An unlikely alliance between human and hunter pushes the franchise into the future
The Predator saga is mutating again—this time into a strange, uneasy alliance between prey and predator. In Predator: Badlands, Elle Fanning takes the lead as Thia, a lone survivor on a desolate alien world who finds herself aligned with the unlikeliest of companions: an exiled young Yautja.
The teaser trailer, dropped by 20th Century Studios, teases a survivalist tone amid a sci-fi backdrop that’s unfamiliar yet unmistakably Predator. Fanning’s voice cuts through the haze with a chilling warning: “You’re hunting something that can’t be killed.” It’s not clear if she’s addressing the Predator… or becoming one.
Directed by Prey helmer Dan Trachtenberg, Badlands expands his vision of the franchise. After taking it back in time to 1719 in the Hulu-exclusive Prey, Trachtenberg now points the compass forward—with a screenplay co-written by Patrick Aison. The result: a future-flung setting that seems to eschew Earth entirely, placing this chapter among the stars or perhaps on a post-apocalyptic version of our homeworld.
At CinemaCon, Fanning herself confirmed the unthinkable: “My character actually teams up with the Predator, and you get to see him in a whole new light.” It’s a loaded statement, suggesting the film explores the Predator not just as a hunter, but as a character in exile, one with a past and purpose—and maybe even something like honor.
Starring alongside Fanning is Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, playing the outcast Predator. Together, they face an unnamed, shared threat—one that seems to challenge the natural order of the Predator universe.
The Badlands trailer arrives mere weeks before Predator: Killer of Killers, an animated anthology diving into the Yautja’s blood-soaked encounters throughout human history, premieres on Hulu. While Killer of Killers goes backward—Vikings, Feudal Japan, WWII—Badlands is the franchise's leap into new, possibly canonical territory. Think Predators (2010) but with more soul and higher stakes.
The Predator franchise began in 1987 with Schwarzenegger and a jungle. It’s crossed paths with xenomorphs, faced extinction via direct-to-streaming entries, and resurrected itself with Prey. Now, in Badlands, it dares to ask: What happens when the hunter and hunted stop fighting each other, and start fighting something worse?
Whether this uneasy truce becomes a turning point or just another skirmish in the ongoing mythology of the Yautja, Predator: Badlands might be the boldest entry yet. Expect blood, betrayal, and perhaps, just perhaps… understanding.
Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7.
Predator: Killer of Killers debuts on Hulu June 6.