Prey Director Responds to Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool 3 “Set Photo” With the Predator

Deadpool 3 has resumed production after the end of the Hollywood strikes, and that means new set photos have started to make their way online from the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature. These photos have given way to revealing several character cameos and plenty of Marvel Easter eggs that will appear in the movie. In an attempt to combat the leaks however, Deadpool 3 star and producer Ryan Reynolds took to social media first to plead with the media and fans to prevent them from spreading. When that didn’t work, Reynolds took a new approach, leaking his own “set photos” from the film, including surprise guests.

Reynolds took to social media to with the message: “Deadpool began with a leak. So I’m joining in. But PLEASE don’t overuse the phrase, “Deadpool Leaks” because it might screw up search results if anyone is looking for Deadpool leaks or Deadpool spoilers or perhaps, Deadpool Scoops.” He then posted photos of Deadpool on the set with other characters photoshopped into the scene including: Mickey Mouse, the Quibi logo, and even the Predator. Not to be outdone about his, Prey director Dan Trachtenberg got in on the phone with a photo of his own.

On X, Trachtenberg wrote: “Well I thought we were holding off the announcement until the new year. But since @VancityReynolds let it out of the bag….” he then posted a photo from the original Predator movie with Deadpool imposed into the frame.

Will Deadpool and the Predator ever actually cross paths? It seems unlikely for it to ever happen on the big screen (though, technically, never say never), but one place it could absolutely happen is in the pages of Marvel comics. A Predator vs Wolverine comic series is currently being published and though Deadpool has not appeared, a showdown between the merc with the mouth and the galaxy’s quietest hunter seems inevitable. 

Will there be a Prey sequel?

No official sequel to 2022’s Prey has been announced, but the film’s credits teased a follow-up. In the time since its release the film has also become a fan-favorite, and even become nominated for several Primetime Emmys. Speaking previously with ComicBook.com, we asked Prey director Dan Trachtenberg how they could follow-up Prey and its simple structure and story without falling into the same traps that other sequels fall into? Here’s what Trachtenberg said:

“You finally asked the right question. For everyone who’s been asking me about sequels, it’s like, that is the thing, is that oftentimes someone does a cool thing and the sequel is just….and then the next part, and then it’s like, oh, well then that’s just following up the cool. That isn’t what that thing was. And so yes, in thinking about what sequels could be, the primary conversation was and always will be, what we can do that is also special, that hasn’t happened yet. Not just for the Predator franchise, but for this kind of genre in particular. Can we still be doing something cool?”

In our conversation Trachtenberg followed this up by adding how that philosophy informed his approach to Prey, adding: “A thing I say quite a bit in the development phase is make sure that everything is only this movie, only this movie can we get this kind of scene or that kind of sequence. Don’t want to have a scene in here that’s like, oh, that could have been in the other Predator movies, or that could have been this Marvel film or this Star Wars. Only in this movie can you get this kind of thing.” For Prey, one of those moments was the Predator fighting a bear and being fully revealed by its blood pouring over the alien hunter.