Earlier than Predator: Badlands grew to become a Yautja and Weyland-Yutani synth team-up, director Dan Trachtenberg had different thrilling concepts for the way to place the Predator because the protagonist for the primary time in franchise historical past. At one level, that even included a possible World Battle II setting, considerably paying homage to the 1987 Predator film’s paramilitary roots.
In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan, director Dan Trachtenberg revealed that an early scrapped concept for Predator: Badlands would have seen the Yautja tackle Nazis. The idea sprung out of Trachtenberg making an attempt to determine the way to situate the Predator because the hero, which, if he went within the path of getting the Yautja win towards people, would imply discovering a bunch of dangerous guys audiences would not be rooting for:
“It actually was from making an attempt to determine what the franchise had achieved earlier than. There was this fan-grown sentiment of ‘Why does the Predator all the time get his ass kicked?’ He’s presupposed to be the galaxy’s biggest hunter and we all the time see him lose!
So I attempted to determine a narrative that embraces, ‘What if the Predator wins?’ However I didn’t wish to simply make a slasher film the place the dangerous man wins in the long run. At first, I used to be like, ‘Effectively, perhaps it may very well be him versus Nazis or one thing,’ however none of it actually clicked till I discovered my footing in making it a couple of Predator in an insanely intense, brutal clan that’s making an attempt to show its price.”
The Yautja code in Predator directs them to hunt essentially the most harmful killers to hunt essentially the most glory, which has led to a wide range of prey all through the franchise. That features the paramilitary staff in Predator, police and drug cartels in Predator 2, numerous proficient killers in Predators, troopers with PTSD in The Predator, Comanche hunters and French fur merchants in Prey, and warriors from numerous intervals in Predator: Killer of Killers. Nevertheless, there’s all the time been a motive to root for a minimum of a lot of the human characters.
Hollywood’s Nazi-hunting initiatives like Inglourious Basterds, Sisu, and Prime Video’s Hunters have seen confirmed recognition over time, and it is a idea that may simply match into the general “killer of killers” premise of the Predator franchise. Whereas navy personnel have usually performed a component, it is stunning that Predator has but to function a film with a full-scale World Battle I or II setting for the Yautja’s searching grounds.
Nevertheless, Predator: Killer of Killers did dip its toes within the water of a World Battle II setting throughout “The Bullet” part of the anthology movie. Set in 1942, that animated story centered on a U.S. Navy fighter pilot caught in a battle with the Pilot Predator attacking each side of the warfare. As such, whereas we have briefly seen a Yautja insert itself into an ongoing battle, we have not seen it goal one troop within the midst of one of many world wars for a whole function movie.
Although Dan Trachtenberg has plans for one more Predator film after Badlands, it appears unlikely {that a} live-action Nazi-hunting World Battle II film with the Yautja will come to fruition anytime quickly. Trachtenberg has been centered on taking the franchise the place it is by no means gone earlier than, so the subsequent installment would probably function a premise with a completely totally different path from his potential Badlands angles.
Finally, Trachtenberg discovered the fitting idea for Badlands to dive deep into the Yautja tradition, construct the Predator right into a protagonist with traits and an underdog story that audiences can relate to, and keep away from undermining his heroic position by refusing to incorporate any human characters.
Forward of the film’s theatrical launch on November 7, Badlands acquired overwhelmingly constructive evaluations and now even holds the franchise’s third-highest Rotten Tomatoes rating, emphasizing the success of the otherworldly, dangerous Yautja-led idea. Even when it isn’t on the World Battle II battlefront, Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands gave the Yautja formidable foes to formally show why they’re “the galaxy’s biggest hunters.”
- Launch Date
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November 5, 2025
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Director
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Dan Trachtenberg
- Writers
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Dan Trachtenberg, Patrick Aison, John Thomas, Jim Thomas
- Producers
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Brent O’Connor, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg, Ben Rosenblatt
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Elle Fanning
Thia / Tessa
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father