1 week Ago By Dan Girolamo
Since the beginning of the Predator franchise, the character dynamics are abundantly clear: humans are heroes, and the predators are villains. In Predator: Badlands , director Dan Trachtenberg is flipping the script and making the titular creature a hero. In Empire Magazine’s exclusive preview of Predator: Badlands , Trachtenberg explained how he wanted a Predator that the audience could connect with and root for while still keeping its monstrous qualities.
“The creature is front and center, leading the charge,” Trachtenberg said. “He’s still bada**, but there’s something there that touches you emotionally, too. Creating a character you connect with, but are also super-intimidated by has been challenging.
But exciting.” Trachtenberg previously wrote and directed Prey , the excellent prequel set in 1719 that pits a young Commanche woman (Midthunder) against a primitive version of the Predator. Prey received critical acclaim, especially for its female protagonist and representation of the Comanche Nation.
Wanting to replicate Prey’s genre-pushing approach for Predator: Badlands is why Trachtenberg decided to make the Predator a hero. Per Trachtenberg, he wanted “another essential piece of cinema that does what Prey did spiritually — pushing the franchise’s boundaries, letting us root for a hero we rarely get to root for — but in a different way. And that transformed into this big idea of rooting for the Predator.
” Most of Predator: Badlands ‘ plot details remain under wraps. The film stars Elle Fanning in dual roles. Trachtenberg also shot a secret Predator movie , so there will be two films with the dreadlocked alien in 2025.
The secret movie has no release date, but it’s scheduled to come out before Badlands. Predator: Badlands opens in theaters on November 7, 2025..
