Predator: Badlands brings the Yautja back to the big screen, but fans aren’t sure about the franchise’s future after one producer revealed the “holy grail.”
The new movie follows Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja hunter who wants to prove his worth to his clan by hunting an unkillable creature on the most dangerous planet in the universe. While there, he has to work with Thia (Elle Fanning), a Weyland-Yutani android, and yes, it’s a crossover with Alien.
Unlike the rest of the Predator movies, Badlands take place in the far future, which is a big departure from the recent films like 2018’s The Predator and 2022’s Prey.
But producer Ben Rosensblatt revealed that there have been discussions about getting the “holy grail” of the franchise back to the screen, but fans aren’t sure about it.
Producers want Arnold Schwarzenegger back to play Dutch Schaefer in live action
It’s probably unsurprising that the producers of Predator: Badlands want to get Arnold Schwarzenegger back to reprise his role as Dutch from the original 1987 movie, especially since the character had a small animated cameo in Predator: Killer of Killers.
“Obviously, the holy grail of Predator movies would be getting Arnold back in there,” Rosenblatt told Deadline at the film’s LA premiere. “It’s always been something in the back of our minds – that it would be really great to see him come back to this franchise that he’s made iconic, and that’s made him iconic”
“Arnold and Dan have met a couple of times now. He’s been really interested in what we’re doing, he’s a real fan of what we’ve done so far, from what I understand,” he added.
“We’re really excited. After Predator: Badlands comes out, we’ll see and have more conversations. Hopefully, we’ll have a chance to do something with Arnold, because that would be awesome.”
But while Rosenblatt is keen to get Schwarzenegger back, fans aren’t as sold on the idea as the producer might think. In response to the interview, one fan wrote, “80 year old Arnold. Oh boy.”
Another added: “It would have to be an animated movie, he’s like 100 years old.”
And someone else wants the franchise to move forwards, not backwards: “Please don’t bring back Schwarzenegger. Let Trachtenberg do his own thing.”
Dutch isn’t the only Predator character that could return in the future
Dexerto spoke to Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg about the new sequel, and he revealed that there’s a “bigger plan” in place for the franchise, which might involve having characters like Amber Midthunder’s Naru return to the big screen.
Much like Schwarzenegger’s Dutch, Naru appeared at the end of Killer of Killers frozen in stasis. It seems like the Yautja have been storing some of their worthy opponents that they’ve faced over the years.
Although it’s not clear where that thread will lead, other than a battle royale brawl like we saw in Killer of Killers. Perhaps the Yautja are putting together an Avengers-style team to finally deliver a good Alien vs. Predator movie…
Outdoor Boys fans can still watch Luke Nichols on his son’s YouTube channel