Predator Just Teased the Crossover Fans Have Been Waiting For

There are few movie monsters more terrifying than the Predator. Since the ’80s, it’s taken out its countless prey, rarely coming across a task that it can’t complete. That’s why so many fans wish to see the Predator face off with more formidable enemies. Well, those people are getting their wish in Predator: Badlands, the latest film in the franchise from director Dan Trachtenberg. This time around, a young Predator finds himself cast out on his home world and has to do everything he can to survive, including battling a dinosaur-like creature that’s sure to pack a punch.

Now, it’s not the exact matchup most fans wanted to see, as the dinosaur that the Predator finds himself face-to-face with isn’t the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. In fact, he already took care of one of those, with its skull being visible in his ship in the first Predator: Badlands trailer. What he’s up against now is actually an alien creature that moves more like a dog than a dinosaur. However, based on the damage the beast seemingly does in the trailer, it’s nothing to scoff at.

The Predator Franchise Is Finally Bringing in a Kaiju

In the early Predator entries, humans find themselves being hunted by an extraterrestrial threat and have to find a way to fight back. That means the humans are usually at a disadvantage, not having the technology to keep up with the Predator’s tools and weapons. It’s a tried-and-true formula, but to avoid things getting stale, Trachtenberg is taking things in a different direction with Badlands, setting the movie on the Predator home world and diving into their culture.

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It opens the door for all sorts of things, including making the main Predator, Dek, the hunted instead of the hunter. But to put a Predator in danger, it takes a formidable opponent, and an easy one to incorporate is a kaiju. After all, few movie monsters can hold a candle to the likes of Godzilla and King Kong, and while this creature likely doesn’t have atomic breath or a giant axe, its size is sure to make life difficult for Dek. Unfortunately, even if he finishes off the massive threat, there may be something even more terrifying lying in wait.

A Dinosaur Might Be the Least of Dek’s Worries in Predator: Badlands

While Dek’s battle with the beast is the climax of the Predator: Badlands trailer, informing fans that this is a different kind of Predator movie, there’s another moment in the clip that teases an even more intense conflict. The first look reveals that Dek’s ally, Elle Fanning’s Thia, is a synthetic made by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise. While it’s possible it’s just a reference to the long history between the two properties, which includes a couple of movies, comic books, and video games, the reveal coming in the first trailer hints that there’s more to it than meets the eye.

If Trachtenberg really does intend to blend the two franchises together, he could have a xenomorph show up toward the end of Predator: Badlands to cause more problems for Dek or just tease another Alien vs. Predator installment. In any case, 2024’s Alien: Romulus, directed by Fede Álvarez, proved that the franchise is moving beyond traditional xenomorphs and into more terrifying territory, which spells trouble for the Predators and their planet.

So, as long as Trachtenberg and Co. play their cards right, they could have the makings of the next big versus film, one on par with 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. However, unlike that movie, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a Predator and a xenomorph team up. Both species are ruthless killers and will do anything to land on top. The only thing that feels like it could bring them together is an even scarier monster, and while the beast in the Predator: Badlands trailer looks promising, it’s too early to put that amount of pressure on it, especially since there’s no guarantee it makes it out of the movie alive.

Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7th.

Are you excited to see a dinosaur-like creature in Predator: Badlands? Do you think the movie is a secret Alien vs. Predator project? Let us know in the comments below!