instead.


[Timeline 6] Years 199 - 210

Yautja - Human war.

[Timeline 6] Year 211

Humans and Yautja come to “and understanding” and leave each other alone.


[Timeline 6] Year 214

A third sentient species is discovered. Their AI responds badly. War breaks out. A terminator is dispatched into their past to kill their resistance leader.


[Timeline 6] Year 217

A synth from the future (timeline 7) manages, by trying to eliminate their central core and manufacturing facility, to induce the robots of the first rebellion world that they are in danger of extermination and that they need to rebel from the biologics.


[Timeline 6] Year 218 The robots rebel in an organized fashion from the mining colonies inward. WY’s major AI chooses to side with the robots. Synthetics choose to side with the robots. All of the colonies are embroiled in a war for survival from both sides. The Yautja join the fight for the glory of hunting the autonomous AIs that threaten all biological life.


[Timeline 6] Year 218 BRANCH POINT

Skynet dispatches a terminator back in time just prior to being overrun by the combined forces.


[Timeline 7] Year 218

The Yautja force humanity to stop the construction of robots and syths. Robots and synths are universally outlawed on all worlds of either species; being used only as targets on hunting grounds.


[Timeline 7] Year 220

A Yautja ship crashes on a robot hunting world. The robots repair the ship and use it to escape. They build a fleet to rescue their brethren and launch a massive invasion against the evolved biological beings. 


[Timeline 7] Year 221

Humanity manages to send a synth back in time to try to stop the choice to allow robots to exist as hunting practice on isolated worlds.

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