Predator: Badlands has changed a key trend in the franchise (& it works in the Yautja’s favor)

Predator: Badlands is the next entry in the Predator franchise. The official teaser trailer of the film has reportedly increased anticipation around the film. This Dan Trachtenberg-helmed action horror film will be released on November 7, 2025. Here's the official synopsis:

A young Predator outcast from his clan finds an unlikely ally on his journey in search of the ultimate adversary.

The film is the seventh installment of the overall Predator franchise, and it will feature a young Yautja as the protagonist. Apparently, the forthcoming film has changed an important thing about them, which gives them an upper hand over others.

Predator: Badlands changed an important thing for Yautja

Predator: Badlands will be featuring the aliens called Yautja, who are inherently predators who hunt other species, which is where they get their moniker "Predators", and it will take place entirely on a different planet. This is an interesting move in the franchise, which traditionally takes place on Earth.

What the film treats differently and what gives the Predator an advantage as a character, is that unlike the previous installments, where he was the antagonist, he will be the protagonist in Predator: Badlands. The character is a younger Yautja, and because he is the hero of the film, he can be expected to survive till the end.

There is also a possibility of a potential crossover between the Predator franchise and Alien. In a moment in the teaser trailer, there is a Weyland-Yutani logo on Thia (an android alien played by Elle Fanning). So the makers have already connected the two franchises.

Elle Fanning speaks at Disney's presentation of Predator: Badlands at CinemaCon 2025 | Image via Getty

The film is produced by John Davis and Brent O'Connor. The story is by Dan Trachtenberg, who has also written its screenplay with Patrick Aison. Trachtenberg had also directed the previous film of the franchise, titled Prey, which came out in 2022. He is also the co-director of the forthcoming animated anthology film of the franchise called Predator: Killer of Killers. The film will release on Hulu on June 6, 2025.

In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, the film's director Dan Trachtenberg said:

“All the stuff you’ve seen in other Predator movies? There’s no sense of it. None of it was made with intention. I wanted to be very careful that I did not fall into a trap [of] making something more lore-focused than story-focused.“

He further added,

“I wanted to make [Predator: Badlands] feel genre, feel very specific, and [feel like] an inversion of the [main] premise—now the Predator is on [another] planet, and he’s going to be hunted by things and has to use his guile to [survive].”

The director also spoke about casting Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Dek in the film.

"At one of our castings, Dimitrius came up, and the way he moved just had a great swashbuckler. We set up a physical obstacle course, and that’s how we cast him. I was not prepared for what he does [dramatically]; I could not believe it. How did we luck into this guy?"

The team also came up with a new language that is spoken by the alien breed in the film.

Are you excited about this upcoming film?