Prey Star Addresses What Could Be Next for Her Character in Predator Franchise

While many cinematic franchises focus on a narrative’s protagonists returning for repeated adventures, the Predator franchise instead puts its focus on otherworldly hunters, as each installment often features all-new characters with little-to-no connection to characters in other movies. This means that, while the prequel Prey introduced audiences to Amber Midthunder’s Naru, who managed to fight back against the high-tech threat, the actor thinks that her character would be much more focused on her own community than potentially attempting to track down and eradicate more extraterrestrials. No updates have been given by 20th Century Studios about the next chapter in the cinematic series.

“That was always how I felt about it because the movie is such a journey that definitely as the character by the end it feels like — well, also, there’s the — I think that it does in part feel like that. I think it’s a hope for the best, prepare for the worst situation,” Midthunder detailed to Collider about preparing her character’s tribe for threats. “I think that it feels as though they’re not gonna come back, but there are ultimately obviously all kinds of threats out there that are unforeseen. Even like the French fur trappers in that interaction and stuff like that, those are all discoveries of things that are out there that they had no idea about. So I think that it’s not necessarily preparing for more predators or whatever; I think it’s just there [are] unforeseen threats and we gotta be ready.”

The original Predator landed in theaters in 1987 and saw the now-iconic creature stalking a group of mercenaries in the jungle, with the first sequel then taking the creature’s terror into an urban environment. The next two entries in the series saw the creature collide with the Alien franchise, before the proper series returned with Robert Rodriguez’s Predators. Eight years would go by before a new entry emerged, which came in the form of 2018’s The Predator.

Despite none of the Predator follow-ups managing to capture the same excitement of that debut entry, Prey attempted to secretly circumvent expectations, as it was filmed under the codename “Skulls” and director Dan Trachtenberg hoped to keep its Predator connections under wraps. The prequel’s connection to the franchise might have been spoiled ahead of release, but that didn’t impact its reception, as Prey was a hit with both audiences and critics, even if it was relegated to being a Hulu exclusive as opposed to getting a theatrical release.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Predator franchise.

What would you like to see in the series’ future? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!