A Predator silhouetted by an explosion in Predator Badlands© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
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Bill Dubiel
Published 48 minutes ago
Bill Dubiel is a veteran writer, editor, and college professor based in Buffalo, NY. He has been a Senior Writer with Screen Rant since 2023. You can usually find him at a late-night double feature including the newest horror movie and latest Oscar bait.
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Dan Trachtenberg has single-handedly resurrected the Predator franchise over the last few years, with Predator: Badlands representing his third straight critically successful movie in the franchise. After 2022's Prey breathed new life into the desiccated bones of the foundering franchise, Trachtenberg hit sci-fi fans with a one-two punch in 2025.
The animated pseudo-anthology Predator: Killer of Killers and cinematic blockbuster Predator: Badlands were both met with rave reviews by both audiences and critics. Trachtenberg clearly has a firm grasp on what makes the Predator franchise fun (namely sci-fi action and violence), and both movies kicked down the door to exploring the lore around the vicious yet enigmatic Yautja culture.
Predator: Badlands branched out in a very specific direction that put sci-fi fans in a frenzy when the first trailer dropped. The movie places its central Yautja warrior Dek on a planet with dozens of Weyland-Yutani synthetics, clearly implying the existence of xenomorphs in the same cinematic universe. Naturally, all eyes turned towards the two lethal icons' next bout, and Trachtenberg recently gave an interview that cemented why he should be in charge of the inevitable clash.
Dan Trachtenberg Publicly Preached Restraint In Bringing Alien And Predator Together
Alien vs. Predator
In an interview with The Direct, Trachtenberg addressed whether any conversations have been had about who might bring the two characters together on the big screen for the first time since the much-maligned 2007 sequel Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Trachtenberg turned towards an extremely apt metaphor for what he thinks should happen to the two franchises:
...For me, the coolest part of it would be grabbing these elements and letting them cook. You know, once again, we don't want to pull it out of the oven too quickly and have it all just be raw. We really want things to simmer and boil and get up to the perfect temperature.
While hype for both franchises is at an all-time high with Trachtenberg's trio of excellent Predator movies along with Fede Álvarez's massively popular 2024 blockbuster Alien: Romulus and the excellent FX show Alien: Earth, which was recently renewed for a second season. The urge to smash the two franchises together is perfectly natural, but Trachtenberg understands how big a mistake that would be.
Building out the modern universe of both horror icons separately is the only way to rejuvenate the Alien vs. Predator franchise and not have it be a massive flop like the previous iteration from the 2000s. While both franchises have taken great strides in reigniting interest in their respective central species, there is still legwork to do there before a mash-up becomes truly justified.
For starters, both franchises are currently on completely different paths, even if there is potential for crossing over. Alien: Romulus has a sequel in the works that would theoretically follow Cailee Spaeny's Rain Carradine and her "brother", David Jonsson's android Andy. Alien: Earth's second season will almost assuredly pick up its story with Sydney Chandler's synthetic Wendy.
There are no plans for a direct sequel to Predator: Badlands as of right now, but there is almost certainly an appetite to see more of Dek's "clan" after the first movie's explosive ending. Forcing the two monsters to fight within the next few years would move a ton of really intriguing angles and stories to the backburner, which would be a mistake given how well everything is going for both franchises.
More importantly, there needs to be a justifiable reason to throw the two monsters together. Narratively, it could be as simple as Dek (or another Yautja) hunting on a planet that has either been infested by xenomorphs, or have them both crash on the same planet and duke it out for supremacy. But that puts things on the same path that the first two movies were on, which would be a huge mistake.
There needs to be a build to the clash. We know from the Easter egg in Predator: Killer of Killers and the interior design of other Predator ships in the franchise that xenomorphs are considered high-value trophies to the Yautja, but exploring their history before putting them in the same arena again would build the audience's anticipation and interest in the central conflict, as opposed to just watching a director essentially smash action figures together.
Trachtenberg's Approach Will Keep All Three Franchises Successful
Xenomorph fighting a Yautja in Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
The other angle to what Trachtenberg meant by "letting the elements cook" is the fact that both the Alien and Predator franchises have so much to work with in their own lore. While both species and their histories have been explored in-depth in other forms of media, big-budget movies have barely scratched the surface.
Alien vs. Predator 3 needs to feel like an aside for both franchises. While Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe built specifically to The Avengers as a major end point, Alien vs. Predator shouldn't be the end-all, be-all for either franchise.
It's still worth doing because audiences want to see it and it could make for at least one, if not multiple really excellent and exciting adventures. But if done properly, it would be used to enhance both the Alien and Predator franchises, sitting on equal footing with them as opposed to a notch above. Predator: Badlands and Alien: Romulus both proved how much appetite there is for stand-alone creature movies at the box office, and it would be silly to derail two quality franchises for the sake of the third.
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Predator: Badlands
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Action Science Fiction Adventure Thriller Release Date November 5, 2025 Runtime 107 minutes Director Dan Trachtenberg Writers Dan Trachtenberg, Patrick Aison, John Thomas, Jim Thomas Producers Brent O'Connor, John Davis, Marc Toberoff, Dan Trachtenberg, Ben RosenblattCast
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Elle Fanning
Thia / Tessa
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Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi
Dek / Father
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Predator: Badlands
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Predator - Franchise
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