PREDATOR: BADLANDS Reveals First Look At The Movie's Yautja As Elle Fanning Shares Crazy Plot Twist

PREDATOR: BADLANDS Reveals First Look At The Movie's Yautja As Elle Fanning Shares Crazy Plot Twist

A first look at Predator: Badlands has been shared at CinemaCon, and this Yautja not only looks quite a bit different but will be portrayed in a whole new light according to lead star Elle Fanning...

By JoshWilding - Apr 03, 2025 09:04 PM EST
Filed Under: Predator
Source: SFFGazette.com

Prey debuted on Hulu in 2022, and it was both a critical darling and a streaming hit. Its success made it clear that movie fans are still invested in the Predator franchise...when it's handled well, at least. 

Director Dan Trachtenberg returns to helm Predator: Badlands; despite not being a direct follow-up, the theatrical title is set in the same world as Prey. Plot details are few and far between, but Disney's presentation at CinemaCon saw Elle Fanning confirm that this Yautja will be a hero and that her character, Thia, "teams up" with the relentless alien. 

Fanning also confirmed that the movie sets out to answer the question, "What if the Predator was a good guy?"

"Something unprecedented happens in this movie, and my character is not the one being chased," the actor teased. "My character actually teams up with the Predator, and you get to see him in a whole new light.”

That's all we have to go on for now, but Predator: Badlands' lead was showcased for attendees - you can see him below - and looks perhaps a little different from what you might expect after watching Prey. While that Yautja was a feral hunter, this one will reportedly be unleashed on several alien planets and, based on what we see here, will be a little more technologically advanced.

We only have a brief footage description from The Wrap (via SFFGazette.com), but it's more than enough to get us excited:

"In the new teaser, we see shots of a futuristic wasteland, filled with dystopian armies and a creature that the Predator is hunting that can’t be killed. Of course, that’s not going to stop the Predator from trying."

"The creature is front and centre, leading the charge," Trachtenberg revealed in an interview last year. "He’s still badass, but there’s something there that touches you emotionally, too. Creating a character you connect with, but are also super-intimidated by, has been challenging. But exciting."

The filmmaker would go on to explain that he wanted to "find another essential piece of cinema that does what Prey did spiritually — pushing the franchise’s boundaries, letting us root for a hero we rarely get to root for — but in a different way. And that transformed into this big idea of rooting for the Predator."

You can hear more from Fanning and get your first look at the new Predator in the X posts below.

PREDATOR: BADLANDS Will Feature A Predator As Its (Heroic?) Lead; First Behind-The-Scenes Image Released
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PREDATOR: BADLANDS Will Feature A Predator As Its (Heroic?) Lead; First Behind-The-Scenes Image Released

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SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 4/3/2025, 9:04 PM
I feel like the concept works if the Yautja was raised with a different species. We have seen in lore that Yautja will battle anything even if it's stronger without seeking aid. So it will be interesting what the plot demands that makes it unite with a human.
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 4/3/2025, 11:00 PM
@SonOfAGif - it’s been explored in the expanded stuff. Looking forward to seeing it in live action. Basically it boils down to their honor code and the individual Predator.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 4/3/2025, 11:39 PM
@fanboy03191 - I'm looking forward to it as well. I hope it works on screen. Some things work in expanded comics and books because each person's imagination plays a role but when we visually see someone else's interpretation sometimes it leads to disagreements and failed expectations.
Nate212
Nate212 - 4/4/2025, 8:29 AM
@SonOfAGif - I feel like you could flip it and go the other way. Do a Tarzan type of story. A human spaceship crashes on the Yautja planet, the humans are all slaughtered by a clan of bad Yautja, except a little baby that is taken in and raised by an outcast Yautja. Cut to 20 or 30 years later and another ship crashes on the planet, leading the now adult survivor using his skills to help the new survivors fight off the bad Yautja clan, his adoptive Yautja sacrifices himself to save his "son" who then has a showdown with the leader of the Yautja clan. I feel like that could be a really interesting film.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/3/2025, 9:06 PM
the phuck? predator in da hood
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:32 PM
@harryba11zack -

You one ratchet mufugah, an' shit!
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:35 PM
@harryba11zack -

That's kind of Predator 2.

But now I want that for real.

Predator: Straight Into Compton.

