Predator: Badlands director explains why he didn’t do a traditional sequel to acclaimed Prey

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In 2022, director Dan Trachtenberg revitalized the Predator series with his impressive prequel, Prey. The film uniquely takes place among the Comanche Nation in the 1700s.

Considering how well-received his previous film was, you might expect him to use a similar style for this new installment. However, he’s taken a completely different direction. “Predator: Badlands,” releasing this week to positive reviews, is set far in the future on another planet and does something unexpected: it tells the story from the Predator’s point of view.

Dek, a young outcast, is exiled to a dangerous planet where he unexpectedly teams up with a synthetic human named Elle Fanning. Together, they must find their way through the treacherous landscape.

So where did Trachtenberg first get the idea for this approach?

Trachtenberg explained that creators often feel pressured to immediately follow up a successful project with a direct sequel, instead of pursuing something new and genuinely exciting. He was determined not to fall into that pattern.

He explained that he was putting a lot of pressure on himself to decide what to work on next. He wanted to move past his previous film, Prey, and think about his own creative goals. Specifically, he wondered if he still wanted to make another Predator movie, and if so, what fresh ideas he could bring to the franchise – and to the action genre as a whole. That questioning ultimately led to the core concept for the new film.

He explained that making the monster the hero – and having the audience cheer for it – was completely new for science fiction, and he found that incredibly exciting.

This concept allowed him to expand the established history of the Predator universe, something he also achieved with the animated series Predator: Killer of Killers released on Disney Plus earlier this year. He aimed to broaden our understanding of the species’ culture without fundamentally changing it.

He mentioned they considered making the entire movie take place on the Predator home world, focusing on their society and traditions. Ultimately, though, they opted for a broader look at the Predator universe instead.

You quickly understand the world and its customs, and then the story follows Dek as he faces a series of dangerous challenges, much like the heroes in earlier movies.

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2025-11-06 13:06