Predator: Badlands is unlike any Predator movie before it. Without spoiling the story, I’ll report that it is an all-out action adventure more along the lines of Disney's The Mandalorian than the sci-fi horror exploits of Dutch and co in the jungles of Mexico. It is a film in which the Predator is the protagonist, not the stalking, gore-obsessed antagonist we’re used to seeing. The whole premise of the Predator is flipped upside down here. Rather than hunt hapless humans, Dek, the Yautja runt out to prove himself, finds himself the hunted one on a death planet that’s out to get him.
But it’s more different, still. The tone, the pacing, the whole vibe of Predator: Badlands is… different. Not unfamiliar, of course; I’ve seen a hundred action adventure movies in the Star Wars style. But this is different for Predator. There are jokes (the Predator makes one — deliberately — himself!), there are moments of slapstick comedy, and there is a cute alien sidekick called Bud who I’ve already seen compared to Baby Yoda (Bud is a bit like Baby Yoda, I suppose, but a lot more rippy and shreddy).
There will be some Predator fans who will not like this one bit. I suppose I’m one of them. I suppose I’m a Predator purist, someone old enough to have seen Predator on VHS, a few years — probably — before I should have. It’s a formative film for so many… for me. And when it came to subsequent Predator films, it was all downhill from there.
And then Dan Trachtenberg turned up and he did something super interesting: Prey. I love Prey. It’s a back to basics Predator movie that takes what was great about the first film and builds something fresh and exciting around it. It rejuvinated the franchise, and I love — love! — that it did well enough for Dan Trachtenberg to be awarded the keys to the franchise, to be named the Predator showrunner (movierunner?), a fan and a hugely talented director who just gets Predator and wants to take it forward with critical and commercial acclaim.
His animated anthology go-between, Killer of Killers, continued the impressive run, although I still have my doubts about Trachtenberg's idea that the Yautja kidnap those who have bested them in the hunt, and — all off-screen — put them on ice only to defrost them later for another go. Sorry lads, that’s your ego getting the better of you, there. Aren’t you Yautja supposed to be super honorable? Take the L and leave Dutch, Harrigan, and Naru to live out their days in peace (well, relative peace given the persistent night terrors I'm sure they suffer over what you put them through). If you're bored, there has to be a Xenomorph out there who's desperate for a scrap?
And so we come to Predator: Badlands. I was in the rather fortunate position of being able to interview Dan Trachtenberg the day after I saw his film, with it fresh in my memory but also having slept on it. I should say this: I enjoyed the movie for what it is. When the Predators fight each other, it’s genuinely superb. Like, top-class action superb. At times it looks amazing. It always sounds amazing. I laughed at the bits I was supposed to. Elle Fanning as Weyland-Yutani synth Thia (and more) is superb. Dimitrius Koloamatangi delivers a truly impactful performance as Dek himself; you really feel the weight of the Predator as he leaps about the death planet. I was invested in this buddie movie, this Frodo and Sam road trip to a far future Mount Doom (owned and operated by Weyland-Yutani, of course). Predator: Badlands is a fun ride. But is that really what I want to be saying about Predator: Badlands after leaving the theater?
Whatever your answer to that question, it cannot be denied that Predator: Badlands is a fascinating project. It’s a movie I suspect will split the fanbase down the middle, like Dek tearing through a tentacled alien monster. Some people will hate it. They will accuse Predator of having succumbed to the ‘Disney effect’ in the pursuit of a larger PG-13 audience and, theoretically at least, box office. Some people will love it. They will take it for what it is: a rip-roaring sci-fi romp in which a Predator is the surprise main character, standing on his own two (very large) feet. I suspect few will sit on the fence with this one.
And so it was with all this in mind that I virtually sat down with Dan Trachtenberg to squeeze just a handful of questions into our painfully brief interview time. Such is the junket way! So, like Dek would, I jumped straight into the thorny question: why, Dan, have you done this?
IGN: It's obviously a very different tone and feel to what's gone before. I'm not going to get into spoiler territory or anything. There are jokes. I think the Predator even makes a joke at one point, there's slapstick comedy, there's a cutesy sidekick. It is a big swing for the Predator franchise. I'm sure you'll be asked about this a lot, but why did you decide to go in this direction for Badlands?
