Fans of the Predator franchise at one point believed they would be lucky to see another movie in the franchise after a run of divisive and mostly disappointing sequels such as The Predator and Predators. However, director Dan Trachtenberg has single-handedly resurrected the sci-fi action franchise, and hot on the heels of the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers is releasing Predator: Badlands in October. Ahead of the movie’s release, the director has been teasing what fans can expect from his next groundbreaking installment of the franchise.

With Prey, Trachtenberg proved that the Predator franchise still had plenty to give, and all it needed was the right person with a vision of what a Predator movie could be rather than just throwing together a group of tough men fighting an increasing number of Yautjas. Now, after pitting a primeval Predator against a formidable female warrior, Trachtenberg is flipping the franchise again to make a Yautja the hero of Badlands.

According to the director, Dek – the young “runt of the litter” that leads the movie – is on a mission to prove himself amongst some more fearsome members of his savage race. For Trachtenberg, Dek is something very much in line with former action heroes such as Conan and Mad Max. “He’s a thing of few words, pretty blunt. He cuts straight to the point. Literally and figuratively.”

Like many movies of the 1980s, Predator was a film that was so well made at the time, with an incredible creature design and plenty “of the era” action, that much of what came after was always destined to fail. Once the monster is revealed, the need to reveal it more and more often takes over the suspense and air of the unknown that the original outing has the luxury of. Very much like the limited appearance of dinosaurs in 1993’s Jurassic Park compared to its many sequels, the final act reveal of the Predator’s true form made moviemakers just think that fans needed to see the creature’s ugly façade more often.

Now, Trachtenberg has proven with Prey that is not the case, but putting a Yautja front and center of Badlands creates a very different dynamic for the new movie. The monster cannot be hidden, but can it be rooted for as the hero of the story? That is a question that will potentially drive fans into cinemas in October and make Badlands the box office success that Prey should have been given the opportunity to be in 2022.

What is more, is that fans should expect to see even more from the franchise in the not so distant future, as Trachtenberg has already teased that he has a third idea for another movie, and, of course, with the recent resurgence of the Alien franchise with Alien: Romulus, and the connective tissue between the franchises that seems to be present in Badlands, an Alien vs Predator movie is surely coming into view very quickly.

Source: Empire