Or Detroit, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles again, something.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 4/3/2025, 9:38 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - Hey racist, your president just tanked the economy. Are you proud of yourself
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 4/3/2025, 9:40 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - User Comment Image

User Comment Image

User Comment Image

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MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/4/2025, 12:50 PM
@UncleHarm1 -

You're racist.

Don't be a hypocrite.

The world economy must suffer a little in order for various communist countries to pay their fair share, and for things to balance out.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/4/2025, 12:52 PM
@KennKathleen -

All the major cities have alien infestations that the Colonial Marines and predators must take on.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 4/4/2025, 1:59 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea -

User Comment Image
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 4/4/2025, 2:24 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - I am extremely racist against stupid people. I'm working on it.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/3/2025, 9:10 PM
Good guy? Predator? What an Alien concept
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MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:31 PM
@HashTagSwagg -

Exactly.

Requiem too.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/3/2025, 9:34 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - Wolf didn't give 2 sh1ts for the humans in that movie.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:36 PM
@HashTagSwagg -

He still did some heroic things.

From a certain point of view.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/3/2025, 9:22 PM
According to these guys who seen the footage, it takes place on an Alien planet, there's other creatures on the planet, multiple Predator's, the female Predator is Hott!!!
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:39 PM
@HashTagSwagg -

The predator didn't go to an alien planet with other creatures, he just sat in during an American communists conference.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/3/2025, 9:25 PM
that wasn't water
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MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/3/2025, 9:30 PM
"pushing the franchise’s boundaries, letting us root for a hero we rarely get to root for — but in a different way. And that transformed into this big idea of rooting for the Predator.""

Um.

They already did that with Alien vs. Predator 1 and 2.

And even at times in Predator 2.

Some might say in Predator in 1987.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 4/3/2025, 9:39 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - "But in a different way"

Stupid
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/4/2025, 12:54 PM
@UncleHarm1 -

Work on your own comprehension skills.

Can you name all the continents?
MisterBones
MisterBones - 4/3/2025, 9:43 PM
This happened already in AvP. It a truly novel concept for a predator to team with a human.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/3/2025, 9:44 PM
Awww f**k, forgot about this bit.
https://cosmicbook.news/predator-badlands-acolyte
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/3/2025, 9:54 PM
@HashTagSwagg - User Comment Image
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/4/2025, 12:56 PM
@HashTagSwagg -

"I'll make Predator 42 like The Parent Trap.

Women love The Parent Trap."
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 4/3/2025, 9:46 PM
Cool, the Predator doesn't always have to be antagonistic.
JobinJ
JobinJ - 4/3/2025, 9:50 PM
@ModHaterSLADE - yes it does.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 4/3/2025, 10:11 PM
@JobinJ - NOPE. Now cope.
JobinJ
JobinJ - 4/4/2025, 7:26 AM
@ModHaterSLADE - “now cope”??? What?? Dork ass
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 4/4/2025, 12:01 PM
@JobinJ - Dork? Yeah, calling me a Dork makes your Loser ass sound so cool, like a Bully from an 80s movie😂🤡

Once again you triggered Sissy, Predator is gonna be a good guy in this one, now COPE!
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 4/4/2025, 12:59 PM
@JobinJ -

We should get a Predator movie with a slice of life story, focusing on a male and female meeting, and then marrying, and then having kids.
JobinJ
JobinJ - 4/3/2025, 9:53 PM
I doubt that the image of the Predator Josh. Looks like the girl with a Predator mask on.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/3/2025, 9:59 PM
There is a male one at least, unless they're pulling a Taskmaster
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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/3/2025, 10:00 PM
Intriguing…

Not sure if I’m fully sold on the premise of a heroic Predator but I’ll definitely give it a shot since I liked Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey.

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Waifuslayer2
Waifuslayer2 - 4/3/2025, 11:34 PM
So it's the Predator version of T2
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/4/2025, 12:11 AM
Well that’s intersting twist make more exciting different
marveldc4life
marveldc4life - 4/4/2025, 1:42 AM
Most of the comments on this post are awful. We literally have not seen a trailer, but we have decided this movie sucks. I bet this movie ends up kicking ass and it won’t even be close to AVP or the sequel. We literally have turned into a society of spoiled brats who complain and can never seem to be happy that we are at least getting something new. It doesn’t matter if you like pussy or ass but at the end of the day at least we getting some.
jackbauer884
jackbauer884 - 4/4/2025, 2:12 AM
@marveldc4life - Every Predator movie, expect the original sucked. So it is no suprise, the next one will too.
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