The new Predator movie Predator: Badlands is completely reshaping the basic premise of the franchise, and it’s delivering a never-before-seen team-up that’s been avoided for decades. Following the success of Prey in 2022, the Predator franchise is returning to the big screen with director Dan Trachtenberg once again flipping the sci-fi series upside down. After years of portraying the Predator aliens as the bad guys, Predator: Badlands will make a Yautja the main character, and hence the hero audiences are rooting for.

However, the film will not be completely focused on the alien hunters. There is still a human component to the storyline, with Elle Fanning confirmed to play a major role. Details on her character and involvement in the plot have largely been kept under wraps to this point. This started to change with Disney’s CinemaCon 2025 presentation, which Screen Rant was in attendance for. Not only did it bring the first Predator: Badlands footage description, but Elle Fanning delivered a major tease of what the storyline is really about.

Predator: Badlands Is Finally Doing A Human & Predator Team-Up Storyline

Predators & Humans Have Been Enemies In All Previous Films

The big reveal is that Predator: Badlands features a human and Predator team-up. Elle Fanning was in attendance for Disney’s presentation at CinemaCon 2025 and said, “something unprecedented happens in this movie…my character teams up with the Predator.” She did not provide any further clarity on why this unexpected team-up is happening. The footage teased that the Predator is hunting something that can’t be killed, and its through that task that the alien teams up with Elle Fanning’s character.

This is notable because it’s the first time the Predator franchise has focused on a story where humans and Predators team up instead of fighting each other. The original Predator pitted Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team against one of the hunters, while Predator 2 had Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover) come into contact with another. The Predator and Prey also had full stories with Predators as villains.

The third film, Predators, came the closest to delivering a human and Predator team-up, as the human survivors work with one alien near the film’s end to return to Earth. However, Predator: Badlands remains the first installment in the franchise to have humans and Predators working together be a key component to the plot.

Humanity & Predators Working Together Is A Game-Changer For The Franchise

This Could Reshape Future Predator Storylines

The decision to have Predators work with a human in Predator: Badlands could have major ramifications on the future of the franchise. It creates a precedent for humanity and the alien hunters to work together. This means that not every future Predator movie will have to return to the known story of humans and Predators at war. Some of them could still focus on those battles, but there’s now a realm where they could continue to be allies if it were practical for both races.

It’s also worth noting that Predator: Badlands is set in the distant future. This creates more freedom to evolve the relationship between humanity and Predators. It’s not like Predator: Badlands takes place between other installments or is a prequel that would make such a team-up feel so off base. There’s clearly a purpose to Predator: Badlands moving the human and Predator relationship in this direction, and I’m ecstatic to see what comes next as a result of Trachtenberg’s decision.