Back in 2022, filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg unleashed Prey on audiences, a Predator movie that took place long before any other entry in the sci-fi franchise, with the movie’s Hulu debut earning tremendous praise from audiences and critics alike. Even though the movie didn’t land in theaters, its ambitious narrative and high-octane action entirely revived interest in the franchise, with Trachtenberg then tapped to develop further entries into the series. Not only did Trachtenberg helm Predator: Badlands, but he also directed Predator: Killer of Killers, an animated anthology that depicts the ferocious figure in different points in human history.
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“I had three very cool ideas. One of them, the first one, the one I was the most excited about at the time, was Badlands. But then there was this other thing, that was Prey, [that] was really cool,” Trachtenberg recently shared at a press a event ComicBook attended. “We got to put the Predator in these different time periods and tell that story. I think the thing that made Prey special, though, wasn’t just Predator in a different time period, it was that the story we were telling was made better by the story of the Predator, and I didn’t want to just throw them into a different time period. I really wanted to figure out, if we were to do that kind of thing again, how could it be special? And what’s the kind of story we could tell that could be equally badass and awesome, but also emotional and thematic and character-oriented?”
He continued, “In thinking about the different time periods, I honed in on the idea of, what if we made an animated movie where we could express ourselves in a way that we don’t get to see? We’ve now had all these Predator movies and we’re doing this one that’s crazy different, but still with all the stuff … The other side of the coin that I love in Predator movies is that hard-R, crazy carnage. Wouldn’t it be cool to see that in a different medium? So we made this movie, Killer of Killers, at the exact same time, stupidly, but awesomely.”
[RELATED – Predator: Killer of Killers Movie Reveals First Trailer, Release Date]
Much like how Prey marked a new foray into the Predator franchise, Killer of Killers similarly marked a seminal exploration of an animated adventure for the series. While there’s a wealth of potential of what can be done in the animated realm, Trachtenberg confirmed the new movie wasn’t meant to merely set the stage for follow-up projects.
When asked if there were more ideas for animated movies, the filmmaker confirmed, “Certainly. I’m sure you guys see a cool movie and [say], ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be cool if…?’ That [thinking] doesn’t turn off for me. So there’s tons of cool things. We’ll see if we get to make it. People have to like it. But it certainly wasn’t made … I guess the thing that we’re always trying to say is it’s not made [to feel] like it’s just Act One of something larger. I think that’s what we all mean when we say … Christopher Nolan would always say to make it as if it’s the only one. It’s really because you don’t want to feel like you were shortchanged by the experience and it was incomplete. These are very much, for me, I won’t sleep at night if I don’t feel like I really communicated with exactly all that I wanted to with both of these movies. So we’re really throwing all our hearts out there.”
Predator: Killer of Killers is set to hit Hulu on June 6th.
