Predator: Badlands is gearing up to change the Predator franchise in two huge ways. Dan Trachtenberg returns to direct a brand new story following the successes of Prey (2022) and Predator: Killer of Killers (2025). Predator: Badlands, the franchise’s seventh standalone film, centers on a young Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) and a Weyland-Yutani synth named Thia (Elle Fanning), who team up and fight a series of dangerous adversaries. The movie’s trailers display a visually captivating world teeming with never-before-seen creatures. Predator: Badlands appears to include plenty of exhilarating action, as well as a potential setup for a new Alien vs. Predator film. What’s even more interesting, though, is how Predator: Badlands deviates from its predecessors.
Videos by ComicBook.com
For the first time, a Predator movie has been given a PG-13 rating and features a member of the Predator species, the Yautja, as its main hero. Every Predator movie before Predator: Badlands is rated R and primarily fixates on human characters. By breaking these two major trends, Predator: Badlands has the potential to expand the franchise’s lore and improve its standing in the sci-fi genre. Some fans have expressed concern over these changes, namely the movie’s PG-13 rating; however, there is no reason to worry about Predator: Badlands stumbling due to its differences from past Predator installments.
Predator: Badlands‘ Deviation From Previous Movies Isn’t a Bad Thing
The drastic changes Predator: Badlands exhibits shouldn’t get in the way of the film’s success. First of all, Predator: Badlands‘ PG-13 rating can easily be explained by the film’s exclusion of human characters — a first in the franchise. Instead of realistic gore and red blood, Predator: Badlands will seemingly depict a toned-down level of violence typical of other sci-fi fantasy projects. Fans are understandably concerned about Predator: Badlands‘ departure from the franchise’s slasher-style graphic violence, but the shift could actually be what the franchise needs.
For 38 years, since Predator (1987), the intellectual property has been largely defined by its brutality and little else. So, it’s time for the franchise to realize that blood-soaked battles alone cannot carry movie after movie. Prey‘s balance of good storytelling and gruesome action works amazingly, and it shouldn’t be a problem for Predator: Badlands to prioritize the former over the latter. Even so, Predator: Badlands can deliver the intense action fans expect — just with a little less gore.
The most exciting change in Predator: Badlands is its focus on a Yautja hero. In each previous installment, the Predator functions as a menacing and powerful villain, intelligently stalking its victims before making a grisly kill. Despite the alien creature’s impressive skills, not much is revealed about its history. Predator films treat the Yautja like plot devices more so than fleshed-out characters, which has been one of the franchise’s most glaring weaknesses. Predator: Badlands reverses perspectives and gives the Yautja a bigger spotlight than ever before. Through Dek and his alliance with Thia, audiences should generate tons of fascinating plot points.
Predator: Badlands Can Change the Franchise for the Better
It’s not an overstatement to say that Trachtenberg has completely revitalized the Predator IP. The recycled formula of a Yautja warrior arriving on Earth and slaughtering humans one by one had grown stale after The Predator (2018). Moreover, earlier titles like Predator and Predator 2 (1990) haven’t aged well due to their thin plots and now-outdated special effects. Trachtenberg’s work has shown that the Predator franchise is capable of evolving into something totally new that still honors the original film’s legacy. With only an android, a Yautja, and various monsters involved in its story, Predator: Badlands is entering exciting and uncharted territory.
Predator: Badlands‘ self-contained narrative provides a clean slate for the franchise to build on in the future. The film’s PG-13 rating and Yautja main character are groundbreaking shifts that could prove genius in hindsight. Milder violence is a small price to pay for deeper Predator lore and a compelling path toward Alien vs. Predator‘s revival. If Predator: Badlands‘ early reactions are any indication of the movie’s eventual success, these changes are a great sign for the franchise’s future. Shaking up Predator‘s formula after six movies and almost four decades is an excellent decision, so Predator: Badlands‘ changes shouldn’t be cause for concern.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Ufotable
