Predator: Badlands’ Perfect Stranger Things Cameo Explained: “They Were Freaking Out”

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Director Dan Trachtenberg told ScreenRant how his new movie, Predator: Badlands, includes a fantastic cameo referencing Stranger Things. Badlands, which releases this weekend, is Trachtenberg’s first Predator film to be shown in theaters. He previously directed Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, and the new movie stars Elle Fanning.

Daniel Trachtenberg has directed various projects, including an episode of the Prime Video series The Boys, but he wasn’t involved with Stranger Things. The popular Netflix sci-fi show has four highly-rated seasons under its belt, and the fifth season will begin streaming later this month.

During a post-screening discussion at ScreenRant, director Trachtenberg shared a surprising detail about Predator: Badlands. He explained that the voice you hear coming from Kwei’s ship is actually Matt and Ross Duffer – the creators of Stranger Things, known as the Duffer Brothers.

Trachtenberg shared that this situation happened because a potential collaboration didn’t work out. Originally, the director of Badlands was going to direct an episode of the last season of Stranger Things. However, scheduling issues with Badlands prevented that from happening. Instead, he convinced the Duffer Brothers to make a cameo appearance. You can find the complete quote below.

The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, made a quick voice cameo as the computer on Kwei’s ship, using the Yautja language. We were both working on our shows – they on Stranger Things, and we on Badlands – at the same time. I had originally been scheduled to direct an episode of Stranger Things, but couldn’t due to my commitments with Badlands and another project. So I asked them to do a small voice role as a fun favor. I gave them a list of Yautja words, and they were a little overwhelmed! It was a great experience. The key was that we heavily manipulated and computerized their voices, which worked perfectly. However, actually speaking the Yautja language authentically is quite difficult. That’s why Dimitrius ended up providing the voices for both Dek and Father.

When it came to filming his cameo, Trachtenberg didn’t just read lines – he gave the Duffer Brothers pages filled with dialogue written in the Yautja language. Surprisingly, this complicated request actually worked out well, thanks to the extensive vocal effects his team was already planning for the sound mixing.

This clarifies why up-and-coming science fiction director Trachtenberg didn’t direct any episodes of Stranger Things. While he would have been a good fit, he was committed to expanding the Predator film series.

With Stranger Things coming to an end, director Dan Trachtenberg won’t be able to collaborate with the Duffer Brothers on that project. However, he’s still interested in working in television. He previously announced plans in 2021 to create a TV series based on Waterworld.

Recently, director Kevin Costner shared that while a new Waterworld movie isn’t currently being worked on, the idea hasn’t been completely abandoned. This project is a more likely path for him to return to television sooner than other options.

After Stranger Things ends, the Duffer Brothers plan to work on other projects. They’ve already developed two new shows for Netflix, called The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. This means the Duffer Brothers and director Levi Trachtenberg might collaborate again on a future project, beyond just Trachtenberg’s appearance in Predator: Badlands.

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2025-11-06 15:40