Predator: Badlands does what no Predator film has done before: It makes a Predator the protagonist.
That Predator is Yautja warrior Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a runt by his species’ standards. (Still large and terrifying by human standards, though.) In order to prove himself to his clan, he’ll have to embark on a hunt on one of the universe’s deadliest planets. Luckily for him, though, he won’t be alone.
Accompanying him is Thia (Elle Fanning), a synthetic created by the Alien franchise’s sinister Weyland-Yutani Corporation. That’s right, we’re getting another Alien–Predator crossover! (Between this and FX’s Alien: Earth, it’s a great year to be an Alien fan.) However, instead of pitting Xenomorphs and Yautja against one another in the vein of Alien vs. Predator, Predator: Badlands makes Dek and Thia unlikely allies. She’s a chipper construct who’s able to survive even after being cut in half, he’s an angsty alien seeking his father’s approval. Now that’s one odd couple I can’t wait to see in action.
The trailer for Predator: Badlands gives us a taste of its synthetic-Yautja team-up, including the sight gag of Dek carrying around Thia’s torso like a backpack. Also building up the hype are teases of a massive mech — Aliens, anyone? — facing off against Dek’s seemingly unkillable prey, along with flashes of Dek speaking in the Yautja language, complete with subtitles.
But perhaps the most exciting element of Predator: Badlands is that it comes to us courtesy of Dan Trachtenberg, who brought us 2022’s Prey, a damn-near perfect Predator prequel. Trachtenberg is also behind 2025’s animated anthology film Predator: Killer of Killers, another banger of an entry in the series. With that kind of track record, expect Predator: Badlands to rock.
Predator: Badlands hits theaters Nov. 7.
