The teaser trailer for Predator: Badlands has arrived. The movie, which is the eighth live-action installment in the long-running science fiction film franchise, will be the third entry to be helmed by director Dan Trachtenberg after the 2022 prequel Prey and the upcoming animated movie Killer of Killers. The upcoming Predator: Badlands stars Elle Fanning as Thia opposite Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as the Predator Dek and is set to follow the unlikely bond that forms between them during an adventure to face a powerful enemy.
20th Century Studios has now unveiled the official teaser trailer for Predator: Badlands. The teaser opens up on the interior of a Predator’s ship, with voiceover from Thia saying “I didn’t think you survived.” What follows is a series of ominous sH๏τs, including a cloaked predator kneeling, epic sH๏τs of a barren landscape, Thia with her eyes turning milky and robotic, a group of soldiers walking down a narrow alleyway, what appears to be a Predator being hunted in a field.
The trailer introduces what seems to be a giant predator wielding a glowing sword as Thia warns that “you’re hunting something that can’t be killed.” The teaser then shows an unmasked Predator, seemingly the same one being hunted in the earlier scene, facing off against a huge monster. It follows this by closing on a sH๏τ of the alien wielding a sword against a tentacled creature. All of this is intercut with тιтle cards reading “the director of Prey welcomes you to a world of hurt.” Watch the video below:
What This Means For Predator: Badlands
The Teaser Raises As Many Questions As It Answers
One of the biggest reveals in the Predator: Badlands trailer is the fact that Elle Fanning’s character is seemingly a Weyland-Yutani android, as showcased via her eyes and a Weyland-Yutani logo seen later in the trailer. This will continue the franchise’s connection to the Alien franchise, which was originally forged in the 2004 crossover movie Alien vs. Predator and its 2007 sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. However, it remains to be seen if there is any more narrative overlap between the franchises to be found in the upcoming movie, now that it has implied this major connection.
The most recent Alien installment is the 2024 movie Alien: Romulus, though the franchise is set to continue in the upcoming FX series Alien: Earth.
Additionally the “world of hurt” tagline seems to confirm that Badlands will take place off of Earth, though exactly where the majority of the story takes place is unknown. It is possible that the movie will take place on the Predator home planet, a place that few previous Predator movies have depicted in detail. The closest that the franchise has come is in the 2010 movie Predators, though it primarily took place in one small area, on a hunting ground designed for humans.
Our Take On The Predator: Badlands Trailer
The Movie Promises To Be A Sci-Fi Epic
For the time being, it seems that further details about Predator: Badlands will have to wait until they can be expanded upon in a longer trailer. However, the footage revealed in the official teaser indicates that the movie will be a major expansion of the franchise’s universe. While Predator movies typically focus on smaller-scale conflicts between a group of humans and one or more Predators, the upcoming installment seems to be a major, full-scale sci-fi epic in spite of its relatively small cast of characters.
Source: 20th Century Studios