For the first time ever, Predator: Badlands will see the Yautja as the hero of the story, and early returns suggest an all-timer is upon us. A stunning new trailer pits the titular Predator against an all-new foe, which may be too much for the alien warrior to handle.
Predator: Badlands follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja warrior who goes on a hunt for a massive kaiju to prove himself to his people. He is joined by Thia (Elle Fanning), an android from Weyland-Yutani, the company that originates from the Alien franchise. The new trailer makes sure fans are aware that Badlands is not afraid to show its connection to Alien, which extends far past Thia. It appears Weyland-Yutani, and its employees, might be directly involved with Dek and Thia’s journey. You can check out the trailer below:
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Dan Trachtenberg, who directed Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, two of the highest-rated entries in the franchise, returns to direct Badlands. Trachtenberg is the architect of what has been deemed the “Yautja Universe,” a series of films that flesh out the world and puts the Predator in unique circumstances. While a direct Prey sequel seems to be on the backburner, Trachtenberg has found yet another exciting way to flip the Predator formula on its head. Read the official plot synopsis for Badlands:
“Predator: Badlands,” which stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, is set in the future on a remote planet, where a young Predator (Schuster-Koloamatangi), outcast from his clan, finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Another ‘Predator’ Film Is Already in the Works
Director Dan Trachtenberg has been busy the last few years prepping and finishing up Predator: Killer of Killers and Predator: Badlands. Not only are both films 2025 releases, but they appear to be directly connected in some capacity, if the ending of Killer of Killers is any indication. However, Trachtenberg is not stopping anytime soon. The filmmaker recently revealed he has another idea in the works, one exciting enough to encourage him to finish up Killer of Killers and Badlands sooner rather than later. Could it be a crossover film of sorts? Perhaps, as it appears to be a follow-up to his previous Predator titles.
“The reason why I felt possessed to make them and sort of why I rushed – I did two at once because I could do, I could multitask with animation – was because I was so eager to get to the third thing.
“There’s a lot of cool ideas out there and none of them are just like, ‘Oh, we have to say the next part of this story because it was successful.’ All of it is like, ‘Whoa, no one has done that in sci-fi. No one has done that in Predator. No one’s done that with the creature.’ All of those ideas are generated from that instinct. So, yeah, there is definitely a third thing that I’d love to get to when Badlands is finished.”
Source: 20th Century Studios