Dan Trachtenberg: Because it's a movie that does not exist. Prey was very much a back to basics exercise and Killer of Killers really doubled down on that traditional Predator story where you meet human characters and they're hunted one by one. You've now got five new movies... Killer of Killers is like four movies in one. And then with Prey as well, it really felt like, man, I don't think people really need another version of just that movie, that story, that structure as it was. It really felt like, boy, it'd be nice to have something refreshing and new in the franchise, but then also in science fiction movies in general.
We've always fallen in love with the sidekick, walking carpet Chewbacca, or the villainous monster, and they've never been the main character of the movie. So really loved the idea of being like, yeah, we're going to make a movie where the Predator is the main character and he's going to be ferocious and badass, and then he's going to meet this other cast of characters and there's going to be a soul to the movie.
We're actually going to be both. It's going to be brutal, filled with spine rips and beheadings and limbs coming off, and also have some heart and make you feel things. That way it can be a full meal. Jaws is one of my favorite movies of all time. Jaws is one of the scariest movies ever made. It's also one of the funniest, and when there's drama, it's super sincere and there's also high seas adventure, and all of those things make that movie an awesome, incredible experience as a motion picture. Neither of those parts ruin the others. So that's always been a part of the equation for me.
Also, thinking of T2. I remember as a kid seeing it and then quickly after it being like, mom, you got to see T2. I never thought after I saw Terminator to be like, mom, you got to see Terminator. But T2, because it actually was thematically oriented and had some heart and was about legacy and parents and children, mothers and sons, fathers and sons, it made someone like my mom appreciate an action movie and allow it to be a great movie. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was like a movie my mom could watch. So that was a part of it for me, is like how to make something that was bold and visceral but also emotional.
IGN: So maybe you watch Predator: Badlands, you go, mom, you can watch this, you'll get something out of it. Whereas they might not have with Predator 1 and 2.
Dan Trachtenberg: That's right. That's right. Yeah.
IGN: Now I know you know what the internet's like. There will be Predator purists who turn their noses up at some of the things that you're doing with this movie. Did you always know that you would end up dividing some Predator fans with the film? Is that a risk you felt you were perfectly comfortable taking?
Dan Trachtenberg: I mean, it's A, a part of any movie, and B, a part of a franchise or not. I'm the internet also. I was on it. I still am. I have issues with things in movies and don't have issues with other things. And even on Prey, on Killer of Killers, there's people that are hardcore fans that love certain aspects that defend them, and I see arguments with people who hate certain aspects. It's just a part of any kind of movie.
So I'm well aware of the nature of that. And of course when we're taking such a crazy bold swing, I get it. I get there would be criticism. But there's worse criticism the other direction if you're just retreading and remaking the same kind of thing over and over, then not only will hardcore fans not like it, but also just any fan of going to see a movie won't like that either.
So for me, it's much more important to make something that is bold and original, and making sure the movie is super fun. And this movie is packed with action. High APM, high action per minute. But also there's something to take away with you. I always think about that. You just want something to put in your pocket and walk away with when you see a movie, and I wanted to make sure that this had that.
IGN: I know we're running out of time, but I've got to ask you about Bud. What's the thinking there? Why did you feel Predator needed to have cutesy sidekick? I know Baby Yoda comparisons are already there, but it's not quite Baby Yoda. The violence here is much more extreme than anything Baby Yoda has done. Bud is a badass too, right? But I'd love to know what you were thinking there about why you felt you wanted to introduce that character and having Bud in the movie?
Dan Trachtenberg: I think I just loved the idea of the Predator meeting up with not just one, but a band of other outcasts. I maybe had Guardians of the Galaxy on the brain and Rocket Raccoon, seeing something that appeared to be one way. Because certainly Dek appears to be one way and then actually is something different, and Thia appears like something and then you discover there's something else behind her and there's more to the story there. And Bud as well, to seem at first cutesy as you're putting it, but actually turns out to be incredibly ferocious and capable, and there being more narrative story there.
I loved the silhouette. I came up with Prey in pairing Amber [Midthunder] with a dog based on the silhouette of Mad Max and his pup. The strong badass with something beside it is just a really cool silhouette, and I loved the idea of Dek with the half a robot strapped to his back and this other thing beside him that was small. That's all I had, there was something small beside him that was a part of the adventure. It just felt like something that would be exciting.
IGN: Thanks for the insight Dan, really appreciate it.
Predator: Badlands is in theaters November 7, 2025. Check out IGN’s Predator: Badlands review to find out more.
Photo by Neil Mockford/FilmMagic.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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