Predator: Badlands – Runt of the litter rises in Sci-Fi’s weirdest buddy movie yet? (trailer)
Just when you thought the Predator franchise had no new skulls left to polish, along comes Predator: Badlands—the interstellar equivalent of Lassie if Lassie was a mandible-clicking, dreadlocked space goth and Timmy was a sentient android built by Weyland-Yutani (because of course she is).
This time around, Disney and 20th Century Studios have gifted us something different. Directed by Dan “I made Prey, remember that?” Trachtenberg and co-written with Patrick Aison, this seventh mainline—and ninth overall—entry in the series dares to ask the big questions: What if a Predator had feelings? What if your BFF was a robot from a morally bankrupt megacorp? What if we stopped making these films about muscle-bound men shouting in jungles and started doing Frank Frazetta meets Shadow of the Colossus with existential dread and a touch of The Book of Eli? Sure, why not.
Set in the far-flung future on a dusty remote planet (because ‘Badlands’ just sounds a bit naff if it’s set in Surrey), our story follows Dek—a runt of a Predator, cast out by his clan for being a bit too weedy for intergalactic murder-holidays. Played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi under a massive Wētā-designed creature suit and enough mo-cap trickery to make Andy Serkis weep, Dek sets off on a hero’s journey in search of… well, someone worth fighting. Possibly himself. Or his father’s approval. Or just screen time in a franchise that usually treats Predators like glorified haunted house mascots.
Enter Elle Fanning as Thia, an android built by those loveable capitalists at Weyland-Yutani. She’s sleek, intelligent, and programmed to emotionally bond with rejected alien warriors who communicate in a newly invented Predator dialect cooked up by Avatar’s very own language guru. It’s like My Fair Lady, but with more decapitations and thermonuclear shoulder cannons.
The aesthetic promises to be less ‘splody jungle’ and more brooding alien Western—with nods to Clint Eastwood, Mad Max 2, and Shane, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a Predator film, so you’ll still get your fill of slow-motion roars, gory trophy kills, and at least one moment where someone stares at a glowing countdown timer with dawning horror.
Trachtenberg says every shot of the film involved VFX. That’s right—every shot. Somewhere, a visual effects supervisor is sobbing into a keyboard, praying no one ever reboots Transformers again. But with the likes of ILM, Wētā FX, Framestore, and a few pirates (Important Looking ones, no less) handling the heavy lifting, this might be the best-looking entry in the franchise yet.
So, grab your plasma caster and emotionally prepare for what may be the How to Train Your Predator of our time. Will it be a bold reinvention or a beautifully rendered mess? Either way, here at SFcrowsnest, we’re sharpening our wrist-blades in anticipation.
The hunt begins November 7, 2025. And this time, it’s personal. Sort of.
