Predator: Badlands — First Teaser Drops Ahead of November Release

Rare is the live-action Predator movie — rarer still a film that casts the franchise’s standard-issue xenomorph-slaying alien as the central hero of its story. But that’s exactly what today’s unveiling of the first teaser trailer from 20th Century Studios promises for the latest cinematic riff on the legendary monster.

Predator: Badlands will tell the tale of a young Predator named Dek (played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who has been exiled from his kind. He’s a far cry from the mute, ruthless slayers we know from the original film and the most recent set of sequels; in this installment, the Yautja are protagonists — if two lone warriors have to be called that. Dek teams up with an unlikely companion: a human-like Weyland-Yutani explorer android called Thia (played by Elle Fanning). The two will be facing “the ultimate adversary,” an inhuman terror that can’t be killed.” A few seconds of this antagonist are visible in the trailer. It looks enormous, by Predator standards. Based on Dek’s reaction, it’s probably also a new, entirely inhuman monster that’s unrelated to both the Alien and Predator storylines.

Worldbuilding with Badlands

The good news is, while Badlands will slot into the greater Predator/Alien shared universe, it also appears to be doing some worldbuilding of its own. The studio is being tight-lipped about which planets the movie is set on, but current speculation holds that at least part of the action will take place on the Predator home world. The only film to ever make that connection to the series has been 2010’s Predators, but there were only some cryptic visual clues as to what the home planet looked like in that movie. However, the new trailer offers a few flashes of an unfamiliar landscape and a Predator city at least a few hundred meters across; there are also multiple Predators seen throughout, some of them in what could be ceremonial or combat armor, either in tense standoffs or outright fighting.

In addition to these details, director and co-writer Dan Trachtenberg (Prey) has expressed an interest in telling a richer story about the Yautja culture; where Prey was stripped down to a survivalist cat-and-mouse match in the 18th century American Great Plains, Badlands aims to add more context for the Predator’s traditions, rituals, and language, as well as internal clan politics and society. If the footage holds, then Trachtenberg’s Badlands will be one of the first major Predator films to unpack the Yautja civilization in any real detail, while also holding true to the series’ aesthetic of ultra-modern tech mixed with visceral brutality.

Elle Fanning’s character Thia may also be a major point of conversation, if only for the way that the actress inhabits the role. As glimpsed in the trailer, Fanning moves with mechanical precision, recites dialogue with creepy enthusiasm, and shows a hint of empathetic curiosity behind a smooth, metallic facade. For the first time in a Predator film, then, the Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation will have a much more involved hand in the action, and viewers with a good eye for Easter eggs and metafictional lore hunting will be pleased to see what ties the android and the Predators may have in the wider Alien franchise.

Trachtenberg Returns

That Dan Trachtenberg is back at the helm is a big win for fans and newcomers alike. Prey both found critical acclaim and an audience with viewers and finished the first quarter of its Hulu release with robust word-of-mouth. Given his track record with the studio so far, he’s a safe pair of hands to bring to a new movie like Badlands, and he has the confidence of both the studio and the audience.

And Trachtenberg won’t be moving on from the Predator franchise just yet. He is currently developing Predator: Killer of Killers, a multi-episode animated anthology set to release on Hulu (the same streaming service that hosted Prey) on June 6. Set at various times and locations, the anthology will focus on Predator hunts, adding to the expanding fictional possibilities for the series.

Breaking Down the Trailer

Though the first trailer doesn’t give away any major plot points or twists, it is certainly heavy on imagery to mull over. As well as the Predators, we get short looks at Dek cautiously picking his way through alien undergrowth, Thia operating a weapon or two, and the hulking silhouette of the “unkillable” antagonist. The alien terrain that the action takes place on is both lush and sterile in an otherworldly way, and is big enough that we can expect it to be one of the movie’s larger set pieces.

We also have a strong sense of the Badlands setting itself apart from past franchise entries. Shifting the focus from human prey to a Yautja protagonist effectively subverts the expectations of a familiar premise, while promising more space for character development and, potentially, shades of moral ambiguity. If Dek’s storyline involves restoring his honor or his reputation with his people, then there’s good reason to become invested in his plight, even if he is the monster audience members have been conditioned to fear.

Release Date, Future Trailers

Predator: Badlands is set for release in theaters on November 7. The film is thus poised to become one of the last major sci-fi action movies of 2024, and the path from now until November will likely see at least one more trailer drop for the studio. Depending on when the teaser aired in its home market, we could see one (or more) trailer around the summer that hits on major plot points, gives us a look at any special effects or higher-budget set pieces, and hopefully offers more insight into who or what the “unkillable” adversary might be.