The Prey ending wraps the 2022 Predator prequel and Naru’s story nicely, but also leaves the door open for Prey 2 and future period sci-fi adventures with the iconic interstellar hunter. Prey has a number of themes that run throughout the film, chief among them being that people should follow their calling, regardless of what tradition may dictate. Starring Amber Midthunder as Naru, the Prey setting moved the franchise from the present day to 1719 North America, in a story that may well be the first-ever expedition of the Predator race on Earth. The story focuses on Naru, a Comanche who feels the call to being a hunter within her tribe, but is hindered by the traditional role she’s meant to take.
When the Predator arrives and begins killing the creatures of the land, including humans, Naru steps up to discover and destroy it. As the Predator in Prey is slowly revealed, taking on the likes of snakes, wolves, bears, Comanche warriors, French trappers – and, ultimately, Naru – it becomes evident that a balance is beginning to shift between predator and prey. However, the fearsome hunter is exactly what Naru needs to complete her rite of pᴀssage and become a warrior of her people, taking on something far more fearsome than they could have ever imagined at the end of Prey, which takes care to leave the door open for more battles to come.
Why Naru’s Brother Sacrificed Himself
He Knew He Wasn’t Destined To Be The One To Save His Tribe
Naru’s brother, Taabe, fights off the Prey Predator at the trapper’s camp, injuring the creature and then sacrificing himself so that Naru can escape, saying to her, “This is as far as I go. No more. This is it. Bring it home.” While captured by the trappers earlier and being used as bait for the Predator, Taabe reveals that he captured the mountain lion using her original plan, saying that she had weakened it and that she could always see what he missed, meaning that he might not have killed the beast had he not used Naru’s plan.
Taabe realizes that although he is a great hunter, Naru is smarter and more cunning than he is, ultimately putting his faith in her when he knows that the Predator in Prey is about to kill him, knowing that she has the best chance to put an end to the threat. Not only was this moment incredibly tragic, but it also added significant emotional weight to Naru’s final victory against the intergalactic warrior during the Prey ending.
Naru’s Plan To Defeat The Predator At The End Of Prey Explained
The Comanche Warrior Reversed The Predator/Prey Dynamic
The final battle between Naru and the Predator at the end of Prey was a highlight of the movie, and this was in part because she used her intelligence as well as her martial prowess to take down her fearsome foe. Naru knew her location well, as she had recently escaped from a mud pit nearby the trappers camp earlier in the film. She also noted early on that the Predator’s laser sights on its mask would send the projectiles he fired directly to where the lasers pointed.
Stealing the Prey Predator’s mask was a mᴀssive part of her plan, as was a series of traps, including the use of human bait to lure the Predator in, a similar plan the trappers used earlier. However, the trappers didn’t realize that the Predator doesn’t want unarmed bait, it wants to hunt, which is why Naru gives the trapper she captures a gun.
Naru studies the Prey Predator, watching how it thinks, moves, fights, and kills, ultimately figuring out how to use all of its strengths and weaknesses against itself, while putting together a plan built from her own experience, creativity, and cunning. Naru’s plan at the ending of Prey was to wound the Predator further by distracting it with another prey (in this case, the captured trapper), steal its mask, then bait it after her where a series of traps waited, including the mud pit, where she positioned the mask to lase the Predator and kill it with its own technology. Naru is constantly observing, thinking, and planning, never using brawn over brain, showing that a true hunter is one that knows its prey.
What Naru’s Final Words To The Predator Mean
A Tribute To Her Brother
There have been many iconic quotes in the Predator franchise, especially when the heroes face off against the Predator during the various finales (such as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch infamously calling the original Predator “one ugly motherf***er” during the 1987 original). The Prey ending also contains an incredibly satisfying quote from Naru, but its meaning is a little more nuanced than simply cursing at her foe one final time. Once Naru realizes she has the Predator in Prey trapped and that the final kill stroke is inevitable, she utters the line that her brother taught her early on, which is the same line he utters before sacrificing himself to the Predator so that she could escape.
“This is as far as you go. No more. This is it,” she says, just before the Predator essentially kills itself with its own technology. The line is what Naru’s brother told her to say when she is about to kill her prey when hunting, which is fully realized in the moment that she takes down the Predator at the end of Prey. Her brother accepted his fate when hunted and killed by the Predator, which is what prompted him to say the phrase to Naru – and her repeating it when she has bested the creature is the phrase coming full circle back to her.
How The Pistol In Prey Ties To The Other Predator Movies
One Prop Links Prey To The Rest Of The Predator Timeline
Prey is a solid sci-fi action movie in its own right, but it never forgets that it’s part of a wider franchise. There are several Predator Easter Eggs in Prey, with some being more obvious than others – though the clearest of all is undoubtedly the flintlock pistol seen during the Prey ending. The flintlock pistol that Naru uses at the end of Prey, which is taken from one of the trappers, has an inscription that reads “Raphael Adolini 1715“, which is the same pistol from the Predator 2 ending. In that film, once Danny Glover’s LAPD detective Mike Harrigan takes down a Predator that has been killing in L.A. aboard a Predator ship.
