Predator: Badlands’ Original WW2 Movie Plan Revealed (& We Need It To Happen Next)

Predator: Badlands marks the third time Dan Trachtenberg has directed a film in the franchise, and all three of his installments have been distinct. Prey took audiences back to 1719 and told a story about a Comanche warrior who faces off against a Yautja. Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated anthology film composed of segments that take place in different time periods, featuring the fearsome hunter tracking down Vikings, samurai, and World War II fighter pilots. Badlands puts its own stamp on the franchise by making a Yautja the protagonist for the first time, but at one point, Trachtenberg had another idea that we hope will eventually see the light of day.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Trachtenberg shed some light on the development of Predator: Badlands, noting that he wanted to come up with a premise where the Yautja could win. Before landing on the film Badlands turned out to be, he was going to pit the creature against Nazis. “It really was from trying to figure out what the franchise had done before. There was this fan-grown sentiment of ‘Why does the Predator always get his ass kicked?’” he said. “He’s supposed to be the galaxy’s greatest hunter and we always see him lose!”

Trachtenberg continued, “So I tried to figure out a story that embraces, ‘What if the Predator wins?’ But I didn’t want to just make a slasher movie where the bad guy wins in the end. At first, I was like, ‘Well, maybe it could be him versus Nazis or something,’ but none of it really clicked until I found my footing in making it about a Predator in an insanely intense, brutal clan that’s trying to prove its worth.”

Predator Should Make Trachtenberg’s World War II Movie Next

Trachtenberg doesn’t have any plans to leave the Predator franchise behind any time soon, and assuming Predator: Badlands is a hit (it’s earned positive reviews ahead of its release), he will likely continue to get opportunities to play in this sandbox. It doesn’t sound like the World War II concept went any further than just being mentioned as a possibility, but it’s something Tractenberg should revisit for his next Predator film. It’s a premise that has a lot of potential, as Trachtenberg could continue to do new, exciting things with Predator while also putting a fresh spin on the well-worn World War II genre. After the taste fans got in the “The Bullet” chapter of Killer of Killers, it would be fun to see a Yautja in WWII over the course of a full feature.

Now that Badlands has established a Yautja can be the main character of a Predator movie, developing other situations where the creature can be the hero feels like a natural next step for the franchise. World War II is a fitting backdrop for a Predator film, as the Yautja famously hunt down the strongest prey on the worlds they travel to. Pitting a Yautja against a squad of soldiers would provide plenty of opportunities for inventive set pieces, tapping into the action and horror elements that make the best Predator movies stand out.

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Many fans are hopeful that Trachtenberg will eventually spearhead a new Alien vs. Predator movie — one that perhaps will do that crossover justice. Though there are plenty of Alien references in Predator: Badlands, it doesn’t sound like the big event is on the horizon. Comparing his approach to the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Trachtenberg emphasized that he first and foremost wants to tell compelling individual stories that stand on their own before exploring what a major crossover could look like. Since Badlands is the first new Predator movie to hit theaters in seven years, Trachtenberg could be playing the long game and look to make a “smaller” movie with his next effort. A one-off about a Yautja terrorizing some Nazi soldiers could fill a gap as fans wait for the xenomorphs to re-enter the picture.

In a way, “Yautja vs. Nazis” could be a riff on the basic premise of the original Predator. However, rather than telling the story from the soldiers’ perspective, everything could be from the point of view of the Yautja, painting the humans as the villains audiences want to see destroyed. It would be a fun way of honoring the franchise’s history while also putting a new spin on things. Plus, the World War II setting is so far removed from most of the other entries in the Alien and Predator timeline, so Trachtenberg would be able to craft a narrative that stands alone and doesn’t have to be concerned with connecting with any of the other projects in development.