The Predator franchise is going through an era of renewed popularity like it has never seen before, and its recent string of success strangely mirrors the goals of cinematic and televised success that Marvel and DC have sought for themselves. 1987’s Predator brought the alien hunter, canonically known by the name of “Yautja”, onto Earth for a hunt against special forces soldiers led by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch. Predator would be followed by several sequels that oscillated in reception, but it wasn’t until quite recently that the Predator franchise as a whole has truly hit its highest peak ever with 2022’s very well-received Prey and its 2025 animated anthology follow-up Predator: Killer of Killers, both directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Following these back-to-back hits, Trachtenberg also returned to direct the upcoming highly anticipated third installment of his tenure with the Predator franchise, Predator: Badlands.
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While it would be easy to call Predator‘s resurgence a case of a nostalgia-powered return of a previously popular series, the specifics of Predator‘s renewed success shockingly resemble what both Marvel and DC have done in crafting their respective interconnected cinematic universes. While the two have had their share of respective successes and shortcomings in that regard, the revived Predator franchise is not only doing virtually everything Marvel and DC have set out to accomplish individually, but has done so to incredibly effective results, to the point that Marvel and DC could even learn a thing or two from what Predator has accomplished from Prey onward.
The Predator Franchise Is a Growing Universe With Expanding Lore (in Multiple Media)
Like many sci-fi and horror franchises that began life on cinema screens, Predator has long since expanded its presence into many different entertainment mediums, such as comic books, television, video games, and toys. In its more recent history, the Predator franchise has used its multi-faceted presence to greatly expand upon its lore, notably in Prey and ever more so in Predator: Killer of Killers. In both movies, the Predators have not only been shown battling human warriors from different time periods and cultures, but new aspects of the Yautja culture have been presented, including their gladiatorial games on a Predator-occupied planet and their practice of freezing especially formidable human adversaries in cryo-stasis to bring back into future battles.
The latter was the basis for the major twist in Killer of Killers showing Amber Midthunder’s Naru from Prey in cryo-stasis, presumably to be brought back in the present and future-tense Predator stories. Naru’s cameo in Killer of Killers has also single-handedly made the comebacks of multiple Predator stars possible. In a further bit of unexpected world-building, the famed flintlock pistol from Predator 2, once a trophy passed on to Danny Glover’s Mike Harrigan exclusively in that movie, has become a running Predator franchise Easter egg with its subsequent appearances and featured backstory in Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers. The latter movie itself also functions as an unexpected epicenter of Predator mythology and lore, tying virtually every movie in the Predator franchise together into the fabric being woven under director Dan Trachtenberg’s stewardship of the Predator universe.
Additionally, the Predator franchise’s comic book footprint has not only continued but grown far more popular in the 21st century. The Predator universe has especially had a high quantity of Marvel crossovers, the Predators battling Wolverine, Black Panther, and Spider-Man in the last few years, along with Marvel Comics producing other Predator-focused stories like Predator: The Last Hunt and Predator: Black, White & Blood. With the all-around Predator frenzy that’s been kicked off since 2022’s release of Prey, the Predator franchise is also cementing its revived popularity through one key pillar.
The Predator Franchise Has Conquered Streaming (& Is Teed Up for a Major Comeback in Theaters)
With the rise of streaming as a new and increasingly omnipresent platform for releasing movies and television (especially since the COVID-19 pandemic), the Predator franchise has wholeheartedly embraced streaming and reaped significant rewards in doing so. Following the Predator franchise’s arguable nadir in 2018 via Shane Black’s The Predator, 2022’s Prey was the series’s first streaming-based release (on Hulu). However, this ended up being a case of a franchise on the ropes, circumventing lowered expectations as a streaming release. Prey became a smash hit and arguably the best-received Predator movie since the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led original.
The subsequent popularity of the new animated anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers (also on Hulu), has shown that Prey was hardly a fluke, but more importantly, that Predator has not only rebounded but is wholly thriving in the streaming world. That also makes the upcoming release of Predator: Badlands a true culminating chapter for the Predator franchise. On the one hand, Predator has clearly managed to recover in a streaming apparatus with more strength than ever after every preceding 21st-century chapter in the franchise (save for 2010’s Predators) was seen as a major letdown. Even better, the success of Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers has built up an undeniably strong anticipation for the release of Predator: Badlands, and made the Predator franchise’s return to theater screens a genuine victory lap.
Predator Is Seemingly Headed for Another Crossover With Alien
While the Predator universe has seen significant lore expansion through Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers, the most recent trailer for Predator: Badlands has made clear that the biggest aspiration of all for the revitalized Predator franchise is to once again crossover with the Alien franchise, cinematically. While the Aliens vs. Predator comics have been a cornerstone of both individual franchises for decades, 2004’s AvP and 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem both failed to capture the same popularity in movie theaters. While not a direct Alien vs. Predator crossover per se, Predator: Badlands is quite overtly planting the seeds to take another shot at it. That much was already evident with the role of Weyland-Yutani android Thia (Elle Fanning), who becomes an ally to the movie’s Yautja protagonist Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi).
The movie’s focus on a Predator as its protagonist is a major new turn of events for the Predator movies. The latest Predator: Badlands trailer emphasizes the Weyland-Yutani elements of the story even more, with the logo of the Alien franchise’s sinister corporation clearly visible at many points. Additionally, a power loader mech suit similar to the one utilized by Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in her climactic battle with the Xenomorph Queen in Aliens also appears in an action sequence in the trailer. All of that makes clear that Predator: Badlands is setting the stage for a future Aliens vs. Predator crossover, and one that feels wholly natural in the context of everything that has preceded it, and which could pay off the equally resurgent Alien franchise as much as it would for Predator. With superhero franchises typically seen as the blueprint for building out cinematic universes over multiple interconnected movies, shows, and comics, Predator is rapidly becoming the new champion of world-building in the cinematic universe era.
Predator: Badlands will be released in theaters on November 7th.