A group of Predators, including an Elder Predator, appear and take away the body of the deceased Predator. The Elder Predator tosses the same flintlock pistol to Harrigan, saying “take it”, which he does, later noting the inscription. Although Naru gives the pistol to their tribe elder after killing the Predator, it’s obvious that the pistol gets back into the hands of the Predators at some point, seeing that it’s given to Harrigan by the Elder Predator some 300 years later. However, in the Prey ending, it’s left in the hands of the Comanche, leaving a mystery of its journey back to the Predators, while also serving as a piece of connective tissue to the franchise itself, linking the Predator films together with a single item.
Will Prey 2 Happen? How Prey’s Credits Set Up A Sequel
The Prey Ending Left The Door Open For The Now-Confirmed Prey 2
The Prey movie ending has Naru telling her tribe that they need to move their camp as “there is danger nearby” and that they need to move to “easier protected ground”. The Predator that Naru defeats in Prey is shown as being dropped off by a Predator ship early on in the film, which suggests they can easily return (if they aren’t already nearby). This notion is compounded by the Prey end-credits animation, which suggests a fleet of Predator ships would be coming to attack her tribe after killing the Predator.
It could also simply suggest that more Predators are coming, not necessarily for revenge, but simply because the events in Prey signify the first hunt for the alien creatures, which resulted in a death of one of their own, meaning it is now deemed a challenging hunting ground teeming with worthy prey in the form of human beings.
Fortunately, fans of the franchise will get answers about the meaning of the Prey credits sequel tease. Prey 2 was confirmed in 2024, though no further details have yet been revealed. However, the confirmation itself is positive news, as there are several story set-ups in the Predator franchise (such as the ending of 2018’s Predators) which likely won’t be followed through.
The Real Meaning Of Prey’s Ending Explained
From Prey To Predator
The ending of Prey plays with тιтle’s double meaning and duality of the terms predator and prey, as Naru struggles with her desire to be a hunter instead of a gatherer, while discovering what it takes to achieve that goal – making her both the predator and prey, as well as the alien she fights filling both of these roles. “You want to hunt something that’s hunting you?” is a question posed to her by her brother early on, and resonates throughout the movie.
When Naru is given her chance by taking down a dangerous mountain lion, she seemingly fails the test, but it turns out she was more cunning and smart in her plan to kill it than originally thought. She applies her lessons learned from that experience and finds her confidence restored as she evades the Predator alien multiple times, studying him, learning his strengths and weaknesses throughout the film, before applying her knowledge to trap and kill it. In the Prey ending, Naru experiences a shift as she becomes the predator and the Predator becomes the prey, completing her journey in becoming a hunter and warrior.
How The Prey Ending Was Received
A Celebrated Climax For A Celebrated Prequel
The Prey ending has been widely celebrated as one of the best climaxes in the Predator franchise, delivering both pulse-pounding action and a deeply satisfying character arc for Naru. The final battle between Naru and the Predator is a masterclass in tension, strategy, and brutal choreography, cementing Prey as an exceptional entry in the long-running sci-fi saga. Critics have praised how the Prey ending not only delivers on the film’s action-packed promises but also serves as a triumphant moment of empowerment for its lead character.
How Prey handled Naru’s character arc has been at the center of all most all the praise of the wider movie and the ending in general. For example, Odie Henderson of Roger Ebert highlighted how the Prey ending showcases Naru’s intelligence and combat skills in equal measure, and that the ending celebrated the skills of Comanche hunters in a way that was tasteful and sensitive. He notes:
“Naru deserves to be added to the list of tough characters who can hold their own against the Predator. She uses brains and brawn in equal measure to handle all of her foes, dispatching them with gory efficiency. Nature also proves a cruel adversary, but she’s ready for that as well. The film creates a portrait of her Comanche nation without othering them – they are the heroes of the story and their village teems with a sense of camaraderie.”
The Prey ending has also been lauded for subverting traditional action movie tropes. Wendy Ide of The Guardian noted how Naru’s underestimation by both her Comanche tribe and the Predator itself plays into the film’s core themes:
“Ingrained Sєxism works in [Naru’s] favour: the ᴀssumption that as a woman she’s not a credible threat turns out to be her secret weapon.”
This subversion of expectations makes Naru’s final victory at the end of Prey all the more rewarding, as she doesn’t just defeat the Predator – she dismantles the ᴀssumptions that have followed her throughout the film.
Empire’s James Dyer also heaped praise on the Prey ending, particularly the way Amber Midthunder’s performance elevates the final confrontation. He described her as “a ball of elemental fury, imbuing Naru with shatterproof resolve and ruthless pragmatism.” He also noted that the action in Prey’s final act is “a symphony of choreographed mayhem that wouldn’t look out of place in John Wick: Chapter 4.” Such comparisons to one of the most acclaimed modern action franchises emphasize just how well-executed the Prey ending is, blending high-intensity combat with a carefully constructed emotional payoff.
Beyond the action, the Prey ending resonates because it completes Naru’s hero’s journey in a way that feels wholly earned. Throughout Prey, she is repeatedly told she is not a hunter, that she does not belong in battle, and that she is incapable of greatness. But by the end, she has outsmarted and out-fought not just a technologically advanced alien but also every doubt that was cast upon her.
The final sH๏τs of Prey serve as a testament to her resilience, ensuring that her story stands among the most memorable in the Predator franchise. Ultimately, the Prey ending has been widely regarded as one of the film’s greatest strengths, blending thrilling action with a powerful character arc. By delivering a final battle that is both visually spectacular and thematically rich, Prey cements itself as one of the best Predator films to date.
